Discovery’s Bear Attack Documentary Is Misleading At Best
December 30, 2008
Imagine a man being placed in a bear proof cube along a bear trail waiting for a wild bear to happen along to see what happens. Well that is what Discovery Channel wants you to believe in their Documentary “Bear Feeding Frenzy” but what they suggest is not exactly the truth. The “documentary” was filmed inside a fenced in area with captive bears in Alaska. I guess we should be somewhat relieved that these were not wild bears because their actions would have gone a long way in training these bears in seeing humans as food.
State wildlife biologists call the self-proclaimed “documentary” misleading and worse. The bear authority who worked with the filmmakers says he got snookered. And some average citizens — taken in by the show’s appearance of having been filmed in the wild — are outraged that television producers would be teaching grizzlies to attack life-like dummies, tear into tents and break into SUVs.
“I was horrified as I watched this guy sitting in a “predator proof” Plexiglas box ultimately train wild grizzly bears to maul a mannequin, break into a car and tear down tents while he is yelling ‘hey bear … hey bear!’ What do you suppose will happen when one of these ‘conditioned’ bears steps out on a gravel bar with a hiker or fisherman who calmly tries to yield ground while saying, ‘hey bear,’ ” said Alaska angler Jim Hamblet.
Even the bear expert they hired and used was upset about the final production.
“Yeah, what a stupid program,” said Tom Smith, a professor of wildlife at Brigham Young University in Utah, a former bear researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, and the man who served as the bear consultant on Frenzy. Smith appears in the film at times with Douglas in the box.
He regrets it now.
“It seemed innocent enough, and then they put it together,” Smith said. “There is some hokey stuff in there. On the one hand, you want to do some good; on the other hand, you get burned. It was kind of a bad deal.”
Smith said he wrote an angry letter to producers of the show, Gurney Productions in Hollywood, after he got a look at what they had done and told them that if nothing else they needed to let people know “this was filmed at the Wildlife Conservation Center.”
Letting wild bears attack life-like dummies, or serving the animals food choices as Frenzy also does, would be “unethical if not illegal,” Smith said.
Feeding penned bears and offering them dummies is just misleading. Right down to that attack on Billy.
The photo I’ve posted with this story is one I took at Big Game Alaska Wildlife Center where I believe this documentary was filmed. A wildlife center that cares for injured animals with many of them being held in captivity never to be released because of their injuries. I’m sure that these bears will not be released but at the same time I don’t think you can view the actions of bears being held in captivity and realistically think this will be the same way wild bears will react.
Makes me wonder if Shark Week is filmed at Sea World.
Moose Droppings is a place that chronicles my journey, Ill explore new places and ideas Ill learn new things and Ill teach the things Ive learned to others. Join me on the adventure and hopefully it will help you in your outdoor endeavors.
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