Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing.
If you've somehow found yourself imagining some of the most horrifying death scenarios possible, then how about considering the prospect of being mauled by a starving animal.
One such person who would suffer this fate was environmentalist and bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell, who died alongside his partner Amie Huguenard from a bear attack.
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Standing at around 8 feet tall on their hind legs and weighing as much as 1000 pounds (454 kg), encountering a brown bear in the wild is not for the fainthearted.
In fact, it's fair to say that most people - this writer included - would very much like to live out the rest of their days without ever coming into contact with such a creature.
However, this fear of bears didn't apply to Treadwell, who'd been fascinated by the mammals from a young age. So much so that he decided to spend his summers as an adult man living amongst the creatures in Alaska.
Unfortunately for Treadwell, a hungry bear doesn't distinguish between a conservationist and a non-bear enthusiast when looking for food, which meant he would be killed by the very creature he'd dedicated his life to.
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In October 2003, Treadwell had set up camp in Katmai National Park, Alaska, alongside his partner Amie Huguenard. The couple had stayed later than usual this year, with several bears already beginning to go into a form of hibernation called torpor.
This meant the mammals in the region were looking to stock up on as many calories as possible and, with food particularly scarce that year, Treadwell and Huguenard were in a dangerous position.
The couple's horrifying final moments would end up being recorded on tape, allowing authorities to piece together their final moments.
The chilling audio begins with Huguenard asking if the bear is still out there, before Treadwell screams: “Get out here! I’m getting killed out here!”
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Huguenard can then be heard rushing out of the tent, shouting for her boyfriend to ‘play dead’. The next few moments are filled with screaming and shouting as it seems the bear momentarily releases Treadwell, only to clamp its jaws around his head the moment that Huguenard rushes over to help.
Huguenard then tells him to ‘fight back’ as she attacks it with a frying pan. After a series of more screams, the tape runs out.
"The audio stops because the tape runs out," Police Trooper Chris Hill said of the audio (via The Telegraph). "Otherwise, it probably would have captured the whole thing."
Treadwell and Huguenard's remains would be discovered the following day by air taxi pilot Willy Fulton. Fulton would often pick the couple up, so immediately knew something was wrong upon arrival. Heading over to the couple's camp, he found a pile of human remains guarded by the 'meanest looking bear'.
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The mammal was later killed by rangers, with a necropsy finding remains of Treadwell and Huguenard inside the creature.
A documentary about their deaths would later be made by Werner Herzog, titled: Grizzly Man.
Topics: Environment, Animals, History
Brenna Cooper