He reminds me a lot of the bear whisperer from a few years ago. The last thing heard from him wasn't a whisper though.
He wasn't a whisperer. He was an idiot, who, as noted, not only got himself killed, but his girlfriend. He forgot the most basic, most important fundamental - respect. Respect for the strength, capacity, and wildness of a great animal. This doesn't just apply to predators. More folks are injured in Yellowstone by bison than any other animal - because the bison doesn't behave nervous or intimidated by humans, folks come too close to 'em. The people forget that's a half-ton wild animal, designed to defend itself against wolves, lions, and bears (oh, my!). Some idiot with a Minolta doesn't stand a chance, should the bison opt to create some space.
Years ago, in Maine, I saw a scenario that was rife with nasty possibilities. There was a big, big, bull moose grazing in someone's yard, just 30 feet into somebody's front yard. A line of cars had parked to take pictures. There was a steady flow of traffic, in between the cars parked on either side of the road. Some overweight soul, in sky-blue tight shorts, decided they had to get reeeaalll close to the moose for a picture. They placed themselves between a rock and a hard place - between a 1,000 lb bull moose, and a line of cars, backed by a flow of steady traffic. And, started getting closer to the moose.
Through the providence that protects stupid people, the moose only reared his head up and stared at the moron. If the moose had decided to charge, the photographer had only two choices: hit by moose, or hit by car. Ya gotta leave yourself a better option than those.
