Timothy Treadwell's initiative to save the bears, while admirable, somewhat undermined his purpose.  In my philosophy class, we have been talking a lot about the potential consciousness and rationality of beings other than humans (in this case, bears).  A belief in conscious and self-aware thought would lead to a higher moral standing and therefore greater responsibility on our part to help (or at least avoid hurting) these creatures.  Treadwell believed that the bears would never hurt him - he was a part of their community and he believed that they understood that he was there to help.  The fact that, in the end, he and his girlfriend were killed and partially eaten by a bear somewhat undermines this idea that bears have understanding and conscious/rational thought.