same reason i suppose some people respect dale earnhart. If you race cars you know what could happen so i dont see much difference. Bringing the girlfriend along was not a smart idea though.. she was likely on the rag.
the audio of it is quite disturbing , you can hear the bears crushing his skull with its teeth
here is the audio of it..
http://media.putfile.com/Tim-Treadwell-bear-attack
You can hear the girlfriend tell him to play dead then later tell him to fight back , then you can hear him tell her to hit the bear with the pan , thats when it gets her, he should have told her to run