Mystery of black bear cub found dead on bicycle in New York's Central Park

A three-foot bear was found dead Monday morning in Central Park with signs of trauma. At around 9:45am, the cub was found beneath some bushes by a dog-walker in an area that is crowded throughout the day. “The bicycle was under the bushes and part of the bicycle was sticking out, and that’s what we saw,” Florence Slatkin said.



Slatkin said she went to investigate after seeing the bicycle sticking out from under a bush. “We went over and looked and there was something laying on the back wheel. I thought it was a raccoon, but when I went closer it looked like a dead dog,” Slatkin said. Slatkin called over some workers with the park conservancy and that’s when they realized it was a bear.

“It was awful, because obviously this animal didn’t die naturally,” she said. Sources say the bear had stab and slash wounds on its body. It’s not believed that the bear lived in New York City, but rather was dumped from a car considering the proximity to the roadway.


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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took possession of the bear and drove it up to Albany where it will undergo a necropsy. The NYPD is investigating this as an animal cruelty case. It is a violation of the health code to dispose of an animal’s body in the park. If found, the offender faces possible health code violation charges in addition to possible animal cruelty charges.

Update: Apparently the cub died after being struck by a car.