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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reflects on a Decade-Old Incident Involving a Bear Cub
In a recent video shared on social media platform X, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recounted a peculiar and controversial episode from ten years ago when he found a dead bear cub on the road. His initial intent was to collect the animal for its meat, which he planned to store in his refrigerator.
Hunting regulations in New York permit residents to hunt for one bear per year, provided the process is properly reported and tagged. However, the law explicitly prohibits the intentional killing of a bear cub.
During his conversation with actress Roseanne Barr in the video, Kennedy described the moment he discovered the young bear after it was struck by a vehicle. He recalled, “I was driving up really early, and a woman in a van in front of me hit the bear and killed it.” After finding the bear, he placed it in the back of his van.
Kennedy mentioned that after several hours of driving with the bear, he had pressing commitments, including catching a flight. “I didn’t want to leave the bear in the car because that would have been bad,” he noted.
Under the influence of his friends, who had been drinking, Kennedy was persuaded to abandon the bear’s carcass in Central Park, despite claiming he was sober. He explained that they concocted a plan where he would leave the bear on the roadside, making it look like it had been hit by a car. Additionally, he left a bicycle next to the bear to add to the scene. “We thought it would be amusing for whoever found it,” Kennedy remarked.
He expressed surprise when the incident garnered national attention after a passerby discovered the bear. Reflecting on this unexpected outcome, he shared, “Luckily, the story died after a while, and it stayed dead for a decade.”
A 2014 New York Times article seems to reference this particular incident, although the timeline remains somewhat ambiguous. According to the report, a woman stumbled upon the bear cub hidden under some bushes, partially obscured by an abandoned bicycle.
In an interesting twist, the author of the Times article, Tatiana Schlossberg, is the granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, making her a cousin to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy decided to disclose his involvement in the incident ahead of a potential article from The New Yorker, which would include details about the bear episode. “The New Yorker somehow found out about it, and they’re gonna do a big article on me, and that’s one of the articles. So they asked me, the fact-checkers. It’s gonna be a bad story,” he said, sharing a laugh with Barr.
This is not Kennedy’s first brush with controversy involving an animal. He recently faced backlash over allegations that he barbecued and consumed a dog. As of now, a representative from Kennedy’s presidential campaign has not provided any comments regarding this incident.
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