Why did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dump a dead bear in Central Park? What we know now (2024)

Nearly 10 years ago, a black bear cub's body was discovered under the bushes in Central Park near West 69th Street, partially obscured by an abandoned bicycle.

At the time, passersby speculated that the cub had been separated from her mother, and experienced a traumatic death, The New York Times reported in October 2014. The discovery rattled New Yorkers, who by all means, can usually say with confidence that they'd "seen it all." Nearly a decade later, the mystery of how the bear cub's body got to the park's Main Loop may be a step closer to being solved — or not.

On Sunday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — independent candidate for president whose campaign has been bogged down by numerous controversies such as whether or not he lives in Westchester County, questionable opinions on vaccines and his affinity for conspiracy theories — admitted to Roseanne Barr in a bizarre video post to X that he dumped the dead body of a "young black bear" in Central Park in 2014.

Here's everything we know about RFK Jr.'s viral admission so far.

More: What did RFK Jr. tell Roseanne Barr about dumping bear's body in Central Park? See the video

RFK Jr. says he was driving to the Hudson Valley when he saw bear get hit

Kennedy said he was on his way to meet people in the Hudson Valley when he saw a van hit a young bear.

"I pulled over, and put him in the back of my van, because I was gonna skin the bear, and it was in very good condition, and I was gonna put the meat in my refrigerator," he said. "And you can do that in New York State. You can get a bear tag for roadkill bear."

Kennedy said that he then went "hawking" with the bear in his car.

After late dinner at Peter Luger, Kennedy didn't want to leave bear in car

"Instead of going back to my home in Westchester, I had to go right to the city 'cause there was a dinner at Peter Luger Steak House," RFK Jr. says in the video.

Because the dinner went late, Kennedy realized he had to go the airport instead of heading home. He didn't want to leave the bear in the car, "because that would have been bad."

RFK Jr. says he staged scene to look like bear got hit by a bike

"This was a little bit of the redneck in me," he said, going on to reference that there had been a series of bike accidents in the city at the time, and since he had an "old bike" in his car, he suggested that they "go put the bear in Central Park and we'll make it look like it got hit by a bike."

RFK Jr.'s account is consistent with details of the scene reported by the New York Times in 2014: a bystander saw the cub's body partially obscured by an abandoned bicycle.

2014 investigation revealed cause of death for black bear cub

A necropsy conducted by the New York State Department of Conservation in 2014 on the black bear cub's body inferred that she had died from “blunt force injuries consistent with a motor vehicle collision.”

This is consistent with RFK Jr.'s account: he says he saw the bear cub get hit by a van while driving to the Hudson Valley.

What was RFK Jr. up to in 2014?

RFK Jr. was known as an environmental advocate by 2014, having been named one of the "Heroes of the Planet" in 1999 by Time Magazine, for his work in helping to restore and protect the Hudson River with Riverkeeper. At the time, he was a practicing environmental justice attorney.

On September 30, 2014, he was slated to give a lecture titled “Our Environmental Destiny” at Western Connecticut State University. The bear cub was discovered less than a week later in Central Park.

In 2005, he wrote "Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy" , published by Harper Collins.

RFK Jr.'s residency in Westchester on trial this week in Albany

Meanwhile, Kennedy is at the center of another odd fiasco, this one centered on the question of his residency in Westchester County. He moved out to California with his wife in 2014, but insists his true home is in Westchester County, at a home owned by friends in Katonah. This, he argues, allowed him to claim New York residency on petitions in New York (and 17 other states) for a long-shot independent campaign for president.

But an ongoing court case is challenging those residency claims, saying Kennedy in fact does not live in Katonah and that his petitions should be tossed, keeping him off the ballot in New York in November. The case will be heard this week in Albany, with a decision expected in coming days.

The USA TODAY Network's New York State team contributed reporting for this article.