RFK Jnr ‘dumped dead bear in city park’
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jnr once retrieved a bear that was killed by a motorist and left it in New York’s Central Park with a bicycle on top, sparking a mystery that consumed the city a decade ago.
Kennedy describes the incident in a video that was posted to social media, adding it would be included in a forthcoming New Yorker article that he expected to be damaging.
It was the latest bizarre turn in Kennedy’s quixotic campaign that has divided his famous family and left Republicans and Democrats alike concerned about his potential impact on the contest for the White House.
Kennedy has acknowledged a parasite that lodged in his brain and died. He denied eating a dog after a friend shared a photo with Vanity Fair magazine showing Kennedy dramatically preparing to take a bite of a charred animal; Kennedy said it was a goat.
In the video, Kennedy recounted the bear story to actress Roseanne Barr. He said he was heading to a falconry excursion with friends when a woman driving ahead of him hit and killed the young bear with her car. He said he put it in his vehicle, intending to skin it and eat the meat, but the day got away from him.
Eventually, he said, he was in Manhattan and needed to get the bear carcass out of his vehicle. His friends, fuelled by alcohol, concocted the Central Park plan as a prank, he said, adding he was not drunk himself.
At the time, bicycle accidents were getting media attention, so Kennedy and his friends thought it would be funny to make it look like the bear was hit by a bicycle.
Two women found the dead bear and alerted authorities, touching off a mystery that captivated the city for a few days. Bears are not part of the park’s known wildlife population.