--- description: The independent presidential candidate confessed to dropping off the bear cub carcass in a mysterious incident a decade ago. title: RFK Jr. Admits to Leaving Dead Bear in Central Park image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2b96d1c2deb2601/698a59a1e6e84a063a2b33e8/rfk-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2024 Elections](/tag/2024-election/) ## 2024 Elections Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # RFK Jr. Admits to Leaving Dead Bear in Central Park in Bizarre New Video ## Video: TIME DC Report: Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr. [Watch (HLS stream): TIME DC Report: Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/32U2oXdJ.m3u8) (19:58)  _Published 2023-06-20. TIME Senior Correspondents Vera Bergengruen and Molly Ball discuss the controversial 2024 presidential candidate RFK Jr. Vera Bergengruen visited Kennedy at his Los Angeles home for a profile in TIME.com._ by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Aug 5, 2024 12:36 PM CUT  Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a House hearing on Capitol Hill on July 20, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a House hearing on Capitol Hill on July 20, 2023 in Washington, D.C.Anna Moneymaker–Getty Images by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Aug 5, 2024 12:36 PM CUT Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has confessed to [retrieving a bear carcass](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/us/politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-bear-central-park.html "undefined") killed by a motorist and [leaving it](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/05/rfk-jr-kennedy-bear-story-central-park-new-york "undefined") in New York’s Central Park with a bicycle on top 10 years ago in a bizarre new [video he posted on X](https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1820132549798347109 "undefined") on Sunday. The video, which was shared with the caption, “Looking forward to seeing how you spin this one, @NewYorker,” came ahead of a [critical profile](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/robert-f-kennedy-jr-profile-presidential-campaign "undefined") of the independent presidential candidate published on Monday. While recounting the story to actress Roseanne Barr, RFK Jr. said that he had been driving in upstate New York on his way to a hunting trip when a woman driving in front of him hit a bear with her car, accidentally killing it. “I pulled over and I picked up the bear and put him in the back of my van because I was gonna skin the bear and … put the meat in my refrigerator,” he said. **Read More:**[_Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr._](https://time.com/6287001/rfk-jr-interview-2024-campaign/ "undefined") RFK Jr. said that the hunting trip ran late and he had dinner plans and needed to be at the airport that evening. “The bear was in my car and I didn’t want to leave the bear in my car because that would have been bad,” he added. At that time, fatal bicycle accidents in New York City that were getting major media attention. RFK Jr.’s friends, who were drinking, decided to leave the bear carcass with an old bicycle he had. “We thought it would be amusing for whoever found it,” RFK Jr. said. Two women walking their dogs discovered the bear the next day and alerted police. “To think people would do something like this to an animal—very disturbing,” one resident [told CBS news](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/bear-cub-found-dead-in-central-park-nypd-investigating-as-animal-cruelty/ "undefined"). The carcass was sent to Albany for a necropsy, which said that the animal was likely hit by a motor vehicle and was not a case of animal cruelty. This is not the first unusual incident involving RFK Jr. during his longshot presidential campaign. Earlier this year, he denied eating a dog after a friend showed [Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/robert-kennedy-jr-shocking-history "undefined") a photo of him about to take a bite of a charred animal. RFK Jr. also [revealed in May](https://time.com/6976025/rfk-jr-brain-parasite/ "undefined") that he suffered memory loss more than a decade ago, potentially related to a parasite doctors found in his brain. ### More From TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/"},"headline":"RFK Jr. Admits to Leaving Dead Bear in Central Park in Bizarre New Video","datePublished":"2024-08-05T12:36:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T18:05:24.238Z","description":"The independent presidential candidate confessed to dropping off the bear cub carcass in a mysterious incident a decade ago.","url":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/","keywords":["2024 Elections"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2b96d1c2deb2601/698a59a1e6e84a063a2b33e8/rfk-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anna Gordon","jobTitle":"Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2b96d1c2deb2601/698a59a1e6e84a063a2b33e8/rfk-bear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Robert Kennedy Jr Testifies At House Hearing On Weaponization Of Government","caption":"RFK Bear","creditText":"Anna Moneymaker–Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-election/","name":"2024 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/","name":"RFK Jr. Admits to Leaving Dead Bear in Central Park in Bizarre New Video"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME DC Report: Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr.","description":"TIME Senior Correspondents Vera Bergengruen and Molly Ball discuss the controversial 2024 presidential candidate RFK Jr. Vera Bergengruen visited Kennedy at his Los Angeles home for a profile in TIME.com.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/32U2oXdJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-06-20T15:09:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/32U2oXdJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/","duration":"PT19M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7007802/rfk-bear-carcass-central-park/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```