Pedals, a famed black bear who wandered around New Jersey on two legs like a human, appears to have been killed in the state’s first sanctioned bow and arrow hunt in four decades.
Wildlife officials said the body of a 333lb bear with Pedals’ markings and known paw injuries was taken to a weigh station by a hunter near Rockaway in New Jersey’s rural north. Anti-hunt activists said they were certain that Pedals was one of the 562 bears shot by bows and muzzle-loading guns in the six-day hunt, the first of its kind in more than 40 years.
Pedals gained internet fame through a series of videos taken of his exploits over the past two years. The bear was filmed walking around various houses, upright on its hind legs. Despite injuries to his front paws that caused his unusual gait, Pedals had apparently adapted and was surviving well in the wild.
“We wanted Pedals to go to a sanctuary to live the rest of his life without the threat of a hunt looming over him because someone wanted to pop him off because he was an internet sensation,” said Angi Metler, director of the Bear Education and Resource Program.
“The hunters were gunning for it. It’s disturbing that someone would go and do this. If you don’t get upset about this, there’s something wrong with you.”
A spokesman for the New Jersey division of fish and wildlife said there was no conclusive way of identifying Pedals as he wasn’t tagged. But he added that the chest markings and injured paws “appear to be consistent with the bear seen walking upright on several videos taken from north Jersey residents over the past two years”.
New Jersey has allowed the bear hunts to help create a “sustainable” bear population amid increased interactions between bears and humans, who have built homes on their traditional habitat. Officials say there are about 3,000 bears in the state, with New Jersey having the highest density of black bears per square mile of any state.
“While many have developed an emotional attachment to the upright bear, it is important to recognize that all black bears are wildlife,” said the fish and wildlife spokesman. “They are not pets. They are capable of doing damage, even in a compromised state.”
The state’s position has been backed by hunters who say they are helping maintain a balanced ecosystem. But anti-hunt activists are outraged and have found some support politically, with state representative Raymond Lesniak, a Democrat, putting forward a bill that would ban bear hunting for five years while non-lethal alternatives are explored.
This legislation has little chance of success given the support Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor and erstwhile presidential candidate, has given bear hunting.
“This is definitely Christie’s bear hunt,” said Metler. “Three previous governors saw through the malarkey of this bear hunting. When we get a new governor, we hope to stop the bear hunt for good.”