Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Dead Bear Cub+ Abandoned Bike+ Central Park = "Death by Car?"



Squirrel killed by speeding cyclist in Central Park, 8-13. Did bear cub meet the same fate?



If it doesn't make sense, it's usually not true.
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One thing that doesn't make sense is that someone would accidentally kill an animal by car, stop and pick the animal off the road (or highway) and then drive to and dump the body in Central Park.
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But, that is what we are apparently asked to believe regarding the 6-month-old bear cub found dead in Central Park, a couple of days ago.
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According to today's article in the New York Times, a necropsy was conducted on the cub and it revealed that she died from "blunt force injury" associated with a "motor vehicle."
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The article then goes on to report that bears are not normally found in CP and that none escaped from any local zoos.
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But, one important side note to this story is that an abandoned bike was found immediately next to the body -- something reporters don't seem to be questioning.

(This video from CBS actually shows the bicycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bHVCYxJ9Fo&index=36&list=UUNZyLULUQBp5e9Q1cKtvk6Q) 
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Though rare, once in a while, a wild animal wanders into Central Park. A few years ago, a coyote managed to negotiate traffic and found her way to CP. (She was later captured and was reported to have been released in upstate New York.)
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While it would be unusual for a bear to find his/her way to Central Park through all the city traffic, it would presumably not be impossible. For sure, it would have to be a pretty smart and car wary bear.
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But, the bear would not necessarily be bike wary.
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Speeding bikes have been a problem in Central Park and throughout the city.  Two people were killed by bikes in Central Park over the past two months and I personally saw a squirrel killed by a bike last year.
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Because she was a youngster, the cub reportedly was only 3 feet tall (44 lbs) and so she would be easily as vulnerable to a speeding bike as any adult human.
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What one wonders, is why has not more question or attention been directed towards the abandoned bike (in such close proximity to bear) if trying to solve the mystery?
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People don't normally abandon bikes in the park unless presumably something is wrong with them. Collision with a 44 lb animal would likely cause damage to a bicycle -- perhaps so much so, it could not be ridden further.
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Certainly it seems too much of a "coincidence" that a bike would be abandoned practically on top of the dead bear cub without it having connection to the actual death.
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I called the Central Park Conservancy a while ago, but no one knew whether the abandoned bike was checked for damages. Apparently, no reporters are asking the question.
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Perhaps it is trivial on my part to be questioning, but it seems important to know.
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Then again, perhaps it is a question officials and press don't really want to ask -- especially in light of the recent human deaths in Central Park due to bike collisions?
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Its seems sad to think that a little lost bear cub would have made her way through all the noise, crowds and traffic of the city to find herself seemingly safe in Central Park. -- But then only to get mowed down by a speeding bicycle.
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Its theory of course -- my theory based on reported media information and personal knowledge of problems in Central Park.
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But, it makes far more sense than the little cub getting killed on some country highway and the person stopping to pick up and drive to Central Park to dump her body.  Anything is possible of course, but that makes zero sense.
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Dead bear cub+abandoned bicycle+Central Park just don't add up to "death by car."  -- PCA
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