Do People Really Eat Bear Meat? The RFK Jr. Central Park Story Raises Questions

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has confessed to being the reason why a dead bear cub was found alongside a bicycle in Central Park in 2014. The original incident generated a lot of buzz due to the nature of the find — bears are not native to the famed New York City park — and many people wondered how the cub came to be there, especially since the body was posed next to the bike. Kennedy has decided to come clean about the so-called prank after learning that he would be outed in an upcoming feature.

According to the presidential candidate, who is a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, he had originally picked the bear's body up from the side of the road after the animal was killed in a hit-and-run. Kennedy's original plan was to skin and eat the bear, but after he forgot the cub was in his car, he instead decided to dump the body in the park. This has ignited a flurry of questions on social media, with a lot of folks wondering if people can actually eat bear meat as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims.

Do people eat bear meat? Yes, hunters have been known to dine on the big game.

If you're anything like me, when you think of bears you think of big and cuddly looking creatures, and not food — but apparently, some hunters like to go after the animals for that very reason. According to sources like the Massachusetts government's website, bear meat is edible, and high in nutrients including protein, iron, and phosphorus.

That being said, it's illegal to buy and sell bear meat in the U.S., per Outdoor Life. which means that only hunters with special licenses are permitted to kill bears and use their meat.

What does bear meat taste like?

If you're someone who enjoys eating wild game , you may be disappointed by the taste of bear meat. According to one Outdoor Life writer, bear meat is considered a second-tier meat that pales in comparison to most other game. Of course, this varies from bear to bear, with Redditor @N907P claiming that brown bear meat is less flavorful than black bear meat.

Another Redditor, who goes by the handle @least-courage-7610, finds it similar to deer or boar, but claims that it's denser and has a more gamey taste than the smaller animals do.

Hunting bears raises ethical and environmental concerns that shouldn't be ignored.

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), animals taken down by hunters rarely die a quick and painless death . Per the Maine BowHunters Alliance via PETA, an estimated half of wild animals shot with a crossbow are only wounded and not killed by the initial contact — which highlights how inhumane the practice can be.

Additionally, bears and other big game creatures that are bred for "sport" hunting can be more prone to diseases, something that experts think may be causing the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) which is fatal to elk and deer. Not only that, but In Defense of Animals points out that many ecosystems rely on big game like bears to continue the natural maintenance of these wildlands that have occurred for hundreds of years.

It sounds like hunting these animals, whether it be for sport or food, threatens that delicate balance, which can possibly upend an entire ecosystem in the process.