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The anecdote added another odd episode to Kennedy's long history with dead animals.

In August 2024, just weeks before Kennedy ended his presidential campaign, the New Yorker revealed he was responsible for the mysterious black-bear cub carcass that was discovered in Central Park a decade earlier.

In 2014, Kennedy pulled over, loaded the dead cub into his car and later drove to Manhattan, where he placed the carcass in Central Park in an attempt to make it look as if it had been struck and killed by a cyclist.

Kennedy confirmed the story in August 2024, saying he and his friends "thought it would be amusing for whoever found it."

About a month after the bear cub revelation, Kennedy found himself under federal investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for allegedly using a chainsaw to decapitate a dead beached whale in Massachusetts more than 30 years ago.