The Cocaine Bear, also known as Pablo Eskobear (sometimes spelled Escobear), was a 175-pound (79-kilogram) American black bear that overdosed on cocaine in 1985. The cocaine had been dropped by drug smugglers in the wilderness in Tennessee, United States. The bear was found dead in northern Georgia and was stuffed and displayed at a mall in Kentucky. It inspired the 2023 action-comedy film, Cocaine Bear.

History

On September 11, 1985, former American narcotics officer and Kentucky-based drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II was trafficking cocaine from Colombia into the United States. After dropping off a shipment in Blairsville, Georgia, Thornton and an accomplice departed in an auto-piloted Cessna 404 Titan. En route, the duo dropped a load of 40 plastic containers of cocaine into the wilderness before abandoning the plane above Knoxville, Tennessee. Thornton was instantly killed in the evacuation when his parachute failed to open. According to the FBI, Thornton dumped his cargo due to the weight being too heavy in-flight.

On December 23, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported finding a dead black bear that had eaten the cocaine from the containers. The total amount of cocaine eaten was 75 pounds (34 kilograms), valued at 2 million dollars. The chief medical examiner from the Georgia State Crime Lab, Dr. Kenneth Alonso, stated that its stomach was "literally packed to the brim with cocaine", though he estimated the bear had absorbed only 3 to 4 grams into its bloodstream at the time of its death.

Dr. Alonso did not want to waste the body of the bear, so he had it taxidermied and gave it to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. However, the bear was lost until it emerged again in a pawn shop. Eventually it made its way to the "Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall" in Lexington, Kentucky where it remains to this day.

In popular culture

On March 9, 2021, Universal Pictures announced that a film, Cocaine Bear, was in development. It was also confirmed that the film would be directed by Elizabeth Banks. However, the film takes some liberties, as the real events which occurred between the bear's ingestion of cocaine and its death are not known; notably, the bear did not kill any people, unlike the bear portrayed in the film. The film is scheduled to be released on February 24, 2023.

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  • Asa_the_Red [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've been experiencing odd moments of pure happiness lately. Well it's not exactly happiness per se, though it does feel good. If I could put it in words it's more like the feeling of awe you get when you look up at something massive towering above you.

    The most common time I get it is looking up at the clouds on my drive home. Its not exactly odd in that case since there are really big clouds as its rainy and they're very beautiful, but I've never felt this way by just looking at clouds. When it hits me its a lot like the sensations I got when visiting the redwoods. It's a sense of clarity and peace, a feeling of being a tiny being dwarfed by ancient giants; its the smell of crisp clean air of the coast and the forest, the calm serenity in silence. Its like Im reliving all those moments over and over and it never gets old. Idk if there's a word for it, it's spiritual in a sense.

    But I also get little flashes of that feeling when I'm doing completely mundane things like working. Like, I'll be stacking boxes or driving my forklift and suddenly everything around me fills me with wonder. Like the experience of living, of existence itself, goes from completely average to amazing. It feels good, it's a wonderful feeling, but Idk it's also a very strange sensation at the same time. I struggle with depression so I know what it's like to feel the opposite of this, but I dont think this is what people without depression feel like... maybe its the juxtaposition between how I expect daily life to feel (bad) vs how its beginning to feel (normal) that makes it seem so much better? Except I haven't been deeply depressed for years so I dont think its that. Idk, maybe my mind is just so bored it started tapping into memories and emotions it enjoys.

    • Nagarjuna [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think this is just what poking out of the Malaise feels like. I get this every spring and every time I go camping.

      • Asa_the_Red [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I mean, I guess it could just be that. I still think its very odd that im getting feelings of exaltation while walking around in a warehouse.