The Cocaine Bear, also known as Pablo Eskobear (sometimes spelled Escobear), was a 175-pound (79-kilogram) American black bear that overdosed on

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

in 1985. The bear was found dead in northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States, and was later stuffed and displayed at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in the state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. It is the subject of an upcoming 2023 film ''

Cocaine Bear ''Cocaine Bear'' is an upcoming American black comedy thriller film directed and co-produced by Elizabeth Banks from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden. It is inspired by the true story of the "Cocaine Bear", an American black bear who ingested a d ...

''.

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 The Cessna Model 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was that company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and ...

. En route, the duo dropped a load of 40 plastic containers of cocaine into the wilderness before abandoning the plane above

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

. Thornton was instantly killed in the evacuation when his parachute failed to open. According to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

, Thornton dumped their cargo due to the weight being too heavy in-flight. On December 23, the

Georgia Bureau of Investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investig ...

reported finding a dead black bear that had eaten the cocaine from the 40 plastic 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 of the substance 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 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) preserves a series of sites between Atlanta and Lake Sidney Lanier along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, U.S. The 48-mile (77 km) stretch of the river affords public recreation opport ...

. However, the bear was lost until it emerged again in a pawn shop. Country singer

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

bought it, and 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 June 30, 2020, Diplo told the story of Cocaine Bear on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Episode #284 (minute 27:49). On March 9, 2021,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

announced that a film, ''

'', based on the actual Cocaine Bear, was in development. It was also confirmed that the film would be directed by

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

. However, the film takes some liberties, as the real events which occurred between the bear's ingestion of cocaine and its death are unknown; 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. On April 1, 2021,

My Favorite Murder ''My Favorite Murder'' is a weekly true crime comedy podcast hosted by American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The first episode was released in January 2016. The podcast debuted at #25 on the iTunes podcast charts and peaked ...

covers the story of Cocaine Bear in Episode #268 (minute 85:05).

References

{{reflist 1985 animal deaths Cocaine-related deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Individual bears Individual taxidermy exhibits Film characters introduced in 2023