Contrary to the film depiction, the 90kg bear in Georgia died of poisoning from eating 3-4g of cocaine and did not cause any previous vandalism.
The real story about bear eats drugs starting with a man named Andrew Carter Thornton II. Born in 1944, he was the son of a famous horse breeder in Kentucky and became a paratrooper in the US Army, even being awarded the Purple Heart medal when the US invaded the Dominican Republic in 1965. Thornton He was discharged that same year and returned to Kentucky, where he joined the Lexington Police Department’s drug prevention team.
However, Thornton quickly became interested in the drug trade rather than chasing criminals. His adventurous nature prompted him to delve deeper into the drug trade. In 1981, Thornton was charged with flying a plane carrying marijuana from South America to Lexington, Kentucky with 24 other people. Then, in September 1985, Thornton took off on his final drug-smuggling mission, jumping from a plane in Knoxville, Tennessee, with an empty bag of $15 million worth of cocaine. He died due to a malfunction.
Two months after the smuggler’s death, a hunter in Georgia found a bear with a torn empty bag nearby. Later, investigators confirmed it was Thornton’s bag. Medical staff concluded that the bear weighing more than 90kg died of poisoning after eating about 3-4g of cocaine. “That dose is enough to kill anyone”the investigator said.
Scientists don’t know for sure if animals get as high as humans when they use drugs like marijuana or cocaine. Whether animals eat compounds such as catnip, hallucinogenic mushrooms, or alcohol, there is no way to know if they are seeking compounds for recreational purposes. But stimulants do have some effects on animals. For example, reindeer act crazy after eating mushrooms and many wild animals fall asleep after drinking alcohol.
When the cocaine bear was found in the woods, it had been dead for about a month. Contrary to the devastating film behavior, investigators did not report any vandalism or threats prior to its death. Nor did the bear eat all the cocaine that Thornton smuggled. Authorities concluded someone used the rest.
According to dreamer Chris Morgan, although it is likely that the bear experienced a physiological response after ingesting cocaine, Its death is not the story of a drug-addicted bear, but a reflection of how human waste can be dangerous to wildlife. Many cases of animals eating drugs can be explained by curiosity or hunger. While accidental drug exposure is common, it is often the result of human carelessness or cruelty.
Studies show that As people use more and more stimulants, animals are more likely to consume them. One research team found that dogs are at higher risk of opioid toxicity in areas where opioid prescriptions are high. Cannabis poisoning can even make cats and dogs disabled or dead.
Cocaine-eating bears aren’t the only animals threatened by Thornton’s smuggling operations. It was just one of several bags full of drugs that Thornton dumped across the Georgia and Tennessee outback before his fatal skydive. At the time of his death, investigators found evidence that Thornton and his accomplices dropped nearly 400 kilograms of cocaine in the United States. However, they did not record any more cases of bears dying or wreaking havoc due to ingesting cocaine.