A New Jersey hunter has become the hunted — at least on social media, where he’s being accused of killing a beloved upright-walking black bear known as Pedals.
The bow-and-arrow-shooting bar owner from Somerset County has been threatened on Facebook and elsewhere while being ripped as a “murdering cowardly bastard’’ who “tormented an innocent animal.”
“We will relentlessly bring him down,’’ one writer rages.
“I hope and pray that someone [is] hunting you,’’ another says.
The man was accused of previously posting a taunting message on a Facebook page dedicated to the famous bear. The man allegedly said he was going to have “something’’ for Pedals during the week of Oct. 10, the start of the state’s bear-hunting season.
A hunter then hauled a 333-pound dead bear into a state gaming station in Morris County to register his kill Oct. 10 — and boasted that it was Pedals.
State officials on Monday appeared to confirm Pedals was killed in the hunt, releasing photos of the slain bear that they said resembled the upright-walking bear in that he had a similar chest marking and his front paws were maimed.
“Bears with a variety of injuries are occasionally brought to weigh stations, and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has no way of conclusively verifying the identity of any bear that has not been previously tagged or had a DNA sample previously taken,’’ said Bob Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, in an email Monday.
“However, the injured paws and chest blaze of this particular adult bear … appear to be consistent with the bear seen walking upright on several videos taken from North Jersey residents over the past two years.’’
Pedals first gained fame in 2014, when a video of him walking around on his hind legs went viral. He can be seen in the footage standing so upright that he looks like a man in a bear costume.
The hunter being targeted online for killing Pedals insists he didn’t do it, the man’s neighbor told The Post on Monday.
“I spoke to him last night. He said he did not kill the bear,’’ said the woman, who refused to give her name.
“He is a hunter, so a lot of people have a lot of bad things to say about him. People are crazy. He hunts for food. He’s a nice person. He just feels he doesn’t need to come out and explain himself to people who don’t know him or what he is all about.”
Another resident said, “I think he made the comment on Facebook, but I think it was just a joke. He’s a very nice person. I don’t believe he killed that bear.”
A group called Justice for Pedals the Bear said it already has more than 3,000 signatures on a petition calling for the hunting license of Pedals’ killer to be revoked.
But Janine Motta, program director for the Bear Education and Resource Group, told The Post, “I don’t know if we’re ever really going to know for certain who killed him, if he was killed.”
Still, she said, the controversy is at least shining a spotlight on the issue of bear hunting in the state.
Proposed legislation that would ban bear hunting in New Jersey for five years was renamed “Pedals’ Law’’ on Monday.
The proposal was approved by the state Senate Economic Growth Committee the same day and now moves to the full Senate for a vote.
Meanwhile, Considine defended the department’s refusal to bend to animal rights activists’ previous demand to tranquilize and move Pedals to a sanctuary.
“While many have developed an emotional attachment to the upright bear, it is important to recognize that all black bears are wildlife. They are not pets,’’ Considine said.
“They are capable of doing damage, even in a compromised state. Additionally, there is no practical way to protect any single bear out of the estimated 3,000 bears roaming wild in bear country.
“The northwest quadrant of New Jersey has more black bears per square mile than any other location in North America, as well as one of the nation’s highest bear reproduction rates, due largely to abundant food sources and excellent habitat,’’ he added.