Cocaine Bear (bear)

Cocaine Bear
A taxidermy black bear mounted inside a store. The bear is wearing a blue hat emblazoned with a white letter "K".
Cocaine Bear taxidermied in Lexington, Kentucky
Other name(s)Pablo Eskobear, Cokey the Bear
SpeciesAmerican black bear
SexFemale[1]
Bornunknown
Diedlate 1985
Cause of deathCocaine intoxication
Resting placeLexington, Kentucky
Known forAs a monument
Weight175 lb (79 kg)

Cocaine Bear, also known as Pablo Eskobear (sometimes spelled Escobear)[2][3] or Cokey the Bear,[4] was a 175-pound (79-kilogram) female American black bear that fatally overdosed on cocaine in 1985. The cocaine had been dropped by a group of 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 comedy thriller film Cocaine Bear,[5] as well as the 2023 documentary film Cocaine Bear: The True Story.[6]

  1. ^ https://www.wsj.com/articles/cocaine-bear-true-story-movie-lexington-kentucky-94aadc1c [bare URL]
  2. ^ Box, Christy (March 16, 2021). "Cocaine Bear Is A Real Movie – And It's Based on a True Story". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  3. ^ "'Cocaine Bear' is based on a true story: Pablo Eskobear, who overdosed". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. ^ "Cocaine Bear, Lexington, Kentucky". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  5. ^ "True story of bear who consumed duffel bag of cocaine and got Hollywood treatment". The Independent. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "Peacock announces 'Cocaine Bear: The True Story' documentary to premiere alongside hit movie". SYFY Official Site. April 13, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.