On today’s blog we will be discussing some interesting animal stories from the famed man eating lions to the Pig War and, of course, the cocaine bear, along with a couple other interesting animal stories.
Alright so I had some fun researching this one. And I just want to give a shout out to some honorable mentions that we aren’t going to go into too much detail, but deserve some air time. In 2011, a woman was fighting to keep her service animal from being taken away by the city of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I should probably mention at this point that her service animal was a great red kangaroo. This animal is known to get up to 7 feet tall, but this special great red kangaroo had been in an accident with a fence and had brain damage along with some other physical disabilities. The kangaroo, named after Steve Irwin, rides in a car seat and never leaves the house without clothes.
Also in 2019, a 4 foot alligator was found in Humboldt Park Lagoon. The city of Chicago’s most popular park. City officials would not say how the alligator got there, but they put traps around the lagoon in hopes of removing it safely. The city names him Chance the Snapper. It took about a week but wildlife experts were able to finally catch him.
In 2019, a pool cleaner was shot by an iguana hunter in Florida. Florida has been overrun with iguanas over the last decade from 5 sightings in 2007 to 2,700 a year by 2018. The green iguanas are not native to Florida and damage sidewalks, seawalls, and other structures. During a hunting season, a hunter took aim at an iguana, but somehow missed and shot a pool cleaner in a nearby yard. Luckily the pool cleaner was just shot in the leg so he did survive.
Let’s start the episode off right with Gina’s Macabre Moment.
Gina’s Macabre Moment
In 1967, the Glacier National Park’s tourist season came to a halt. Park policies were a lot looser then and campsites were overflowing with garbage that of course attracted wildlife. Among that wildlife were 2 bears, who in a matter of hours each gruesomely mauled a young woman. The park quickly put in better precautions to help prevent further incidents.
Another crazy animal attack was in 1916 when 5 people were attacked by sharks within a 12 day time frame. While 3 of the 5 attacks happened along the Jersey Shore, 2 of the attacks happened in the Matawan Creek which connects to the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey. A bull shark is believed to have been responsible for the 2 attacks in the Matawan Creek.
Pig War
In June of 1859 the United States and Britain began the Pig War, all over, you guessed it…a pig! This “war”, and I’m using quotes because it wasn’t really a war but more of a battle of wills. Anyway, this “war” took place on San Juan Island, near Vancouver. It all started because the island’s ownership was not clearly defined. It is a group of islands that lay between Vancouver island and Washington State. Troops and civilians on the islands were already heated about who actually had claim to the land. It all kind of blew up when a British pig got into an American civilian's potatoes. He shot the pig. British troops in the area were upset and it became a standoff between both sides. Britain believed the American’s (all like 15 of them) were trespassing and now had committed a crime. It resulted in 2,500 men, 5 warships, and 84 cannons. They were all set to do battle when the higher ups got wind of this war. President James Buchanan quickly sent a pair of men to come to a truce and end the war before the battle could begin.
Man-Eating Lions
Now on with the major events that I dug a little more in depth of. First we are going to discuss Tsavo Man-Eating Lions. This story takes place in Kenya during the construction of some bridges in 1898. For those that don’t know, Tsavo is a breed of lions whose males do not have a mane. To me personally, these lions look kind of shaggy. Anyway, it is rumored that two male lions killed 135 men working the construction on a bridge. The workers believed them to be demons and left. Researchers believe that one of the lions killed ten men while the other killed 24. They were finally shot and killed by Lt Col John Henry Patterson who sold the bodies for $5,000. They now reside in the Field Museum in Chicago. The crazy part is that this pride of lions still kills today due to the encroachment of humans onto their territory. The movie ‘Ghost in the Darkness’ is a dramatization of this move.
Cocaine Bear
And now for the most anticipated story topic for this episode…the cocaine bear! Every story I read about this started with a dead body and some missing cocaine. On September 11, 1985, police officers found the body of former paratrooper, police officer, turned drug smuggler, Andrew Carter Thornton II. He was known to move large loads of cocaine from Colombia to the US in his Cessna 404 (a small airplane). I’m going to be honest, I had never heard of this guy, so I did some quick research on him. It sounds like there is some mystery surrounding him.
Some believe that he was working for the CIA and/or FBI because his death led to a lot of ties between some major players in the illegal drug industry. But since we don’t really do much on the conspiracy theories, I left out a lot of that research. I do wonder if it will be discussed in the movie that is set to come out later soon.
Let’s get back to the dead drug smuggler in the driveway…The body was found in a driveway in Knoxville, Tennessee. His body was found wearing a bullet proof vest along with carrying thousands of dollars in cash and 77 pounds of cocaine in a duffle bag strapped to his waist. Authorities found his plane about 60 miles away. According to investigations, Thornton had put his plane on autopilot with a course towards the Atlantic Ocean. He then jumped from the plan but soon discovered neither parachute would work. 3 weeks later another body would be found, but this time it was that of the ill-fated Pablo Escobear, more commonly referred to as cocaine bear. A duffle bag, believed to contain about 75 pounds of cocaine, was also found near the bear. The medical examiner confirmed that the bear had died of a cocaine overdose, having absorbed about 3 to 4 grams into its bloodstream before death. There is a little mystery as to whether the bear ate all the cocaine in the bag or if an enterprising local took it upon him or herself to become the new drug smuggler.
Crazily enough, Pablo Escobear was part of another investigation. The bear was immortalized via taxidermy and given to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. But after being moved to a secure location to protect it from wildfires in the early 90’s, the bear was lost. It showed up in a pawn shop where Waylon Jennings bought it. By the time authorities traced it back to him, he had already given it as a gift to a friend, Ron Thompson, in Vegas where Pable Escobear was displayed until Thompson’s death in 2009. The bear was then bought by a Chinese immigrant for $200 in Reno. The bear was displayed in their traditional Chinese medicine shop until 2012. After that it was put into storage until recently when Kentucky for Kentucky, an organization that promotes Kentucky culture, paid to have the bear shipped back and is now displayed in the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall.
And there you have the hi-story of the Cocaine Bear and other animal stories. If you have any ideas for future blogs, comments, or questions message us at hi.stories673@gmail.com. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @hi_stories673. Also if you want to hear our humorous take, be sure to check out our podcast, streaming on all major platforms! https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/qxzyHeGZJub
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