Mystery over black bear cub found dead in NY's Central Park - was it murdered?

A black bear cub was found dead in New York's Central Park on Monday.

According to the New York Post, the cub's mutilated remains were discovered under a bush at the foot of a Civil War monument near West 69th Street and West Drive by two women walking their dogs at around 9:30 a.m.

The female cub appeared to have suffered traumatic injury but it remains unclear how it died, reports the BBC.

The NYPD's Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad said the bear apparently was slashed and stabbed.

Residents and police are at a loss to explain how it got there. Bears are not known to live in the park which is located at the centre of the densely populated cities and no bears were reported missing from local zoos.

However, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, has one of the largest black bear densities in the US.

Police suspect the baby bear was killed elsewhere and dumped in the park.

Investigators with the New York Police Department's animal cruelty squad combed the site on the park's west side for clues and concluded the corpse had been dragged there.

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