A beloved “walking bear” who warmed the hearts of animal lovers across the globe is feared to have been shot and killed by hunters.
Pedals the bear became an internet superstar after videos of him walking upright on two legs went viral.
New Jersey residents who saw the bear strolling around the suburbs remarked that he looked like a character from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon - or a human wearing a bear suit.
But Pedals' official Facebook page has claimed that the black bear had been slaughtered in the past week.
The statement read: “The hunter who has wanted him dead for nearly three years had the satisfaction of putting an arrow through him, bragging at the station.
“For the hundreds and thousands of animal lovers who were following this story, I am sorry we have this sad news to bring you.
“Pedals is at peace now because his beautiful soul left his body when he was killed."
It is unknown if Pedals walked upright because of an injury to his paws or if he had picked up the behaviour from humans.
The page claims that Pedals was killed during the black bear hunting season in New Jersey.
From Monday to Friday, hunters were allowed to kill black bears with a bow and arrow for the first time since the 1960s.
About 487 bears were killed by hunters in New Jersey last week.
But a statement from Department of Environmental Protection said they had received the body of an injured bear but could not confirm it was Pedals.
The statement read: “The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has received multiple requests for information regarding the status of an upright bear, based on hearsay accounts recently posted on social media.
“While the Division appreciates the concern for the bear, it has no way of verifying the identity of any bear that has not been previously tagged or had a DNA sample previously taken.
“Without any prior scientific data taken from a bear, it is not possible to verify the identity of a bear that has been harvested.”
The Department of Environmental Protection added that pictures of the dead bear would be released shortly.
