https://ithacavoice.org/2025/0...mpus-residence-hall/



Cornell students found skinning bear carcass in campus residence hall


by Matt Butler
September 9, 2025


ITHACA, N.Y. — Sometimes you eat the bear, as the saying goes, and sometimes the bear eats you.

Two Cornell University students encountered a different, third outcome over the weekend.


The two students, who have not been identified, reportedly killed a young black bear and brought the animal to Ganedago Hall, an undergraduate residence hall on North Campus, on Saturday. The students skinned the carcass and packaged the meat, prompting complaints from fellow residents at some point over the weekend.


Cornell officials said an official complaint was submitted to the Cornell University Police Department Sunday night and a police report was made, but no charges have been filed in connection with the incident.

In a photo posted to social media, the partially skinned carcass can be seen atop a table draped with camouflage-patterned tarp in what appears to be one of the building’s shared kitchens. Judging from its size, the bear seems to be a cub, about the size of a large dog.


In an emailed statement, Cornell officials confirmed the incident to The Ithaca Voice.

“Two Cornell undergraduate students with valid New York State hunting licenses killed a bear lawfully over the weekend,” the statement reads. “The students brought the animal into a Cornell residence hall for processing on Saturday.”

Cornell’s Student Code of Conduct does not appear to address animal carcass transportation and processing, or the storage of raw meat.


The legal hunting season for black bears does not begin in this region of New York until Oct. 1 this year, when bowhunting is first allowed, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which sets the state’s hunting season parameters. Similarly, bear hunting season does not open in nearby Pennsylvania until Sept. 20 at the earliest.

New York does, however, allow early bear hunting in the Catskill Mountains between Sept. 6 and Sept. 21 — though according to state regulations, hunters “may not shoot a cub or a bear that should be known to be a cub.”

The unusual nature of the incident has prompted fascination across Cornell’s campus and the greater Ithaca area.


“Today, nearly everyone I’ve spoken with has talked about the bear-skinning,” said Cornell senior and Ithaca Common Council member Clyde Lederman.

“No one has seen Touchdown lately,” Lederman added jokingly, referencing Cornell University’s mascot, also known as the Big Red Bear.

A photo obtained by The Ithaca Voice shows a refrigerator door full of raw meat packed in ziplock freezer bags, apparently taken after the students had finished processing the animal. It’s unclear whether or not the meat in question is of ursine origin.


A spokesperson from the statewide DEC office said they were unaware of the incident. The Cornell University Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the department’s daily crime log has not yet been updated from the weekend.

Big deal.

Let the whiners whine.