Cornell students kill bear, bring it into residence hall to skin and butcher

[Coventina]

ITHACA, N.Y. (WSYR) – Students at Cornell University in upstate New York are concerned after two undergraduates killed a bear and brought it back to their dorm hall, a spokesperson for the school said.

Over the weekend, the students, who are confirmed to have valid New York State hunting licenses, killed the animal and brought it back to a dorm building “for processing,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement shared with Nexstar’s WSYR.

“A police report was made when a complaint was filed late Sunday night,” the spokesperson said.

Pictures circulating in the Cornell University subreddit allege to show the skinned animal laying on a tarp-covered table in what looks to be a shared kitchen area. Cornell’s spokesperson was not immediately available to confirm the veracity of those photos.

Some students expressed concern over the legality of the students’ actions, but a university spokesperson said no charges have been filed.



https://www.woodtv.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/cornell-students-kill-bear-bring-it-into-residence-hall-to-skin-and-butcher/

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I would be beyond pissed off if a roommate or even someone close by did this!

WTF is wrong with people?

On edit: shortened for copyright

[Ping Tung]

1. Will they hang the body parts to decorate the walls of their dorms in the customary way?

Yet they maintain that humans are the very apex of evolution.

[Bayard]

2. Have these kids been hanging out with RFK jr?

It may not be illegal, (cops said,) but its seriously warped. They tried to, "process," it on the communal kitchen table!

[GreenWave]

3. Careful! Worm brain has a taste for bear meat.

[jmowreader]

16. You're pretty much right

Every bear in North America has trichinosis - they’re born with it.

[StarryNite]

4. And of course, no charges.

What's next? Or who is next?

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Even dorm kitchens must have some enforcement of sanitation laws. This was unbelievably stupid. nt

[choie]

9. Stupid?

It's inhumane.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. How do you think people process their own kills?

[Paladin]

13. Somewhere other than a college dorm kitchen, as a general rule.

No excuse for this.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. My question was more about "sanitation laws" than the specificity of a dorm.

[eppur_se_muova]

28. AFAIK most people do this partly in the field and outside at home, but not in a kitchen which is not their property ...

and where no one would have given them permission to do any such thing. Other students share this kitchen, and don't want bear parasites, bodily fluid, and offal anywhere near their food. If you did this in your own apartment, you'd likely violate your lease, and possibly local ordinances as well. College dorms have their own regulations, and this could not have been OK with Cornell's admin.

You couldn't slaughter a cow in a dorm kitchen. Just too unsanitary.

Now, carving up a side of beef -- if you were neat and cleaned up any mess, that wouldn't be much different from slicing any packaged meat you brought home from the butcher, or a frozen, gutted chicken. You can trust them to be reasonably clean, and to have been subject to inspection -- something of which a wild bear kill cannot be assumed.

What if they had dressed a deer, and gotten ticks all over the kitchen ? That could have spread Lyme disease, among other things.

There are a lot of reasons not to do this, and no good reason to do it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

35. "not in a kitchen which is not their property" -- again, my question is more about "sanitation laws."

Other students share this kitchen, and don't want bear parasites, bodily fluid, and offal anywhere near their food.

If these hunters were legit, they field dressed the bear -- bled it and removed its internal organs -- and brought back meat to process. They're not starting from scratch with an intact body.

If you did this in your own apartment, you'd likely violate your lease, and possibly local ordinances as well.

I doubt this very much.

You couldn't slaughter a cow in a dorm kitchen. Just too unsanitary.

As I say, the removal of the blood and organs definitely happens outside. But after that, you have one giant piece of meat.

You can trust them to be reasonably clean, and to have been subject to inspection -- something of which a wild bear kill cannot be assumed.

Inspection of factory meat is done because industrial conditions make it likely that the meat has been contaminated in some way. Meat from a freshly killed animal is generally clean and any parasites you'd get (say, trichinosis) are taken care of through thorough cooking.

What if they had dressed a deer, and gotten ticks all over the kitchen ?

Ideally they'd have skinned it outside. But a tick infestation isn't going to arise from a dead deer in a kitchen.

There are a lot of reasons not to do this, and no good reason to do it.

Don't get me wrong, it was pretty rude. I just find it weird the way everyone jumps to punishment (calling the cops, lease violations, sanitation laws, etc.).

[eppur_se_muova]

45. You obviously never lived in ANY of the dorms or apartments I did.

People get evicted for loud stereos, blocking the walkway, pets where not allowed, all kinds of things that might seem kind of trivial to you but that the landlords have learned will cause big trouble if not dealt with strictly.

People who own or manage buildings generally have contracts for tenants to sign that have real legal teeth. In any disagreement between you and a landlord, bet on the landlord. It's just a fact of life you have to learn to live with. Don't be a dick to your landlord, or you'll have learn to live in the red light district where no tenant applicants are rejected and non-refundable rent deposits are through the roof.

Dorms may be a bit more relaxed than apartments, but people who get kicked out of dorms face a rude awakening when they start dealing with leases and landlords ("You got kicked out of your last apartment, so your application was rejected. No, you don't get your application fee back.&quot , so it's best to live within dorm rules.



PS: I will never eat dinner at your house, no matter how grand or how freely offered, or how hungry I might be. If you think freshly killed animals are "clean", I hope for your family's sake that you keep your life insurance paid up.

BTW, inspection of factory meat is done because cows are brought in with all manner of diseases and parasites, and no small amount of shit clinging to them. Not every cow that enters a slaughter house does so under its own power, or even still breathing. (Yeah, it's illegal -- but if the inspector looks away ...)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

47. .

You obviously never lived in ANY of the dorms or apartments I did.
People get evicted for loud stereos, blocking the walkway, pets where not allowed, all kinds of things that might seem kind of trivial to you but that the landlords have learned will cause big trouble if not dealt with strictly.

Yeah, my comment was more along the lines of "goes against the lease" was specific or landlord discretion.

People who own or manage buildings generally have contracts for tenants to sign that have real legal teeth. In any disagreement between you and a landlord, bet on the landlord.

Man, don't I know it.

PS: I will never eat dinner at your house, no matter how grand or how freely offered, or how hungry I might be.

okay

If you think freshly killed animals are "clean", I hope for your family's sake that you keep your life insurance paid up.

What I said was that the *meat* is, if the animal is healthy, and in most cases even if it's not. People clean animals, process the meat and cook it right there in the field all the time.

BTW, inspection of factory meat is done because cows are brought in with all manner of diseases and parasites, and no small amount of shit clinging to them. Not every cow that enters a slaughter house does so under its own power, or even still breathing. (Yeah, it's illegal -- but if the inspector looks away ...)

The cows bring in all manner of diseases and parasites because they're raised in industrial conditions, which ...was my point.

[Farmer-Rick]

27. When I process my own animals

I do it outside. In private. Quickly and quietly. I clean up immediately and freeze the meat.

Even slaughter houses don't allow others or "visitors" unless they own the animals being processed.

This supposed processing was more like displaying their prowress and subjecting others to the smell.... it's pretty awful.... the mess, the blood splatter and the unsanitary conditions in a group kitchen others will have to use. Yuck!!!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

37. Once you've field-dressed it, it's just raw meat. If you've skinned it, you won't smell anything but raw meat.

If you've drained it right, there's very little blood splatter. I'm not saying it wasn't rude, but it's very possible it wasn't nearly as gory or "unsanitary" as people are imagining.

[Farmer-Rick]

43. Not sure they field dressed it

It doesn't sound like it. But maybe.

But yeah if they aren't taking out the intestines, stomach and skinning it in the kitchen, it's less smelly but still stinks of raw meat.

And there was no mention of it being hung to drain. That takes a couple of days. And it sounds like they brought the bear back immediately. But that's not clear.

But even if they had field dressed it and skinned it outside the kitchen, processing raw meat in a group kitchen can still lead to very unsanitary conditions.

No farmer I know processes meat in their regular kitchen. Cross contamination from raw meat can be seriously deadly. They either process the meat outside, take it to a slaughter house or rent a processing kitchen.

From the article: "Others were more worried about possible health violations and the contamination of a shared kitchen, The Cornell Daily Sun reported, quoting one Reddit user who noted that improperly prepared bear meat can be a carrier of parasites that cause trichinosis infection."

[WhiskeyGrinder]

44. .

That takes a couple of days.

What are you draining for a couple of days?

processing raw meat in a group kitchen can still lead to very unsanitary conditions.

So can any group of college kids making supper with raw meat.

No farmer I know processes meat in their regular kitchen.

I know hunters who have processed in their kitchens. Part of the reasons farmers don't is because farm animals are pretty dirty.

improperly prepared bear meat can be a carrier of parasites that cause trichinosis infection

Trich is spread through eating infected meat, not shared surfaces, fwiw.

[Farmer-Rick]

48. Actually many farm animals are much cleaner

Than wild animals. It depends on the farmer.

If you look at the link in the post, it says cornell students kill bear bring it into residence hall to skin and butcher.

Processing an adult male bear weighing maybe about 300 pounds or a female averaging about 170 pounds is different than college kids frying up a couple pounds of meat. https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/black-bear

I didn't make the Trich comment I was quoting the article. Tell them they are wrong.

[mainer]

51. Or in the garage. Lice come off dead animals.

I helped my son process a deer he shot. It needed to be done in a cool area, certainly not a warm kitchen. As he skinned it, lice came dropping off. I can’t imagine doing it inside the house.

[Farmer-Rick]

52. I didn't think about that

The ticks from deer are always a problem and I would never bring it inside to skin.

[mainer]

54. Right I meant ticks

Either way, they were super gross.

[Hekate]

66. It was a wild animal--Not in a shared/communal kitchen. Parse each word in that sentence.

They created a serious public health hazard in a college communal dwelling.

If I had walked in on that scene I would have clutched no pearls.

I would have quietly called the cops, the Dept of Health, Animal Control officials, the college administration, and any other damn entity I could think of.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

69. Wild animals are what people hunt.

What was the serious public health hazard?

[Hekate]

70. You're being cute. I think you and every other person in this board know exactly what I mean.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

71. As I say, it was a rude move. But it's not like a chlorine leak or black mold.

[maxsolomon]

6. Might not be illegal,

because no one's ever thought about doing it before.

[Turbineguy]

7. Doesn't Cornell have a Hotelier program?

Maybe the students intend to serve bear meat on their hotel menu..

[choie]

8. Fucking bastards.

God sometimes I really hate people.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. A little consideration would not have gone awry. Good eating on a bear.

[Conjuay]

34. Is there?

I was under the impression that bear meat was close to inedible.
I know it's pretty 🐛 wormy.

[Conjuay]

41. Nevermind

I just read up on it a bit and I should be more concerned about a bear eating me than me eating a bear

[Bluestocking]

12. Wtf is wrong with people?

Look who people elected as President.

[sl8]

15. Cornell has a webinar, "What Now?! Creative Slaughterhouse Workarounds"

Last edited Fri Sep 12, 2025, 06:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe these students should have attended. Assuming, of course, that dorms aren't aren't one of the proposed creative workarounds (I haven't watched it).

https://vod.video.cornell.edu/media/What+NowF%21+Creative+Slaughterhouse+Workarounds/1_3anjm9zk

[WVreaper]

18. Time out!!!

People do hunt and kill wild game. And they eat it ! I once had a boss that fed himself and other by shooting deer and the eating it. They were hungry collage students. These students didn't shoot the bear trophy hunting. They shot the bear for food!

[Dock_Yard]

19. The hell with that. No Cornell student is starving. This was way out of line.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

36. Does a person have to be starving before hunting is okay?

[Dock_Yard]

58. The point: It's not OK to bring a carcass into a shared public area.

Especially by 'Nard Dog teens who certainly did not do this because they were pining after fresh venison for dinner.

And IMO, those who call hunting a "sport" are covering up for their need to dominate a lesser species via an extreme imbalance in weaponry. It can only be considered an honest sport if the hunter and the hunted have equal weaponry at their mutual disposal. So the human could only approach the bear (in this case) with a pair of sharply clawed gloves and some sort of sharply toothed jaw device activated by a manual grip.

[Farmer-Rick]

31. It's how they "processed" it that's a problem.

It was done in an unsanitary disgusting manner. The smell alone would fill the dorm sleeping area depending on how big it was. I wouldn't want to be cooking my dinner next to that mess. It should be done outside or in a slaughter house. There are processing kitchens you can rent.

I don't know of any farmers who process their meat in their regular kitchen. It's way too dangerous. Cross over contamination from raw meat can make you very ill and even kill you.

[johnp3907]

33. Yeah, right.

[Hope22]

20. I came back to my college apartment....

…and found that my roommate was boiling her underwear in a spaghetti pot in the kitchen. I moved out the next day, no questions asked. I feel for these students who were subjected to this! They had it much worse.

[3Hotdogs]

21. WTF is wrong with people? Ya see, when you're a guy who was gifted with a small appendage. Ya gotta compensate.

So ya goes out, gets yourself as many guns as you can afford - maybe even some you can't afford. Then ya gets you a BMW or a Porsche. (Not a Mercedes. They're for old rich guys and old ladies.) and then ya feel like a man.


Now I don't have any guns and I drive a Hyundai. I never felt a need for a Porsche.

[ecstatic]

22. not appropriate for shared spaces.

If you want to hunt and kill your own food, fine, but "process" the meat at your own, PRIVATE, home, ffs!

[misanthrope]

24. But if they do it out of shared spaces then they don't get

to earn any "edge lord" status from it. :eyeroll:

[Farmer-Rick]

32. They could have rented a processing kitchen

Or taken it to a slaughter house.

[misanthrope]

23. Sounds like frat boy behavior

Which fraternity?

[milestogo]

25. Gosh, and my college roommate complained about my keeping a fetal pig in our refrigerator.

Silly journalism major.

[littlemissmartypants]

26. They must have slept through health class.

[underpants]

29. RFK Jr skipped the hunting part.

[underpants]

30. Sounds like a stunt to get into a fraternity

[AverageOldGuy]

38. Are we sure . . .

Could have been biology students dissecting bear as class assignment.

😎🙄😉😊

[mahatmakanejeeves]

39. Engineering students, am I right? NT

[nilram]

40. What's in their housing contract?

There's lots of different housing types at Cornell. I didn't see anything prohibiting butchering as I perused some of the contracts. If they clean up after themselves... maybe they should have a cookout later.
https://scl.cornell.edu/residential-life/housing/housing-details/rates-amenities-licenses/12-month-undergraduate-housing-license-2025-2026

[Blue Owl]

42. Fresh brainworms, all around...

[Orrex]

46. A grisly scene

[Emile]

50. Had a friend in Northern Minnesota invite me

to dinner. She cooked a bear roast that was delicious.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

53. If bear meat is not processed

By a professional you can get a nasty case of parasites. Should have taken it to a wild game butcher. If I killed a bear and planned on eating it I sure as hell would not butcher it myself. On a side note properly prepared bear meat is freaking delicious.omg.

[DenaliDemocrat]

56. If you eat meat - something died

Why does a carcass offend people who are not vegetarian?

[Coventina]

57. I do happen to be a vegetarian, but beside that point

Butchering a carcass is a really dirty job, so doing it in a shared space is extremely rude.

Do you want intestines full of shit in your kitchen sink?

[DenaliDemocrat]

59. It is NOT a dirty job

I’ve done beef, pigs, sheep, goats, moose, elk, etc. My grandfather was a butcher and I was helping when I was 7 years old. All this stupid fucking pearl clutching over a piece of meat is exactly why we get crucified in the media. Assuming it was skinned outside, butchering is no worse than cutting up dinner. The mere fact that this made the national news is ridiculous. Some guys killed a game animal and butchered it in the kitchen they pay to live in. Where the fuck is the story?

[Coventina]

60. According to the article, the carcass was brought to be skinned

and butchered.

That sounds like a fully intact carcass to me.

Doing something like that in a shared space is rude bordering sociopathic.

[DenaliDemocrat]

61. In YOUR opinion

You don’t speak for everyone. A lot of people would be curious, maybe even fascinated. I have no tolerance for people who think meat comes from the grocery store wrapped in cellophane.

[Coventina]

62. Well, there were plenty of people upset by their actions, so your opinion is not universal.

I know very well where meat comes from.

I come from a hunting/fishing family myself.

That's why I'm a vegetarian.

[DenaliDemocrat]

64. And there are plenty like me

Who think this is fucking stoooopid. I come from a long line of Italian butchers. I’m a master wine and salumi maker. I’m NOT a vegetarian.

[Coventina]

65. Well, maybe you should contact Cornell, if you feel so strongly.

[DenaliDemocrat]

67. I'm not the one calling for people to get arrested

For butchering some meat…

[Coventina]

68. I'm not calling for their arrest. Maybe take it up with those who are?

[Torchlight]

63. I'll never understand or trust those who kill for entertainment

and I'd bet a [aycheck I'm better off for it.

[Hekate]

72. Wild bears carry trichinosis, just as wild pigs do. You kill it, you eat it, & I won't complain. But don't be an idiot.

There’s businesses that are set up to process the meat of wild animals — and they also have meat storage lockers because those critters are very big.

I know this from 2 personal experiences, one when I was a small child and the other when I was over 60.

When I was a little kid, maybe 5 or 6 years old, one of my dad’s work-buddies brought down an elk. He gave some of the meat to my dad, and we ate that portion of elk for what seemed like forever. The meat was stored in a rented meat locker.

When I was an adult, my SIL offered me some ground deer meat. An amazing story unfolded, about how she taught both of her sons to hunt, before I ever knew her. Professionals did some of the butchering and cleaning work for them, including making sausage (a tricky process) and storing the meat they didn’t have room for at home.

I think my SIL is an amazing woman. I think those boys at Cornell are young idiots.