Black bear found dead in plastic bag near walking trail in Washington, DC, suburb

A black bear was found dead in a plastic bag near a park's walking trail in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.

On Friday, at 8:30 p.m., a plastic bag was reported near a walking trail in Spout Run Parkway, according to a press release from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Police suspected there was a dog inside but instead found the body of a black bear.

"It's a very unusual incident," Chelsea Jones, Animal Welfare League of Arlington's senior communications specialist, told USA TODAY.

She said that a local resident found the black bear and reported the incident. The bear was at least several hundred pounds and wasn't removed from the scene until about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Now, officials are conducting a forensic investigation to determine the bear's cause of death.

Did the bear die of natural causes?

Jones said it is unknown whether or not the bear died of natural causes or if it was intentionally killed by humans but adds that if it was killed, it could be considered a crime.

According to Virginia law, there are only two situations in which any person can kill a black bear in the state:

• The bear injured or is attempting to injure a person.
• A person is pursuing a bear immediately after it injured or attempted to injure a person.

If the above occurred and led to the death of the bear, then the person who killed the bear must report the incident to a state conservation police officer, the law says.

How often are bears sighted in Arlington?

According to Jones, there are bear sightings in Arlington around once a year, and the bear is usually on its way to find its own territory.

"They are not trying to hurt us, they're not trying to cause problems," Jones said. "We've never had an incident with any of the black bears coming through here."

She said Arlington hasn't experienced bears harming other animals or people's property either.

If the bear's death was caused by a person killing it unprovoked, Jones said AWLA wants to prevent a repeat of the incident.

"We do believe that all living animals deserve our respect," Jones said. "And hopefully we can figure out what happened and stop it from happening again."

AWLA asks that anyone with information regarding the incident contact them at 703-931-9241 or animalcontrol@awla.org.

"If you saw something or if you have a Ring camera at your house that's near this location, or something like that, then get in touch with us," Jones said.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz