Hiker reports finding dead dog in bag, but it was actually a bear, Virginia city says

A hiker in Northern Virginia reported finding a “deceased dog in a plastic bag,” but closer inspection revealed it was actually a dead bear, according to city officials in Arlington.

The strange discovery was made around 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 31, on a walking trail near the Spout Run Parkway, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington said in a news release.

A deputy identified the carcass as an adult black bear.

“The bear was examined and then removed from the scene for further forensic investigation,” the league reported.

It weighed “at least several hundred pounds” and a cause of death is still to be determined, Chelsea Jones of the league told USA TODAY.

The bear was discovered by a woman who was hiking the trail with her son and a dog, WTOP reported.

Black bears are native to Virginia and potentially dangerous if provoked, experts say. They can reach 6 feet in length and 600 pounds, the National Park Service reports.

The carcass was found about two weeks after a “juvenile male” bear was seen strolling “unbothered” through an Arlington neighborhood, climbing fences and digging in yards, WRC reported on May 13.

City officials said they planned “to leave the bear alone and let him make his way out of the county,” the station said.