Two 180kg Bears Escape from UK Zoo
Devour a Week's Worth of Honey Before Returning to Enclosure
No Injuries or Harm to Visitors
At a zoo in the UK, two massive brown bears escaped from their enclosure. While visitors evacuated and chaos ensued, the bears raided a "honey storage," devoured all the honey, and then returned to their enclosure, enjoying a brief adventure.
On the 23rd (local time), two bears escaped from Wildwood Devon Zoo in the UK. Wildwood Devon Instagram
According to the BBC and other outlets on the 24th (local time), on the previous afternoon, Mishou and Lucy, two five-year-old Eurasian brown bears, broke through a fence and escaped from Wildwood Devon, a zoo near Exeter in the UK.
Around 3 p.m., when the bears were spotted roaming in a staff-only area, the zoo issued a "code red," a protocol for visitor evacuation and restricted access. There were 16 visitors on site that day, including children, and they took shelter in a barn and locked the doors. The zoo’s emergency response team, trained in firearms, was deployed, and police immediately arrived on the scene to provide support, heightening the sense of urgency.
While the zoo staff responded swiftly, the bears reportedly had an enjoyable time. According to CCTV footage monitored by zoo employees, the bears explored various areas, sniffing around, and quickly found and devoured honey stored in an open warehouse.
A representative from Wildwood Trust, the organization operating the zoo, stated, "The amount of honey the two bears consumed in one sitting was equivalent to a week’s supply for them. After the feast, the bears ran around and played with sticky paws."
After eating a large amount of honey, Mishou appeared sleepy and returned to the enclosure, while Lucy also re-entered after being lured by staff with snacks and the sound of a bell. The total duration of the bears’ escape was 55 minutes, and the incident concluded without any injuries.
Mark Habben, the director of zoo operations at Wildwood Trust, stated, "Both bears are happy, and both the team and the bears remained calm throughout the entire situation." He added, "Emergency response procedures were activated immediately, visitors were never exposed to danger, and there was no damage to protected areas." The facility has since resumed normal operations, and the zoo is investigating how the two bears managed to escape their habitat.
The brown bear is known as the largest existing bear species, with some individuals weighing up to 400 to 600 kilograms, and is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, Eurasia, and Scandinavia. Mishou and Lucy, the bears involved in this incident, are young bears weighing 180 kilograms each. They were rescued from an avalanche in Albania in 2019 and brought to Wildwood Devon four years ago.
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