Two mischievous brown bears at a UK wildlife park orchestrated a daring escape recently, making a beeline for the food store where they devoured a week’s supply of honey before calmly returning to their enclosure and promptly falling asleep.
The incident unfolded on Monday afternoon at Wildwood Devon in southwestern England. Four-year-old siblings Mish and Lucy managed to get out of their habitat and headed straight for the park’s food storage area, located conveniently next to their enclosure.
The Honey Heist
Upon reaching their culinary destination, Mish and Lucy wasted no time indulging in a feast. Among the various treats they found, including a recent delivery of berries, vegetables, fish, and meat, their primary focus was a significant haul of honey. According to reports, the bears consumed what amounted to an entire week’s worth of the sweet treat. Mark Habben, Wildwood’s Director of Zoological Operations, noted the bears were “extremely happy” during their brief adventure, particularly with the honey store being “fortuitously left open.”
Video footage released by the park showed Lucy particularly enjoying the spread, looking quite content with her opportunistic meal.
Park Response and Resolution
The escape triggered a “code red” response at the park, with firearms-trained staff attending the scene alongside officers from Devon and Cornwall Police, which is standard protocol in such situations. Although the bears weigh around 400lbs each, Wildwood Devon emphasized that Mish and Lucy posed no threat to the public at any point. Nevertheless, as a precaution, the 16 visitors on site at the time, including children, were safely escorted to a secure building.
During the approximately hour-long drama, the bears were continuously monitored by the expert keeping team both on the ground and via CCTV. The park’s experienced staff acted immediately, following established safety protocols. They successfully used recall training techniques to encourage both Mish and Lucy to return voluntarily to their enclosure, resolving the situation without further intervention. After their big meal and adventure, the bears were found to have calmly re-entered their habitat and promptly fell asleep.
Investigation Underway
An investigation has been launched by Wildwood Devon to determine exactly how the animals managed to escape. The park stated that an “operational error” allowed the bears to get out, taking any operational lapse extremely seriously. While the exact nature of the error wasn’t fully detailed, the comment about the honey store being left open suggests a possible cause.
The park has stressed that this was an isolated incident and that the structural integrity of the bear enclosure itself remains uncompromised. A full internal investigation aims to understand precisely what happened and implement robust measures to prevent any reoccurrence. The park has since reopened to the public.
Meet Mish and Lucy
Mish and Lucy have a compelling backstory that has made them visitor favourites. The brown bear siblings were rescued in 2019 after being found abandoned by their mother in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains. After conservationists’ attempts to reintroduce them to the wild proved unsuccessful, they were briefly housed in Belgium before a fundraising campaign helped bring them to the UK. They spent six months at the Wildwood Trust’s Kent park before moving to their “forever home” at the 40-acre Wildwood Devon site in 2021, in a specially built enclosure funded by a £250,000 appeal.
Known for their playful and silly natures, Mish is often seen splashing in pools or sleeping in hammocks, while Lucy enjoys spending time with her brother and climbing trees. They are fed a varied diet including kilos of berries, fruits, vegetables, seeds, fish, and meat daily – a diet they supplemented generously during their recent, brief excursion.
