- Were YOU at the wildlife park yesterday? Email ciaran.foreman@mailonline.co.uk
This is the moment two young bears escaped their enclosure at a wildlife park and ate a week’s worth of honey while on the loose.
Brown bears Mish and Lucy, both five years old, broke free from their enclosure at Wildwood Devon at Escot Park near Ottery St Mary at around 3pm yesterday.
And while visitors to the park were locked away in fear, the adorable pair embarked on an adventure resembling a plot straight from an A.A. Milne book or a certain fictional bear from Peru.
After breaking out of their enclosure, Mish and Lucy, who weigh around 400lbs, did not seek to scare their visitors – including 16 children who were locked away in a play barn – or the armed emergency staff who visited the site.
Instead, they headed straight for their food store to tuck into a selection of delicious treats such as berries, vegetables, fish, meats, and of course, a shed load of honey.
The heartwarming footage, which is how staff monitored the pair on CCTV and ensured they ‘posed no risk to the public’, shows Lucy devouring buckets worth of food.
The playful pair were moved to the park in 2022 after being abandoned by their mother in Albania and are said to have become a ‘favourite’ with visitors, known for their silliness.
Mish typically spends his time splashing around in pools and snoring as he drifts asleep on hammocks, while Lucy has an adventurous nature and loves to climb trees.
An internal investigation by the park is now underway to determine how the pair escaped, and Wildwood Devon is open to the public again today.
Mark Habben, director of zoological operations at the park, told the BBC today that the bears are ‘extremely happy’.
He said: ‘They were in an area where we keep enrichment – all the nice things. The bears had a feast, played around, pulled some rope out.
‘They were wandering up and down, having a sniff around, looking in the store cupboard where honey was stored.
‘That was fortuitously left open so they raided that.’
Mr Habben said a ‘code red’ was triggered when Mish and Lucy were roaming around by senior staff, which saw firearms trained staff and police visit the park.
A spokesperson for Wildwood Devon said: ‘Two young bears escaped from their enclosure at Wildwood Devon [yesterday] afternoon, heading straight for their food store.
‘Mish and Lucy, both five years, who posed no threat to the public at any point, enjoyed a selection of snacks – including a week’s worth of honey – before being safely returned to their enclosure by the expert keeper team within the hour.
‘As a precaution, all visitors on site were promptly escorted to a secure building. The bears were continuously monitored both on the ground and via CCTV until they calmly returned to their enclosure and fell asleep.
‘In line with standard protocol, police attended the scene, and an investigation is now underway to determine how the incident occurred.
‘The exhibit is secure, and we are grateful to our staff and visitors for their cooperation, which helped us resolve the situation swiftly and safely.’
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson added: ‘We were made aware of two resident bears having escaped from their home at Escot Park on the afternoon of Monday 23 June.
‘Specialist officers attended and visitors taken to places of safety.
‘The bears were safely returned to their area and secured.’
Wildwood said it wanted to give them an enclosure which had been left ‘as natural as possible with the aim of creating a lifelong habitat’.
The bears, who were rescued in 2019, were kept briefly in Belgium before being brought to Escot when a £250,000 appeal was launched to build the enclosure.
Wildwood Devon’s general manager said previously: ‘They’re the first bears we’ve ever had at Escot and have become firm favourites with our visitors.’
