Two huge bears escape at UK wildlife park as cops lock visitors down amid hunt
Police were called to Wildwood Devon at Escot Park after two resident brown bears called Mish and Lucy got out of their enclosure, heading straight for their food store
CCTV has captured the moment two rescue bears escaped from an enclosure at a British wildlife park before helping themselves to a weeks' worth of honey.
Police were called after two resident bears got out of their home at Wildwood Devon at Escot Park near Ottery St Mary. Mish and Lucy, who were found after being abandoned by their mother in Albania three years earlier, moved to the site in 2022 and "would have been unable to survive in the wild." The two brown bear orphan cubs moved to the site after being rescued from the Albian wilderness. But yesterday afternoon the pair, who weigh around 400lbs, fled their enclosure, sparking a major police hunt.
The CCTV footage, which is how staff monitored the pair and ensured they "posed no risk to the public", shows Lucy devouring buckets worth of food. Instead of venturing to the visitors, the bears headed straight for their food store - where they helped themselves to a selection of treats, such as berries, vegetables, fish, meats, and a huge haul of honey.
Visitors - including 16 children who were locked away in a play barn - were taken to a place of safety as specialists officers attended the scene. They were returned to their home safely a short while later. Devon and Cornwall Police said: "We were made aware of two resident bears having escaped from their home at Escot Park on the afternoon of Monday, June 23.
"Specialist officers attended and visitors taken to places of safety. The bears were safely returned to their area and secured." The two bears escaped to the food store to help themselves to a selection of snacks. The pair, who are both five years old, had a week's worth of honey before being returned to their enclosure.
The incident lasted around an hour and the bears were closely monitored during the process.A spokesperson for Wildwood Devon said: "Two young bears escaped from their enclosure at Wildwood Devon this afternoon, heading straight for their food store.
"Mish and Lucy (both five years old), 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. Wildwood Devon will be open as usual from tomorrow." Wildwood said at the time it rescued the bears 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, unable to return back to the wild "for their own safety", before being brought to Escot in June 2021 when a £250,000 appeal was launched to build the enclosure. Wildwood Devon general manager said previously: "They're the first bears we've ever had at Escot and have become firm favourites with our visitors."
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