June 25, 2025, 11:06 am | Read time: 2 minutes
It sounds too sweet to be true, but in the United Kingdom, two bears escaped from a nature reserve and broke into a camp. Mish and Lucy, as they are called, devoured an entire “week’s supply of honey” there. On social media, people are now expressing nostalgia for Winnie the Pooh, their childhood hero.
When bears escape, it usually triggers a high alert. However, the incident that recently occurred at the Wildwood Devon Wildlife Park in the UK brought more smiles than panic to the staff and police near Exeter. The two European brown bears, Mish and Lucy, had broken out and caused quite a bit of chaos–including in a storage area where food was kept.
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The Entire Park Had to Be Evacuated
For safety reasons, the 16 people present in the park at the time–including children–had to barricade themselves in a play barn. Nevertheless, the public was informed that they were “not in danger” due to the escaped brown bears. “The team was very, very calm, and the bears were calm at all times,” a park spokesperson commented on the incident. Everyone fulfilled their assigned roles in such an emergency situation.
In fact, the two escaped bears did not seem to pose any real threat, as they had only made their way to an employee area. Specifically, it was the building where the animal welfare association stored food for the animals living there. Mish and Lucy remained calm at all times, said spokesperson Mark Habben. “They walked back and forth, sniffed around, and looked into the pantry where the honey was stored.” It happened to be open, so the two raided it.1
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Park Can’t Explain How the Bears Escaped
“The bears had a feast, played around, and pulled out a rope.” Overall, the two brown bears are very happy animals, and this was evident even in this moment of alarm. However, an investigation is now needed to determine how the two 400-pound bears managed to escape their enclosure, as there were no signs of damage to it.2
Jon Forde, head of the bear department at the Wildwood Trust, was surprised by the escape of the two bears. This had never happened in more than ten years and should not happen again. However, he was not surprised by what the brown bears did during their escape. “Bears are very typical. They go for the nearest sweet food source: honey, peanut butter, jam, anything they love.” Bears have an excellent sense of smell and find everything. “Bears find everything, even if you hide it. They find it and make sure they get it.”