Canada zoo charged after taking beloved bear on ice cream run
A private zoo in Canada is facing charges after trying to treat one of its beloved animals to some ice cream.
The Discovery Wildlife Park in Alberta, Canada took its 1-year-old bear named Kodiak to a nearby Dairy Queen to have it reportedly hand-fed through the vehicle’s window.
Discovery Wildlife Park posted a video of the incident, and now Alberta officials are accusing the park of not informing the provincial government of the bear leaving zoo property.
According to reports, the wildlife park is also still facing a charge from 2017 when it allegedly didn’t report that workers were taking the then 7-pound bear cub home to bottle feed it at night.
The Guardian reported that the zoo’s owner, Doug Bos, has entered a guilty plea to the accusations.
“We made a mistake. I’m embarrassed about it,” he told the Guardian. “Every time we take an animal off the property, we’re supposed to notify Fish and Wildlife, send them an email, and we forgot to do that in both instances.”
Bos told The Guardian that wildlife officials were not necessarily upset about the zoo taking the bear to Dairy Queen but rather that they weren’t informed of the trip beforehand.