Zoo Took Bear Out For Ice Cream, Filmed It. Now, They're In Trouble

A zoo in the Canadian province of Alberta has been charged for taking a bear to a drive-thru restaurant where it was hand-fed ice cream. The Guardian reports that news of this unauthorised outing came to light after Discovery Wildlife Park posted a video of a bear named Berkerly in January. The video showed the one-year-old Kodiak bear leaning out of a truck as the owner of a local Dairy Queen outlet feeds it ice cream from a cone.

The video, shared on Facebook and Twitter, was later taken down after it attracted widespread criticism.



Wildlife officials in Alberta said that the zoo and its owners are now facing two charges. "Under the terms and conditions of the zoo's permit, the charges are directly related to the alleged failure of the park to notify the provincial government prior to the bear leaving the zoo," Alberta Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

"We made a mistake. I'm embarrassed about it," said the zoo's owner, Doug Bos, to the Guardian. He had earlier said that the drive-thru video was supposed to be about safety.

"The message was: Don't feed the bears. Don't stop on the side of the road. If everybody would listen to the video that's what the message was, don't do this," he told CBC News.

The private zoo's permit has now been revised to impose new conditions.