Honey-drunk bear cub's health improves within a day

DUZCE, Türkiye

A brown bear cub's health improved within a day after she consumed a large amount of mad honey and became intoxicated in the northwestern Türkiye’s Duzce province, a local official on Friday.

When the six-month-old female bear cub was first brought to them after eating a big amount of mad honey on Thursday, she was exhausted and unable to move, said Mevlut Sanli Simsek, manager of a branch office in Nature Conservation and National Parks.

“Our teams brought her to the veterinarian, (where) we started the treatment process. She is in very good health. We plan to release her back to her natural environment when she (fully) regains health,” Simsek told Anadolu Agency.

Local people from Duzce city found the hapless brown bear all but passed out in a stupor on a mountainside, a victim of his eyes being bigger than his stomach.

Concerned for her welfare, the people took her by truck to a local veterinarian where she could get treatment for a bad case of honey hangover.

When they examined the cub, they saw that the animal was unconscious, in shock, and needed immediate treatment, said veterinarian Murat Unlu.

Noting that the cub’s health has improved, but treatment is still continued, Unlu said: "The bear is much better compared to the day she first came. (Now) she can eat and walk. Hopefully, when the bear regains her health completely in the coming days, we will leave her with her mother.”

As mad honey is widely available in the region, he added, "I think our bear ate bitter honey because it was still a baby and could not know it. The bees probably stung the bear cub. As a result of both the toxicity of the bitter honey and the injuries caused by the bees, symptoms such as hallucinations and shock appeared in our cub."

* Writing by Seda Sevencan​​​​​​​