Charges laid in Innisfail ice cream bear stunt
Posted May 8, 2018 9:31 am.
Last Updated May 8, 2018 12:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province of Alberta has laid charges under The Wildlife Act against an Innisfail zoo, after a bear was taken through a drive-thru for ice cream.
A video, posted on social media in January by Discovery Wildlife Park showed a one-year-old captive Kodiak bear named Berkley leaning out a truck’s window and being hand-fed ice cream by the owner of the local Dairy Queen.
Bear experts called it irresponsible and disrespectful. A zoo trainer defended it as educational and done on “purpose for a purpose.”
The province began investigating the video and the terms of the zoo’s permit, and wildlife officers alleged Discovery failed to notify them prior to the bear being taken out of the park.
The zoo’s owners Doug Bos and Debbie Rowland, are to appear in Red Deer provincial court on May 28.
