Turkish bear cub rescued after getting high on 'mad honey'

Turkish national parks teams have rescued a disoriented brown bear cub believed to have been intoxicated after eating a great amount of hallucinogenic "mad honey" in northwestern Düzce. The Agriculture Ministry said that the bear was in good condition and was given the name of "Balkız" (a compound word consisting of the words 'honey' and 'girl').

Friday August 12 2022 01:54 pm

Duvar English - Reuters

A disoriented brown bear cub, believed to have been intoxicated after eating an excessive amount of "mad honey", was rescued in northwestern Turkey's Düzce province on Aug. 11.

Footage showed the bear wobbling and whining as she sat belly-up in the back of a pick-up truck, after people rescued the visibly-debilitated animal from the forest.

Mad honey, or "deli bal" in Turkish, is a type of rhododendron honey that can have hallucinogenic effects.

The bear was brought to a vet, where she received treatment.

The Agriculture Ministry called on Turks on Twitter to come up with a name for the bear. The ministry later announced that the bear's name would be "Balkız" (a compound word consisting of the words 'honey' and 'girl').

Düzce’de bitkin halde bulunan yavru boz ayımızın sağlık durumu iyi, ekiplerimiz tedavisine devam ediyor. @milliparklar

Balın dozunu kaçıran sevimli “kızımıza” bir isim verelim, adıyla yaşasın😊 💬 pic.twitter.com/dZsI2FcsIw
— T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı (@TCTarim) August 11, 2022

The ministry said that the bear would likely be released into the wild in the coming days and that she was in good condition.