Two bears who sparked the evacuation of a wildlife park involving trained firearms staff and police had headed straight for the honey store, the park has said.
Wildwood Devon, a conservation charity near Exeter, said European brown bears Mish and Lucy made their way to the food store after breaking free - and then consumed a "week's worth of honey".
The park was evacuated after the alarm was raised at about 15:00 BST on Monday - 16 people including children were locked into a play barn for their safety.
Mark Habben, director of zoological operations at Wildwood Trust, said emergency procedures were deployed and the public was "not in harm's way".
The trust has now launched an investigation into how the pair of "young bears", weighing about 180kg (397lb) each, escaped as there were no signs of enclosure damage, it said.
Mr Habben said: "Both bears are extremely happy. The team were very, very calm, as were the bears at all points.
"The public were not in harm's way, emergency procedures and everyone did the job they were intended to do."
Mr Habben said a "code red" was called after the bears were spotted by senior staff after they "breached" the enclosure and made their way to a staff area at about 15:00 BST on Monday.
Mish eventually made her own way back to the enclosure and Lucy was lured back with a bell and her favourite foods.
The pair were rescued from a snow drift in Albania in 2019.
Wildlife park near Exeter evacuated after bears escape
Two brown bears escape from their enclosure and eat a "week's worth of honey" in the food store.
www.bbc.co.uk
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