Shropshire Star

American black bear washes herself with a cloth

The moment was captured on video at Woburn Safari Park.

Published
A bear washing its face

A bear caught the attention of visitors to a safari park when she pulled out a makeshift flannel and washed her face with it.

Indiana, an American black bear, was enjoying herself in the water at Woburn Safari Park when she got hold of a piece of the material lining the pond and started to wipe her face with it.

Kate Dennis, a visitor who witnessed the moment, said she felt “privileged” to have seen it.

“This was amazing to watch as it was so human like, she washed behind her ears and her feet,” Kate said. “She then got distracted by a crow and off she went.

“This was a great end to the safari and was definitely the highlight of the day.”

Indiana the bear washes herself
Indiana is one of six bears at Woburn Safari Park (Woburn Safari Park)

Indiana is one of six bears who live at Woburn, in a 13-acre reserve alongside the park’s Canadian timber wolves – one of the only mixed carnivore enclosures in the UK.

Craig Lancaster, Woburn’s head of section for carnivores, said: “Indiana is our smallest bear but she is also very feisty. She can often be seen sparring and play fighting with the much bigger male bears and is more than a match for them.”

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