Bear rescued after getting very high

Whether it’s shrooms, psychedelic therapy or ketamine as an antidepressant, the psychedelic revolution is here and study after study seems to point towards the potentially positive impacts of psychedelics on our mental health. However, it’s important to highlight that when these substances are used in a scientific or medical environment, they are done under controlled conditions, with specific doses and trained professionals on hand.

When it comes to trying recreational psychedelics on your own, things tend to be a bit less rosy and a bit more risky. While using unregulated drugs come with plenty of dangers, the potential side-effect you’ll probably be most aware of is the risk of a bad trip: anxiety, confusion and even psychosis after dabbling with psychedelics. In case you needed a reminder of what bad trips can look like, a very disturbing video is currently circulating social media of a baby brown bear who is very, very high and clearly not having much of a good time. Looking dazed, her paws akimbo as she lays in the back of a truck, the unfortunate animal may remind you of a poor friend, k-holed at a party. But what exactly happened to her?

Well, the bear in question was found unconscious in the northwestern Duzce province of Turkey, roughly 130 miles east of Istanbul. Rescued on 11 August, the female cub had consumed an excessive quantity of “deli bal” aka “mad honey”, an amber-coloured, bitter honey from Turkey's Black Sea region. The substance is made by honey bees from the nectar of Rhododendron plants, which contain a neurotoxin called grayanotoxin. As a result, the honey can give a sense of euphoria which may give way to hallucinations depending on how much is eaten.

Clearly the bear — who has since been called Balkiz, meaning “honey girl” — had devoured more than her fair share of the psychedelic elixir (relatable) before she was discovered last week. Thankfully, however, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry were able to rescue Balkiz and deliver her to a local vet. Despite being tired and struggling to move when she was first dropped off, she quickly responded to medical treatment and was soon able to eat and talk. Don't you love a happy ending?

The following day, on 12 August, she was re-released into the wild with a new video showing her peacefully ambling through the forest, probably on the worst come down of her young life. Writing on Twitter, Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Professor Vahit Kirisci said; “Godspeed to the beautiful girl who has won the hearts of us all.”