Do you remember the Brymbo Bear?

In a bizarre and memorable incident from the 1970s shared today by North Wales Police, officers from the Wrexham Traffic Department found themselves in an unexpected encounter with a bear in Brymbo – possibly called Coogie.

The unusual episode began when a local farmer reported a distressing sight on his farm near Brymbo.

The farmer had discovered his sheepdog dead and witnessed what he believed to be a wolf-like creature vanishing into the nearby woods. Concerned he promptly contacted the police.

Officers from the then Wrexham Traffic Department launched a search in the area.

To their astonishment, they soon discovered the culprit was not a wolf, but a bear.

The bear, presumably agitated and disoriented, launched an attack on the officers’ patrol car – damaging it.

The officers managed to contain the situation until the bear’s keeper arrived. It was revealed that the bear had escaped from a nearby dog kennel where it was being raised by its owner.

How the bear had come to be at the kennel remains a mystery.

PC 629 Cyril Jones, one of the officers involved, faced the daunting task of explaining the damage to his patrol car to his superior.