Newsreader confuses washed up dead cow with polar bear

A TV newsreader yesterday reporting a polar bear had washed up on a British beach – which turned out to be a cow. Naomi Lloyd told viewers the polar bear – normally found in the Arctic circle – was lying on a beach in Bude, Cornwall.

The ”extraordinary” news of the stranded beast was broadcast to millions of viewers in Devon and Cornwall on ITV’s West Country bulletin at 7.55am yesterday morning. It appeared alongside video footage shot by a viewer from a cliff top of a large white animal lying on the shore.



Naomi told viewers: ”A walker in Cornwall has caught an extraordinary sight on camera. A polar bear has washed up on a beach near Bude. The bear comes from the Arctic Circle and an investigation is under way as to how it could have ended up there.”

But officials who went to investigate discovered the animal was a cow – whose skin had been bleached white by the sea water. A spokesman for ITV West Country said they had dropped the article after its morning bulletin when they discovered the animal was a cow. He said: ”It was a bit embarrassing. When we realised what it was we pulled the slot straight away.”