[CORRECTION 4/18/11:37 p.m.]: A previous version of this article stated that UCPD did not provide further details if the bear had been put in custody. The article has been corrected to state that UCPD did not locate the bear and urged students to be aware of their surroundings.
[UPDATE 4/17/8:21 p.m.]: The bear reported from earlier today has been located near South Hall, according to a 7:50 p.m. notification. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is assisting UCPD in containing the bear to transition it “back to its natural habitat.”
UC Santa Barbara police reported a black bear sighting early this morning near Pollock Theater and the Intercollegiate Athletics building. According to posts on Reddit, other bears were spotted near off-campus university apartments and in Goleta earlier this week.
A bear was seen near Santa Ynez Apartments Wednesday morning. Courtesy of user cope525 on Reddit
At 6:34 a.m. this morning, the UC Santa Barbara Police Department (UCPD) sent an emergency alert regarding the bear sighting and warned students to avoid the area. Nearly an hour later, at 7:20 a.m., UCPD lifted the request after “an extensive search.” UCPD did not locate the bear and urged students to be aware of their surroundings.
It wasn’t the first bear sighting this week. On the morning of Tuesday, April 15, a bear was sighted walking around Goleta neighborhoods according to footage from a doorbell camera around 1 a.m., according to NewsBreak. A bear was spotted near the Santa Ynez Apartments on Wednesday morning, according to a Reddit post. The Nexus was unable to confirm if the sightings were of the same bear or multiple different bears.
UCPD said the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was notified. They urged students and community members to “be aware of their surroundings” and to call UCPD at 805-893-3446 to report any bear sightings.
In an email sent to students and faculty, UCPD advised that in an encounter with a bear, to make yourself appear large, “waive your arms” and to make loud noises. According to the email, black bear attacks are “very rare,” and if the bear attacks, one should fight back aggressively.
Additionally, the email advised people to eliminate any attracting smells that could lure a bear and to avoid feeding the bear.
