A 300- to 400-pound black bear was killed early Monday morning when it was hit by a big-rig truck while crossing northbound Highway 101 just north of Glen Annie Road, said CHP Sgt. Shawn Stevens.
The 6:30 a.m. collision didn’t injure the driver, whose truck sustained minimal damage to its front bumper and needed to be towed away. Killed on impact, the “sizable” black bear came to rest in the center divider against the left lane, said Stevens. By 7:30 a.m., Cal Trans was removing the bear, which had been sheltered from drivers’ views by a CHP vehicle.
Last month, a smaller black bear was spotted roaming Goleta City Councilmember Paula Perotte’s yard in west Goleta. That bear, which State Fish and Wildlife personnel described as a 250- to 300-pound adolescent male, was tranquilized and moved to Los Padres National Forest after it wandered under the freeway. Stevens said the black bear killed Monday was “obviously a little bit older.”