Black Bear Seen Near UC Santa Barbara (Again)

Community Members Saw Bear Wandering Around Gardens Near UCSB’s West Campus Apartment Complex, I.V. Elementary School

A black bear was filmed walking around UC Santa Barbara's West Campus on Thursday, May 8. | Credit: Abdus Satter

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

[Updated: Fri., May 9, 2025, 6:32pm] The black bear seen near UC Santa Barbara’s West Campus Apartment Complex has left university property and is moving northwest, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Fish and Wildlife said it received word of the bear early Friday morning, around 3:00 a.m. The department says it has set a trap for it, which will remain in place overnight.

[Original Story] Another bear has come to the Isla Vista area. On Thursday, people began posting videos of a black bear near UC Santa Barbara’s West Campus Gardens and Isla Vista Elementary School. UCSB sent a wildlife safety update that evening, at 5:26 p.m., saying that university officials had conducted a search and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It said it had not located the bear.

This is not the Santa Barbara area’s first bear of the year. Last month, another black bear spent nearly a week wandering from Cathedral Oaks Road to the Summerland area. Videos of the bear in Isla Vista, on UCSB’s campus, and on More Mesa Beach circulated on social media sites such as Instagram and Reddit. The Department of Fish and Wildlife said it spent several days trying to locate that bear to move it, but its workers could not find it. A vehicle struck and killed what was most likely the same bear on Highway 101 on April 22.

Bear sightings in urban areas are more common in the spring, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. While bears this far south do not hibernate, their metabolism slows in the winter, and speeds up again in the spring time. Bears are omnivores, and will search for food in people’s trash, which sometimes draws them to urban areas.

If you encounter a black bear, the Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends you make yourself large, wave your arms, and yell. Do not run from the bear or feed it.