Fish and Wildlife Responding to Report of Bear on UK Campus
University of Kentucky Police shared a video with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources of a bear near the Kentucky Clinic. The video was taken by a UK employee in the early hours of July 1, and the employee sent it to UK Police. The sighting resulted in the news release below from the department in Frankfort.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 2, 2020) — The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is aware of a bear spotted early Wednesday morning on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. The department was notified after the initial report came to university police.
In recent weeks, department biologists have been tracking reported sightings of one or more bears in Central Kentucky, including rural Fayette and Jessamine counties.
The department is monitoring reports from the public and law enforcement agencies. Any sightings of this bear should be immediately reported either to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife by calling 1-800-858-1549 during business hours, or to local law enforcement.
It is not unusual in the early summer for young male bears to wander outside of the established bear range in Eastern Kentucky. These bears get pushed out of the area by older, dominant males, and may wander up to several weeks or more into unfamiliar territory in search of good habitat and prospective mates, before they return to the mountains where they were raised.
Black bears have a natural fear of people and adverse encounters with people are extremely rare. However, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife advises the public to never approach or feed a bear, which can result in a negative encounter. If you ever encounter a bear, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife urges you to keep a safe distance and never approach the bear. Residents of an area where a bear has been spotted should secure their garbage in a garage or other building, not leave pet food or bird feed outside and clean and store barbecue grills.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife maintains an extensive amount of information about black bears on its website. Go online to http://fw.ky.gov and search under the key words “black bear” or go to https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Black-Bears.aspx or go to www.bearwise.org.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.