The UF Police Department responded to a call about a mid-sized black bear perched in a tree near the Cancer and Genetics Research Complex on Mowry Street around 10 a.m. Thursday.
UFPD Captain Latrell Simmons said a passing motorist spotted the cub and reported it to the university.
Several UFPD units were dispatched to the scene while approximately 15 curious spectators gathered across the street. The group debated naming the cub as they took pictures of its hiding place.
Abby Hahn, a UF alum and lab manager, heard rumors of an animal on campus from bystanders when she passed through the crowd on Mowry Road around 10:30 a.m. She watched the small bear with a smile.
“We wanted to check it out,” Hahn said. “I kind of feel bad for him, but he’s kind of just chilling in the [tree]. He looks like he’s sleeping. He looks hot.”
UF Pest Management Coordinator Bradley Files spent over 45 minutes monitoring the scene. While he expressed concern for campus and wildlife safety, he also couldn’t help but chuckle.
“They won’t let us mess with bears and alligators here,” Files said. “Florida Fish and Wildlife have to be called in to relocate it.”
The cub sighting coincides with House Bill 87 reaching Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. Opposed by conservationists, the bill aims to authorize killing bears in self-defense if enacted.
In his 22 years of employment at the university, Files said he had never previously seen a bear on campus. However, someone reported witnessing a bear cross 34th Street the other day, he said.
“It poses a threat for students,” he said. “We want to make sure we get this thing out of here and get him back in his natural habitat.”
UF urban ecology and wildlife professor Mark Hostetler estimated the black bear cub to be approximately one year old.
“It found its way onto campus, which is pretty unusual, but there’s lots of bears in surrounding regions, especially in Ocala National Forest,” he said.
The cub could have dispersed from its habitat alone, as no parents were spotted accompanying it, Hostetler said.
The FWC will collaborate with a bear trapper to peacefully lure the cub from the tree with cake and donuts into a trap for relocation back to Ocala National Forest.
“It’s completely humane, and that’s what we want from the beginning,” Simmons said. “We don’t dart bears or anything like that or recommend it. We want the bear to be as safe as possible, and this is the best way to do so.”
Contact Lee Ann Anderson at landerson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @LeeAnnJOU.
Lee Ann Anderson is a sophomore journalism major and The Alligator’s Summer 2023 criminal justice reporter. In her free time you can catch her reading articles, talking to her cat or losing her mind.
