{
  "id": "2019-06-04-uc-davis-bear-on-campus",
  "slug": "uc-davis-bear-on-campus-2019-06-04",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of California, Davis",
    "shortName": "UC Davis",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "WarnMe",
    "enrollment": 39000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2019-06-04",
    "type": "other",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "headline": "Black bear spotted near the Arboretum; tranquilized and released unharmed",
    "headlinePublic": "Black bear spotted near the Arboretum; tranquilized and released unharmed",
    "summary": "On the morning of June 4, 2019, a [one-year-old male black bear wandered onto the UC Davis campus, first spotted around 5:45 a.m. PDT near the Arboretum and Old Davis Road](https://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/06/04/bear-spotted-on-uc-davis-campus-safely-detained/), prompting a terse all-caps WarnMe text at about 8 a.m. PDT. The [California Department of Fish and Wildlife tranquilized the bear and released it unharmed in a wooded area north of campus](https://fox40.com/2019/06/04/bear-sighted-on-uc-davis-campus-near-aboretum-drive/).",
    "outcome": "No injuries. The bear was tranquilized by California Fish and Wildlife and released unharmed to a wooded area about an hour and a half north of campus.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 8:00 a.m. PDT on June 4, 2019",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "UC Davis WarnMe: BEAR SIGHTED ON CAMPUS LS WB FROM SOLANO PARK TO ARBORETUM AREA FISH AND GAME ONSCENE STAY AWAY FROM THE AREA",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/UCDavis/photos/uc-davis-warnme-bear-sighted-on-campus-ls-wb-from-solano-park-to-arboretum-area-/10161942466700215/",
      "sourceDescription": "UC Davis official Facebook post quoting the WarnMe SMS verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "The all-caps SMS compresses the alert to the bare minimum: a location vector (LS WB = last seen westbound, from Solano Park to the Arboretum), the responding agency, and a single instruction to stay away.",
        "The abbreviations 'LS WB' and 'ONSCENE' are preserved exactly from the verbatim text and are authenticity markers of a 160-character SMS constraint environment.",
        "Issued through WarnMe as a discretionary advisory rather than a Clery timely warning, since a bear sighting is not a Clery crime category."
      ],
      "characterCount": 126
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of June 4, 2019, a [one-year-old male black bear was first spotted around 5:45 a.m. PDT in Parking Lot 5 between the Arboretum's redwood grove and Old Davis Road on the south side of UC Davis](https://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/06/04/bear-spotted-on-uc-davis-campus-safely-detained/). About 8 a.m. PDT the campus pushed a terse, all-caps [WarnMe SMS: 'BEAR SIGHTED ON CAMPUS LS WB FROM SOLANO PARK TO ARBORETUM AREA FISH AND GAME ONSCENE STAY AWAY FROM THE AREA'](https://www.facebook.com/UCDavis/photos/uc-davis-warnme-bear-sighted-on-campus-ls-wb-from-solano-park-to-arboretum-area-/10161942466700215/). The [California Department of Fish and Wildlife tranquilized the bear and released it unharmed in a wooded area about ninety minutes north of campus](https://fox40.com/2019/06/04/bear-sighted-on-uc-davis-campus-near-aboretum-drive/). No one was hurt. The case is a rare verbatim wildlife alert: the SMS survives word-for-word in a UC Davis post, showing how the 160-character constraint flattens a bear emergency into thirteen capitalized words, a location vector, and one instruction.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The UC Davis WarnMe SMS is preserved verbatim ('BEAR SIGHTED ON CAMPUS LS WB FROM SOLANO PARK TO ARBORETUM AREA FISH AND GAME ONSCENE STAY AWAY FROM THE AREA'), a rare confirmed wildlife alert text",
    "The all-caps abbreviations LS WB and ONSCENE illustrate how an SMS constraint environment compresses a bear sighting into a minimal location-and-instruction message",
    "California Fish and Wildlife tranquilized and released the one-year-old bear unharmed; the alert was a discretionary advisory, not a Clery timely warning"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "UC Davis WarnMe: BEAR SIGHTED ON CAMPUS - UC Davis Facebook",
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/UCDavis/photos/uc-davis-warnme-bear-sighted-on-campus-ls-wb-from-solano-park-to-arboretum-area-/10161942466700215/",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bear Caught in the Morning, Freed 5 Hours Later - UC Davis News",
      "url": "https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/alert-bear-activity-south-campus",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bear Spotted On UC Davis Campus 'Safely Detained' - CapRadio",
      "url": "https://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/06/04/bear-spotted-on-uc-davis-campus-safely-detained/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "CAPTURED: Bear Seen on UC Davis Campus Near Arboretum Drive - FOX40",
      "url": "https://fox40.com/2019/06/04/bear-sighted-on-uc-davis-campus-near-aboretum-drive/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "wildlife",
    "bear",
    "advisory",
    "california",
    "verbatim",
    "all-clear",
    "uc-davis"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}