Wandering bear prompts lockdown at California elementary school

April 5 (UPI) -- A California school was placed on lockdown when a black bear was seen wandering across the parking lot and a grassy field next to the facility.

Casey LeFave posted a video to Facebook showing the bear wandering through a grassy area right outside Three Rivers Elementary after lunchtime Monday, prompting an hours-long lockdown at the school.

LeFave said the bear was on school grounds from about 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.

The bear was earlier seen wandering around a nearby Chevron station and the Kaweah River Trading Company.

Witness Holly Radmacher said the bear showed interest in her dog.

"It was just packing back and forth across this fence and totally unafraid of anything. I did the scare it off and it was almost acting like it was trying to bait the dog to get closer to the fence," she told KMPH/KFRE.

A school official said local authorities summoned California Fish and wildlife officials when they were unsuccessful in scaring the bear off the grounds.

It was unclear whether the bear was captured by wildlife officials or whether it wandered back out of town on its own.