Bear seen outside Clover, SC school near playground close to downtown, officials say
A black bear was spotted Thursday afternoon at an elementary school playground close to downtown Clover, officials said.
The bear was seen at the Kinard Elementary School playground area and in a neighborhood later, according to town officials and Capt. Logan McGarity of the Clover Police Department.
Bryan Dillon, spokesman for the the Clover school district, said district officials were made aware of the sighting that happened after school hours.
Clover is a town of around 9,000 people south of the North Carolina state line with Gaston County.
The town of Clover posted on its Facebook page that the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the town’s police department were made aware of the sighting. Town officials urged anyone who saw the bear not to approach it and to call police.
The area is west of downtown, close to where U.S. 321 and S.C. 55 intersect. The bear was seen near Presley Street and Smith Street, town officials said.
A resident posted a picture of the bear taken on Marietta Street on the school district’s Facebook page.
Bears are uncommon in York County, but the search for food can bring them into the county, according to the S.C DNR.
“In South Carolina, there are two resident populations of black bears, one in the mountains and upper Piedmont and one in the coastal plain,” DNR said on its website. “A shortage of natural food sources and lack of rainfall can cause home ranges to vary greatly. Black bears will travel large distances to find adequate food sources.”
People should not feed wildlife such as bears and should not leave a food source outside when a bear is seen, said Jeff Vissage, a DNR officer in York County.
Young bears are often known to strike out into unfamiliar territory as they search for “new home territories,” the state says. “These bears are usually transient and do not stay in the area for long.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 10:20 AM.
