Florida school on lockdown when mama bear, 3 cubs visit

ORANGE CITY, Fla. – A Florida school went into lockdown mode when a mama bear and her three cubs wandered onto campus.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission swarmed River Springs Middle School in Orange City Thursday morning as students were kept inside classrooms.

Officials say the bear family wandered away after foraging for food for almost two hours.

School officials reported seeing the bears around 8 a.m. near some portable classrooms.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Laura Williams says teachers were informed to keep students inside classrooms.

Wildlife officials say this is the time of year that bears are active. Earlier this week, officials were trying to trap a bear that killed a dog and injured another in Seminole County.