Bear gives US school principal a roaring wake-up call

Large black bear somehow got inside a school bin and frightened principal when he opened it

A black bear gave a West Virginia principal quite the wake-up call when it emerged — growling and roaring — from a skip outside an elementary school.

Zela Elementary School principal James Marsh was surprised to discover the bear had somehow managed to get inside the skip at the weekend, even after the school installed a lock.

As Mr Marsh was unlocking the bin, the bear began pushing the lid open.

“That will wake a person up,” Mr Marsh said on Tuesday in a phone interview. “That was 7.15am — if you are not already awake, that will wake you up.”

Mr Marsh darted away once the bear's head appeared.

The bear then jumped out and ran off in an encounter that was recorded by a school security camera and has since being shared widely across social media.

“He looked like he was scared, too — as scared as I was,” Mr Marsh said. “He might not be back.”

The school in Nicholas County, about 112km east of the state capital of Charleston, installed the lock on the skip last week after noticing some torn-up bin bags outside.

“It was so big, it was able to pull that lock bar in and out all weekend long,” he said.

After Mr Marsh’s experience, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources came and made modifications to the lock.

“We will see how it does,” Mr Marsh said. “He didn’t come back last night.”