Bear spotted in Corrales, near Cibola High, prompts search

A bear that first turned up in Corrales and then near Cibola High School in Paradise Hills left West Side neighborhoods on alert Wednesday after New Mexico Game and Fish said officers had been searching for it since 3 a.m. and still had not found it by Thursday afternoon.

The first calls came from Corrales on the evening of May 6, then the bear was reported again near the school area, putting a familiar corridor of homes, streets and campus traffic into the center of the response. Darren Vaughn, a Game and Fish communications director, said officers tried to capture the bear and remove it from the area but were unsuccessful.

The timing matters for families in Corrales, Paradise Hills and nearby parts of West Side Albuquerque because spring bears are often driven by food. Game and Fish says human food and other attractants can draw bears into neighborhoods, and bears that connect people with food can become aggressive and pose a public-safety threat. The department also says drought can push bears closer to towns and neighborhoods in search of food, which can keep a bear moving through developed areas instead of heading back to the mountains.

That makes the prevention steps immediate, not optional. Game and Fish advises residents to secure trash until pickup day, remove bird feeders, bring in pet food and dishes, clean and store grills after use, and let neighbors know when bear activity is happening. The agency says a bear that keeps finding easy meals can keep returning, which can prolong the risk for the same blocks and school routes.

The Corrales and Cibola High sightings also echo a recent local incident in Rio Rancho, where Game and Fish safely captured a mature male black bear near Northern and Unser boulevards in August 2025. That event triggered a short shelter-in-place and lockdown at Ernest Stapleton Elementary School and Eagle Ridge Middle School for about 20 minutes before the bear was darted and released in northern New Mexico. In that case, officials said the animal likely came from the Mt. Taylor or Jemez Mountains.

Game and Fish says black bears are omnivores that eat fruit, nuts, insects, larvae and carrion, and they generally avoid people unless drawn by unsecured food or trash. For now, the West Side bear remained on the loose, and the question for Corrales-area families was less about curiosity than about how quickly one animal can turn a normal neighborhood evening into a safety response.