• The Arizona Game and Fish Department is warning people to be “bear aware” this Memorial Day weekend.
• Human food is the most common cause of conflicts, as bears search for the 5,000 calories they need daily.
• To stay safe, secure all food and trash, and never keep food inside a tent when camping.

Smokey Bear will not just be watching for fires this Memorial Day. He might be watching for food, too. 

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is warning outdoor recreationists to stay “bear aware” through the long weekend. 

Food is the most common culprit of human-bear conflicts, according to the wildlife agency. Bears can show up to campsites, parks, even grocery stores in search of something tasty — they’ll eat just about anything in pursuit of the 5,000 calories they need a day during the summer, officials say.

“Bears are dangerous. They might look cute or cuddly, but they certainly have the capacity to inflict harm on humans,” said Paul Greer, a wildlife manager supervisor at the Game and Fish Department’s Region 1 office in Pinetop, in a May 20 news release. 

But black bears are also shy and secretive. Available human food can lure them out of their forested hideaways, especially during dry periods like late spring, early summer and Arizona’s prolonged drought, which limit their natural food supply. 

This Memorial Day weekend, revelers should be mindful of not leaving any food outdoors. That includes trash, barbecue grills, pet food and birdseed.  

“If humans do their part, then the bears may pass through without getting the reward of those attractants, the trash and the human sources of food — the bears will just move on,” Greer said. 

Wildlife: As Arizona’s drought persists, black bears are abandoning their cubs

Bears learn to hunt for human food

Each March, black bears emerge from their winter hibernation, sometimes with new cubs in tow. 

About 5,800 roam across 10,000 square miles of nontribal lands in Arizona, mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the state where the Sonoran Desert gives way to pinyon pine, juniper and oak woodlands. They are most concentrated along the Mogollon Rim, the Mazatzal Mountains and the Pinaleño Mountains. 

Bears are usually active in the morning and evening, foraging for their usual fare — berries and nuts. But a few develop a taste for something more. It’s rare for bears to show aggression toward people, but bears that become accustomed to humans and human food can be public safety risks. 

“When bears gain access to human food or garbage, it can quickly lead to food conditioning, where bears begin associating people and developed areas with an easy meal,” said Sarah Sparhawk, a public affairs specialist at the National Park Service. 

There have been two deadly bear attacks on humans in Arizona since the 1990s. The most recent was in 2023 in Prescott. 

Michael Colaianni, a public affairs director at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said apart from a few typical reports of bears spotted on private land, there are no recent bear incidents or injuries in Arizona to report at this time. 

Bears in the woods: Mother bear and cub released back into the wild after capture in Crown King

Here’s how to stay safe from bears

Bear safety tips to keep in mind this weekend:

• Keep food secure and inaccessible to bears.
• When camping, don’t keep food in a tent and don’t burn leftover food on a grill.
• When hiking, don’t wear scented lotion or perfume, keep pets on a leash and make noise or hike in groups.
• In case of a black bear encounter, do not run or play dead. Instead, back slowly away while maintaining eye contact. Make yourself look bigger by waving your arms in the air or pulling your shirt/jacket up over your head.
• If attacked, fight back.
• If you see a bear in your neighborhood, do not approach it.

Follow Arizona’s wildlife: Sign up for AZ Climate, The Republic’s weekly environment newsletter.

Unacceptable bear behavior, such as entering or attempting to enter human dwellings, tents or vehicles, approaching a human after it becomes aware of the human’s presence and any other aggressive behavior should be reported to the Game and Fish Department’s dispatch center at 623-236-7201. In an emergency, call 911.

Sarah Henry covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to sarah.henry@arizonarepublic.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.

PHOENIX — An Arizona attorney is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the Arizona Department of Child Safety has a pattern of discriminating against children with disabilities after two boys with type 1 diabetes died in state custody.

Robert Pastor represents the families of Jacob Blodgett and Christian Williams, both of whom were placed in group homes by DCS and died after failing to receive the care they needed for type 1 diabetes.

In a sworn deposition taken on March 31, 2026, a DCS licensing manager acknowledged that diabetes is a disability protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and that the state is required to make accommodations for children with the condition.

Pastor said that admission stood out to him in the testimony, “How willing and readily they admitted that these children deserve to have the medicine they needed, and admitting that they knew this was a disability, they knew they had to accommodate it.”

Pastor also pointed to deposition testimony confirming there was no specific training given to group homes on the care and management of Type 1 diabetes before Christian’s death in July 2024.

“If you looked at those two cases in the pattern and behavior, you see that the Department of Child Safety put both children in group homes that were poorly trained and had zero knowledge or understanding of the disease,” Pastor said.

Last month, Pastor sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking federal officials to investigate whether DCS has a pattern of discriminating against children with disabilities.

“We need someone to come in who is not within the Department of Child Safety, because under the current administration, they’re unwilling to be critical of themselves. Take accountability and do what’s needed to make sure other children don’t die,” Pastor said.

Christian Williams was 15 years old when Mesa police body camera video captured him being found unconscious in July 2024.

The medical examiner ruled Williams died from diabetic ketoacidosis, a preventable condition caused by not having enough insulin.

Police records show he had been allowed to refuse his insulin, and when group home staff finally called 911, it was too late.

“They failed us,” his mother, Bobbie Williams, said.

Jacob Blodgett was 9 years old when he died from the same condition in December 2022. Records show group home staff also allowed him to refuse his life-saving medication.

“How could they have done this? How in the world could they have not taken care of someone with those medical needs?” said Cheryl Doenges, Jacob’s grandmother.

The deposition also revealed that there is no written DCS policy, procedure, rule, law, directive, or memo stating that children can refuse necessary medical care.

Pastor said the sworn testimony makes clear that DCS knew insulin was life or death for children with Type 1 diabetes.

“What we’ve discovered is that both of these boys had a recognized disability. They were entitled to receive the medication they needed to stay alive,” Pastor said.

This would not be the first time DCS has faced federal scrutiny. In 2024, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division found DCS discriminated against parents and children with hearing disabilities and forced the agency to make changes.

“How many more disabled children are they ignoring? Are they not accommodating? Or how many other parents are they discriminating against because that parent has a disability?” Pastor said.

The DOJ would not comment on the call for a federal investigation.

A spokesperson for DCS also would not comment on the letter or its contents, as there is pending litigation with the two families.

However, DCS did say that since 2024 it has made changes, including new training for kids with complex medical issues, a diabetes field guide, and care kits as well.

Statement from DCS:

Since 2024, we have implemented changes to better support children with diabetes and the caregivers responsible for their well-being.
We recognize that caring for a child with diabetes can feel overwhelming, so we partnered with Creighton University to create a free training course to provide caregivers with the knowledge and tools needed to support a child’s diabetes care. The course is designed for anyone who cares for or works with children who have diabetes, including parents, foster and kinship caregivers, teachers and school staff, social workers, and childcare providers. Group home employees who work with children who have complex medical needs are required to take the training.
The course helps caregivers understand the differences between Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes; recognize warning signs of high or low blood sugar; know what questions to ask when a child with diabetes is placed in their care; how to collaborate effectively with medical providers and schools; and where to access important tools and resources.
In addition, we have created a field guide on diabetes in collaboration with medical experts from local hospitals. The field guide provides information on proper diabetes management; how to monitor and administer medication; and what DCS Specialists should look for on cases that involve a child with diabetes.
We also ensure that diabetes care kits are available at our welcome center so children entering care or experiencing placement disruption have their immediate medical and daily care needs addressed promptly and appropriately.

This story was written and reported by a journalist and revised with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.