American Black BearBlack Bear

The American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) is the most common species of bear that is native to North America. These bears cans be found throughout much of the North American continent, from northern Canada and Alaska all the way down south into Mexico, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It is said that Black Bears inhabit 41 of the 50 United States of America and all Canadian provinces with the exception of Prince Edward Island.

American Black Bear populations in the east-central and southern U.S. remain mostly in the protection of the mountains and woodlands in parks and preserves, but the bears will sometimes stray outside those areas, setting up new territories, which in many cases are within urban environments. It is speculated that there was once as many as two million black bears in North America before European colonization. The population declined to only 200,000 bears as a result of unrestricted hunting and destruction of the bears natural habitat. However, it is thought that by current estimates, there are more than 800,000 are living in North America today.

As for size, American Black Bears usually grow to between 59 to 72 inches in length, and standing approximately 34 to 48 inches at the shoulder. When a Black Bear stands up on its hind feet, it can be up to 7 feet tall. As a general rule, males are usually 33% larger than females. The females can weigh anywhere from 90 and 400 pounds), and males can weigh between 250 and 600 pounds. They rarely grow to be more than 660 pounds, although it does happen sometimes. Extremely large male black bears have been found weighing as much as 800 pounds and 95 inches long. The largest American Black Bear ever recorded weighed 880 pounds and was a male bear from North Carolina. As big as adult bears are, their babies are born extremely small. Black bear cubs usually weigh only between 7 ounces and 1 pound at birth.

Adult black bears have small eyes, a long snout, rounded ears, short tail that is just under 5" inches long, and a large body. They sometimes have a V-shaped white mark on their chest, but not always. They also have an extraordinary sense of smell. The American black bear is known for having shaggy black hair (hence the name Black Bear), but the species can in fact be found in many different colors, from white to chocolate-brown, and blonde (found mostly west of the Mississippi River), to black in the east. This is usually the same in Canada also.

Although black bears are able to stand up and walk on their hind legs, they are naturally built to walk on all fours. When they do stand up on two legs, it is usually done just for a short amount of time, and for the purpose of getting a better scent or view of something. The way they shuffle their feet when they walk is a result of being a plantigrade (flat-footed) animal, with their hind legs being slightly longer than the front legs. Another reason for their shuffled walk is that they commonly walk with a pacing gait. Unlike many quadrupeds, a bears legs on one side move together instead of alternating. Each paw on a bear has five long, very strong claws that are used for tearing, digging, and climbing.

Black bears can live in various types of habitats within their range. Although most black bears seem to prefer forested and shrubby areas, they are also known to live in tidelands, on ridgetops, riparian zones, burned areas, agricultural fields and, even sometimes avalanche chutes. Black bears can be seen from hardwood and conifer swamps to the dry sage and pinyon-juniper habitats in the western United State. The bears typically hibernate during winter in dens they have hollowed out inside tree cavities, in river banks, caves, culverts, or under rocks or logs. These hibernation dens are usually only used once by the bear, and not reused the next year. Although black bears do not eat, drink, urinate or defecate during hibernation, they still remain somewhat active and alert, and their body temperature does not drop significantly. Females bears even give birth and nurse their young while hibernating.

After coming out of hibernation and emerging from their winter dens in spring, black bears go looking for carrion from winter-killed animals, as well as new growth of various plant species, especially wetland vegetation. In mountainous regions, black bears hunt southerly slopes at lower elevations for food and then move on to northern and eastern slopes at higher elevations as the summer season progresses. The bears use dense cover for hiding, bedding, and thermal protection. Black bears will climb trees to escape if they sense danger, and they use rivers and forests for travelling.

Female black bears usually reach breeding maturity somewhere between 3 and 4 years of age. With proper nutrition, the females can reproduce every 2 years. However, in a poor quality environment with limited nutrition, they may not mature until 5-7 years of age and may skip breeding cycles. Males black bears are mature at the same age as females, but they may not become large and strong enough to win breeding rights until they are 4-5 years old because they have to compete and fight with other male bears to be accepted by the females. The mating season is usuall during the summer months, from mid-June to mid-August, with a gestation time of 7 to 8 months.

Black bear cubs are usually born in January or February. They are extremely small and nearly hairless at birth. They are also blind and helpless when they are born. Generally, a mother black bear gives birth to two or three cubs, but sometimes up to four or five cubs have been documented. First-time mothers usually only give birth to one single cub. The mother nurses her cubs with milk, and by the time spring arrives and the bears start leaving their dens, the cubs are inquisitive, playful and full of energy. By this time they usually weigh about 4 to 8 pounds. If their mother senses danger, she will grunt to the cubs to climb high up a tree. The bear cubs understand this communication. The cubs are weaned from their mother sometime between July and September of their first year, but they remain with their mother throughout the first winter season. A bear cub usually becomes independent during its second summer, when they are about 1 and a half years old. A bear cubs survival is entirely dependent on the skill of its mother in teaching her cubs what to eat, how and where to hunt, where to den, and how to recognize danger and seek shelter.

Black bears are omnivores, meaning their diet includes both meats and plants. Black bears are at the top of the food chain in North America, except in areas where they coexist with the brown bear. The black bears diet consists of a wide variety of foods, mainly berries, nuts and herbs.

Black Bears also eat carrion and insects such as carpenter ants, yellow jackets, bees, wasps and termites. Although they do enjoy the honey from beehives, they are really seeking the bee larvae, which is a good source of protein for the bears. Black bears are also known to kill and eat small mammals, such as rodents and young ungulates. Bears also enjoy a variety of fish and other seafood, and they also are known to frequent garbage dumps, or raiding the trash bins of businesses or homes, looking for leftover foods that humans have discarded.

A black bear rarely attacks humans unless cornered, threatened, or wounded. They usually flee for cover as soon as they identify a human visitor.

Random Black Bear Facts

  • The University of Maine sports teams are called Black Bears. A black bear is also the mascot for Baylor University, where two bears are kept on campus.
  • Ursus americanus kermodei, commonly known as the spirit bear, is a rare white subspecies of the American black bear found in temperate rain forests on the Pacific coast of North America. Many Native American traditions believe these animals to have supernatural powers.
  • The mascot of the United States Forest Service, Smokey Bear, is based on an actual black bear cub found in New Mexico after a forest fire. The black bear is also the state animal for New Mexico.
  • Winnie the Pooh was named after Winnipeg bear, an orphaned black bear cub originally from the Canadian township of White River, Ontario. During World War I, the bear was adopted by (then) Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, a member of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Infantry. It later became the mascot for the company and was moved to London Zoo where it was seen by A. A. Milne and his son.
  • It was reported by several news media outlets in 2004 that a wild black bear was found passed out drunk after drinking 36 cans of beer in Baker Lake, Washington, USA. The bear opened a camper's cooler and used its claws and teeth to open the beer cans. It was found the bear selectively opened cans of Rainier Beer and left all but one Busch beer unconsumed.
  • The biggest black bear known was legally harvested in 1999 in North Carolina. The bear was weighed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to be 880 pounds. It was reported to have been eating hogs from an industrial hog farm.
  • The North American Bear Center, located in Ely, Minnesota, is home to the world's largest captive male and female black bears. Ted, the male, weighed 950-1,000 pounds in the Fall of 2006. The female, Honey, 555 pounds in the Fall of 2007. Both bears have a protein rich diet.