The American black bear is the most common and widespread bear in North America, with a population about twice that of all other bear species combined. Despite the name, many are brown, cinnamon, or blond, and a few are even white or bluish gray.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Adults are 4–6 ft (1.2–1.9 m) long and 2–3.5 ft (0.6–1 m) tall at the shoulder on all fours. Males usually weigh 130–660 lb (60–300 kg) and females 88–331 lb (40–150 kg). About 70% are black, but only about half of Rocky Mountain bears are.
Look-alikes
Grizzly bear (brown bear)Ursus arctos
Check body shape, not color. Grizzlies have a big shoulder hump, a dished face, short round ears, and front claws 2–4 in long. Black bears have no hump (the rump is higher than the shoulders), a straight face profile, taller, more oval ears, and claws under 2 in.
Why they get mixed upCinnamon and blond black bears can look just like grizzlies.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Forests
- Mountains
- Beaches
- Alpine areas
- Range
- Found across much of Canada and the US, including Alaska, and into Mexico. California has the largest population of any state in the Lower 48. They are spreading back into places like Ohio, Illinois, southern Indiana, and western Nebraska.
- Preferred conditions
- They prefer rugged forest with thick underbrush and plenty of nuts and berries, usually between 1,300 and 9,800 ft (400–3,000 m) in the Lower 48. Where trash and other easy food is available, they also move into suburbs.
- Seasons
In the US
Breeding Jun–Jul
Behavior
- Diet
- Up to 85% plant food: new shoots and grasses in spring, berries in summer, and acorns, hazelnuts, and pine nuts in fall. They also eat insects, honey, salmon and other fish, , and sometimes deer or elk fawns.
- Activity
- Most enter dens in October or November and 3–8 months, depending on the climate. Some bears in the South stay active all winter. During hibernation the heart rate drops from 40–50 to about 8 beats per minute.
- Social life
- Mostly solitary and territorial, though many may gather where food is plentiful.
Life cycle
- Breeding season
- Mating takes place in June and July, sometimes into August in the North. The fertilized egg waits until about November to implant.
- Gestation
- Cubs are born in the winter den in late January or early February, weighing only 10–16 oz (280–450 g).
- Litter size
- 1–6 cubs, usually 2 or 3
- Time to maturity
- Cubs stay with their mother until 16–18 months old. Females usually have their first litter at 3–5 years.
- Lifespan
- About 18 years on average in the wild; the oldest known wild bear reached 39.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Several regional subspecies are recognized. Best known are the Kermode or spirit bear (U. a. kermodei) of British Columbia's central coast, where about one in ten is white, and the glacier bear (U. a. emmonsii) of southeastern Alaska, with a blue-gray coat.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- A 2011 survey of most US states (Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming were not counted) estimated roughly 339,000–465,000 bears. Mexico is the only country that lists the species as endangered.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Winnipeg, a black bear bought by a Canadian soldier and later kept at the London Zoo.
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