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American Black Bear ( Bear
Cub)
The American Black Bear (Ursus
americanus), also known as simply the black bear or cinnamon
bear, is the most common
bear in
North America.
The black bear occurs throughout
much of North America from northern
Canada and
Alaska south into
Mexico, from the
Atlantic to the
Pacific. This includes 39 of the 50
U.S. states and all Canadian provinces. Populations in east-central and the
southern United States remain in the protected mountains and woodlands of parks
and preserves, though bears will occasionally wander outside the parks'
boundaries and have set up new territories in recent years in this manner. While
there were probably once as many as two million black bears in North America,
the population declined to a low of 200,000 before rebounding in recent decades,
partly due to conservation measures. By current estimates, more than 600,000 are
living today.[1]
Appearance
The black bear is about 1.5
metres (5 feet) long. Females weigh between 40 and 180 kg (90 and 400 pounds),
while males weigh between 50 and 400 kg (110 and 880 pounds). Cubs usually weigh
between 200 and 450 g (between 7 oz and 1 pound) at birth. The adult black bear
has small eyes, rounded ears, a long snout, a large body, and a short tail. They
have an excellent sense of smell. Though these bears indeed generally have
shaggy black hair, the coat can vary in color depending on the subspecies: from
white through
chocolate brown,
cinnamon brown, and blonde, found mostly West of the
Mississippi River, to black in the East (the same is generally true in
Canada with the border being between
Manitoba and
Ontario). Further adding to the confusion, black bears occasionally sport a
slight white chest blaze on either side of the river.
While black bears are able to
stand and walk on their hind legs, they usually stand or walk on all four legs.
(When they do stand it usually is to get a better look at something.) The black
bear's characteristic shuffle results from walking flat-footed,
with the hind
legs slightly longer than the front legs. Each paw has five strong claws
used for tearing, digging, and climbing. One blow from a powerful front
paw is enough to kill an adult
deer.
Habitat and behavior
Black bears prefer forested and
shrubby areas but use wet
meadows, high tidelands, ridgetops, burned areas, riparian areas, and
avalanche chutes. They also frequent swampy hardwood and conifer forests. After
emerging from their winter dens in spring, they seek southerly slopes at lower
elevations for forage and move to northerly and easterly slopes at higher
elevations as summer progresses. Black bears use dense cover for hiding and
thermal protection, as well as for bedding. They climb trees to escape danger
and use forested areas as travel corridors. Black bears hibernate during winter
and may build dens in tree cavities, under logs, rocks, in banks, caves, or
culverts, and in shallow depressions.
Black bears reach
breeding maturity at about 4 or 5 years of age, and breed every 2 to 3
years. Black bears breed in the spring, usually in May and June, but the embryos
do not begin to develop until the mother dens in the fall to
hibernate through the winter months (delayed implantation.) However, if food
was scarce and the mother has not gained enough fat to sustain herself during
hibernation as well as produce cubs, the embryos do not implant (develop).
Black bear cubs are generally
born in January or February. They are blind when born, and twins are most
common, though up to four cubs is not unheard of and first-time mothers
typically have only a single cub. By spring thaw, when the bears start leaving
their dens, the cubs are fur-balls of energy, inquisitive and playful. When
their mother senses danger she grunts to the cubs to climb high up a tree. They
are weaned between July and September of their first year, and stay with the
mother through the first winter. They are usually independent by the second
winter.
Cub survival is totally dependent
on the skill of the mother in teaching her cubs what to eat, where and how to
forage (find food), where to den, and when and where to seek shelter from heat
or danger.
Black bears are
omnivores. They eat a wide variey of foods, relying most heavily on
grasses,
herbs,
fruits, and
mast. They also feed on
carrion and
insects such as
Black bears sometimes kill and
eat small
rodents and
ungulate fawns. Unlike the
brown bear, black bears like to attack and eat dead creatures, which makes
humans feigning death at bear attacks ineffective. Like many animals, black
bears seldom attack unless cornered or threatened. They are less likely to
attack man than grizzly bears and typically have long since run for cover before
one catches sight of them. Black bear predation on man is extremely rare.
Black bears eat a great variety
of vegetation and nuts as shown in the list below. The list reflects the
different types of habitat in which the black bear is found, from prairie to
swamps to both eastern and western types of forest.
American black
bear cubs
Black bears will eat
salmon (Oncorynchus
spp.,
Salmo salar),
suckers,
alligator eggs,
crayfish and
trout and will raid
orchards,
beehives, and agricultural crops. They may frequent garbage dumps or may
raid the trash bins of businesses or private homes. Black bears may occasionally
prey on domestic
sheep and
pigs when their natural foods are scarce.
Black bear predators include
other black bears,
man, and the
grizzly (Ursus arctos horriblis).
Coyotes (Canis latrans) and
mountain lions (Puma concolor) may prey on cubs.
History and Controversy
Because their behavior has been
little understood until recently, black bears have been feared and hated. Before
the 20th century these bears were shot intermittently as vermin, food, and
trophies being seen as either a vicious beast or an endless commodity; in many
areas, bounties were paid, until recently, for black bears. The
British
beefeater's hat has been for centuries made of black bear fur shipped from
Canada and black bear rugs are not unknown in some parts of North America.
Paradoxically, black bears have also been portrayed as harmless and cuddly. For
example, the "teddy bear" owes its existence to a young black bear cub
Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot. Today, black bears are as much an
important game species as they are a point of debate across the continent,
especially when it comes to the fact that many are finding life in the suburbs
quite comfortable. Given their relatively low reproductive rate, black bear
harvests must be carefully controlled and are probably inappropriate in areas
where populations are feeble and habitat is no longer intact.
Their tendencies to follow their
stomachs and habitat encroachment by man have created human-bear conflicts. This
is true especially in areas where they may have been uncommon or absent for a
long time, as in many parts of the eastern
United States. An excellent example is the state of
New Jersey. In New Jersey, bears were quite uncommon before the modern era
as much land was cleared for homes and farming and also due to poor policies
regarding hunting and forestry; by 1970 there were only 100 bears extant.
However, due to changes in land usage, management, and population increases in
neighboring
Pennsylvania and
New York, that number increased to nearly 1500 bears by 2003. The result is
that the residents of this densely populous state sometimes awaken to find the
garbage ripped to shreds or a birdfeeder knocked to the ground at best, and at
worst a bear invading the home or attacking. (Invasion usually happens after a
bear has lost its fear and has come to associate people with food and attacks
occur when a human gets in the way of said food.) This is a cause for concern
among civilians and scientists alike. Similar events have unfolded in other
states and in Canada, and state, provincial and federal agencies are working to
address the issue with trap and release programs, limited hunting, and hazing
bears with rubber bullets, other aversion techniques, and dogs. In agricultural
areas electric fences have been very effective.
Black Bear Encounters
When encountering a bear in the
wild (particularly in Canada and the Western U.S.), first identify what type of
bear it is as that will determine your defensive measures. Black bears are
generally smaller and have no large hump on their back like grizzly bears. For
black bears, you are better off trying to scare them off rather than playing
dead. To do this, huddle together if in a group, raise your hands or backpack in
the air to make yourself appear larger, and make plenty of noise. You will
probably scare it away unless you are separating it from cubs (or just unlucky).
Do not look it dead in the eye. If it rears up, it does not necessarily mean
aggression: a black bear's range of view is three feet off the ground whereas a
human's is between five and six. It is trying to get a look at what you are and
if you are a threat. You can assess its mood by seeing if it makes a popping
sound with its jaw. If it does, it is a warning that it is uncomfortable. That
is a sign to slowly back away (if possible) and leave. If it does charge, unlike
grizzly bears, you should fight back! Using whatever gear you have close on hand
attempt to injure it such that it no longer finds you worth the fight. In
particular, aim for the nose as it is a sensitive part of the bear. Its thick
skull makes blows to the top and side of the head nearly useless. It is not
uncommon for black bears to disengage after being injured'
pepper spray in the eyes has been known to work. If fighting the bear does
not seem like a wise choice, consider other options. If you play dead, black
bears, unlike grizzlies who may leave you alone, will eat you or drag you away.
You cannot outrun a black bear (they are faster than you think). Also, if you
climb a tree, you will soon see the bear coming up after you as black bears also
climb trees. Good
luck!
Current legal protections
Today, a major threat to the
American black bear is
poaching, or illegal killing, to supply
Asian markets with bear
galls and paws, considered to have medicinal value in
China,
Japan, and
Korea. The demand for these parts also affects grizzly and polar bears. The
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES), a treaty among more than 120 nations, provides measures to curb illegal
trade in wildlife and wildlife products across international boundaries, helping
to protect the black bear from poaching.
Black bears are abundant in much
of the West, in portions of the Midwest and in most of Canada (for example,
Ontario is home to about 100,000 bears, while
Minnesota has a very healthy poulation of 30,000 bears.) Conversely,
Iowa, where land is heavily used for agriculture, has virtually none. Most
eastern populations in the
United States are seeing a marked, steady increase in population with bears
moving back into places where they may not have been present for over a century
as suitable habitat has come back. In
North Carolina there were 11,000 bears at last count in 2004,
Pennsylvania estimates 15,000 bears currently, and even tiny
Rhode Island has seen evidence of bears moving into areas where they haven't
been in decades. Unfortunately, not all is well. Two populations are at
critically low levels. Two subspecies, the Louisiana black bear and the Florida
black bear, still face decline mainly due to habitat loss and degradation. In
Mexico, the indigenous black bear population is listed as endangered and is
mostly limited to increasingly fragmented habitat in the northern parts of the
country.
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