American black bear
The American black bear, a solitary and agile mammal, is the most common bear species in North America. Found across Canada, Alaska, and the contiguous United States, these bears inhabit diverse environments such as dense forests, mountains, and swamps. Their fur can vary significantly in color—ranging from black to white, brown, or even bluish—depending on the region. Adult black bears typically measure between four to six feet in length and weigh between 260 to 330 pounds, with some males reaching up to 900 pounds.
Dietarily, they primarily consume vegetation, including fruits, nuts, and leaves, but their omnivorous diet can also include insects, small animals, and fish. While natural predators like wolves and mountain lions occasionally prey on young cubs, human activities pose the greatest threat to their population. Black bears utilize dens for shelter during winter, entering a state of torpor rather than true hibernation, allowing them to remain responsive to warmer winter days. Breeding occurs in late spring, resulting in one to four cubs, which are born weighing about one pound. In the wild, American black bears can live up to 30 years, although many face dangers that reduce their lifespan significantly.
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American black bear
American black bears are solitary creatures and excellent climbers. Despite their name, depending on their habitat they may have black, white, brown, or even bluish fur. They are the most common species of bears.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: Americanus
American black bears can be found throughout North America, throughout Canada, Alaska, and the continental United States. They live in a variety of habitats, including dense forests, mountainsides, and swamp-areas of the eastern United States. They tend to occupy remote areas with dense vegetation.
American black bears are four to six feet (1 to 1 3/4 meters) long and 2 1/2 to 3 feet (3/4 to 1 meter) tall at the shoulder. They typically weigh between 260 and 330 pounds (100 to 125 kilograms), though some males can weigh as much as 900 pounds (409 kilograms). Females are typically smaller than males. Black bears can be distinguished from brown bears by their coloring and their convex profile and longer, less furry ears.
Black bears mostly eat vegetation, including twigs, leaves, buds, fruit, nuts, corn, shoots, and berries. They also eat grubs, insects, carrion (dead animals), fish, small animals, farm animals, birds and eggs, bees, beehives and honey, and garbage. Wolves and mountain lions can sometimes prey on black bears, especially young cubs. However, humans are they greatest threat to the bear population.
Black bears dig dens into hillsides, but they may also live in caves or large, hollow logs. During the winter bears sleep in dens which protect them from the cold. Many people think that bears hibernate in the winter, but this is not true. When animals hibernate, their body temperatures drop, and the animals become less active so that it appears that they are sleeping very soundly. Bears eat a lot in the summer and store up fat in their bodies for the winter when food is scarce. They sleep a lot during the winter, but their body temperatures remain high. They also awake and leave their dens on mild winter days.
American black bears tend to live alone with the exception of mating season and of a mother with her cubs. Black bears mate between May and July. Gestation (duration of pregnancy) is between seven and eight months. The female usually gives birth to one to four cubs. At birth, the cubs only weigh about one pound.
American black bears have a lifespan of about 30 years in the wild, though they typically only live until about 10 years old due to deadly human interactions.
Bibliography
“American Black Bear - Ursus Americanus.” NatureWorks, New Hampshire PBS, nhpbs.org/natureworks/blackbear.htm. Accessed 16 May 2024.
“American Black Bear.” National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/american-black-bear. Accessed 16 May 2024.
Dewey, Tanya, and Christine Kronk. “Ursus Americanus (American Black Bear).” Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ursus‗americanus/. Accessed 16 May 2024.
Obbard, Martyn, et al. “American Black Bear.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 18 Mar. 2016, www.iucnredlist.org/species/41687/114251609. Accessed 16 May 2024.