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The American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) is the most common bear species native to North America. more...

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It lives throughout much of the continent, from northern Canada and Alaska south into Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This includes 40 of the 50 U.S. states and all Canadian provinces except Prince Edward Island. Populations in the east-central and 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 some cases on the margins of urban environments in recent years as their populations increase. Although there were probably once as many as two million black bears in North America long before European colonization, the population declined to a low of 200,000 as a result of habitat destruction and unrestricted hunting culls. By current estimates, more than 800,000 are living today on the continent .

Physical description

The American Black Bear is about 1.8 m (6 feet) long. Females weigh between 40 and 180 kg (90 and 400 pounds); males weigh between 68 and 225 kg (150 and 500 pounds). Cubs usually weigh 200 to 450 g (between seven ounces and one pound) at birth. The adult has small eyes, rounded ears, a long snout, a large body, and a short tail. It has an excellent sense of smell. Though they 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, the border being between Manitoba and Ontario). Further adding to the confusion, they occasionally have a slight white chest blaze on either side of the river. Although they are able to stand and walk on their hind legs, they usually stand or walk on all four legs; when they do stand, it is usually to get a better scent or look at something. Their characteristic shuffling gait results from walking flat-footed (called plantigrade), with the hind legs slightly longer than the front legs. Another reason for the apparent shuffle is that they commonly walk with a pacing gait. Unlike many quadrupeds, the legs on one side move together instead of alternating, much like a pacer horse. Each paw has five strong claws used for tearing, digging, and climbing. One blow from a powerful front paw can kill an adult elk.

Habitat and behavior

Black bears prefer forested and shrubby areas, but use wet meadows, high tidelands, ridgetops, burned areas, riparian areas, agricultural fields, and avalanche chutes. They also frequent swampy hardwood and conifer forests. Black bears sometimes hibernate during winter and may build dens in tree cavities, under logs or rocks, in banks, caves, or culverts, and in shallow depressions. After emerging from their winter dens in spring, they seek carion from winter-killed animals and new shoots of many plant species, especially wetland plants. In mountainous areas, 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org