Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: Ursus americanus
Where Found
Northern Mexico, throughout the USA and Canada
Other names
Kermode, glacier, and cinnamon bear all refer to particular color phases of the American black bear.
Appearance
The American Black Bear is a medium-sized bear with a brown muzzle. It often has a white patch or “V” on the chest. Although black is the predominant color, chocolate and cinnamon brown color phases are also common. Black bears have strong curved claws for climbing, digging, and tearing logs. Their facial profile is relatively straight to slightly convex.
Size
Adult males usually weigh from 150 to 650 pounds (68 to 295 kg), and females from 100 to 400 pounds (45 to 181 kg). Adults will grow to an average of 45 – 75 inches in length (114 cm to 191 cm), from nose to tail. Black bears in many eastern populations are larger than their western counterparts due to their access to fruiting trees like beechnut and oak. Longevity in the wild can be over 30 years old, though females stop reproducing in their mid-to-late 20s.
Reproduction
Females typically produce their first cubs at 3 to 7 years of age, depending on their general level of nutrition. Males reach sexual maturity at 3 to 5 years old. Litter size ranges from one to five, with two to three as average. Cubs are born in the den in January and remain with their mothers until they are 16 to 17 months old.
Social Life
American black bears are solitary except for females with cubs. However, bears will feed in close proximity to each other, sometimes in large numbers, if food is abundant and concentrated in a small area.
Food
American black bears are omnivorous, and feed on a wide range of foods, depending upon availability. The bulk of their diet consists of emergent green vegetation in the spring and a variety of berries and nuts in the summer. In some places, predation on insects, deer fawns, elk and moose calves, and salmon, provides an important part of the diet.
Habitat
American black bears are highly adaptable in forested habitats, living in both arid areas (such as the Chihuahuan Desert) and moist forests, from sea level to 6,560 feet (1,981 meters). Current range includes northern Mexico, over 40 states in the USA, and all provinces and territories of Canada except Prince Edward Island .
Wild Population
Between 600,000 and 800,000 and growing.
FYI
Black bears with white coats are called Kermode bears, and are found along the north-central coast of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory . Glacier bears are black bears with pale-blue coats.