Black Bear

The black bear (Ursus americanus), also known as the American bear, is the most common black bear animal in North America's woods, including portions of Mexico. Although there are only one species of American black bear, its colour varies even among members of the same litter. White marks, sometimes in the shape of a V, may appear on the breast. Black bears are also known as cinnamon bears, blue-grey or blue-black glacier bears, and white bears, depending on their colour variations (found mainly on Princess Royal Island, British Columbia). In western North America, brown and black bears are the most common. The black bear animal has a short tail and is huge and stocky. Adults are 1.5–1.8 metres (5–6 feet) long and weigh 90–270 kilogrammes (200–600 pounds). Males can weigh up to 70% more than females. Although the head is tiny, it is supported by a powerful neck. The ears are rounded and tiny. Bears, unlike cats and dogs, walk on the soles of their feet and have behaviours claws (plantigrade locomotion).

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Black Bear

The black bear, Ursus americanus, is one of North America's most well-known wild creatures. Black bears belong to the Ursidae family, which contains members throughout much of the northern hemisphere as well as certain regions of northern South America. Grizzly bears and polar bears are other members of this family that live in North America. These two bear species are much bigger than the black bear.

The black bear is a large, thickset animal with a thick coat. An adult black bear is around 150 cm long and stands between 100 and 120 cm tall at the shoulder. It has a moderately big head with a somewhat straight facial profile and a tapering snout with large nostrils. The eyes are tiny and the ears are rounded. The tail is short and invisible.

A black bear has well-furred feet that allow it to walk like a person, with the full bottom half of the foot contacting the ground. The bear's feet have five curled claws that he can't sheathe or hide. When looking for food, these are incredibly powerful and are used for digging and shifting away roots, stumps, and old logs.

Black with a brownish muzzle and a white patch below the throat or across the chest is the standard colour.

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Although black is the most prevalent colour, there are also brown, dark brown, blond, cinnamon, and blue-black colour phases. Albino bears (white fur with crimson eyes and noses) are also seen, though they are uncommon. On the Kermode Islands, off the coast of British Columbia, there is a rare non-albino white phase black bear population. In the west and in the highlands, the lighter colour stages are more prevalent than in the east. In a litter, any of these colour stages can occur, though most cubs in a litter are the same colour as their mother.

Evolution

Although they live in North America, American black bears are not closely related to brown bears or polar bears; genetic research shows that they diverged 5.05 million years ago from a common ancestor (mya).

Black bears in the United States and Asia are considered sister taxa and are more closely related to one another than to other current bear species. The sun bear, according to new research, is likewise a recent split from this lineage. Ursus abstrusus, a little primitive bear from 4.95 million years ago, is the oldest known North American fossil member of the genus Ursus. This shows that U. abstrusus is the direct parent of the North American black bear. Although Wolverton and Lyman still see U. vitabilis as an "apparent parent to modern black bears," it has been classified as part of the U. Americanus genus. 4.58 million years ago, the ancestors of American black bears and Asian black bears split from sun bears. 4.08 million years ago, the American black bear diverged from the Asian black bear. The earliest American black bear fossils, discovered in Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania, are quite comparable to Asian species, however, later examples grew to grizzly bear sizes.

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Hybrids

American black bears are reproductively compatible with a variety of other bear species, and hybrid offspring are occasionally produced. A bear seized in Sanford, Florida, was supposed to be the child of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear, according to Jack Hanna's Monkeys on the Interstate. In the London Zoological Gardens in 1859, an American black bear and a Eurasian brown bear were mated together, but the three pups produced died before reaching maturity. Because of its unusually huge size and proportionally bigger braincase and skull, a bear shot in Michigan in fall 1986 was regarded by some to be an American black bear/grizzly bear hybrid. It was unable to tell if it was a huge American black bear or a grizzly bear based on DNA testing.

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Distribution and Population

American black bears used to occupy the bulk of North America's wooded areas.

They are now mostly limited to poorly populated, wooded areas. American black bears are still found across much of their historical range in Canada, however, they are rarely seen in the southern farmlands of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and have been extinct on Prince Edward Island since 1937. Based on studies conducted in the mid-1990s in seven Canadian provinces, the overall Canadian black bear population is estimated to be between 396,000 and 476,000, albeit this estimate excludes American black bear populations in New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan.

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The present range of American black bears in the United States is nearly continuous from Maine to northern Georgia, the northern Midwest, the Rocky Mountain area, the West Coast, and Alaska.

In some areas, however, it becomes increasingly fragmented or non-existent. Despite this, American black bears in those areas appear to have increased their range in recent years, as seen by recent sightings in Ohio and southern Indiana, although they are unlikely to be permanent breeding populations.

Black Bear Habitat and Habits

Although it may be found in a range of environments, the black bear favours deep bushland and densely forested places. Maximum populations are most often found in areas of mixed coniferous deciduous woods with little human activity. Estimates of bear population density range from fewer than 1 bear per 10 km2 to more than 10 bears per 10 km2, however, these are extremes. In most isolated places, bear density averages two bears per 10 km2. Because black bears are timid and secretive, it is difficult to count them. In North America, there are no credible estimates of the overall black bear population, though it is estimated to be approximately 600,000 animals. In Canada, there are around 380 000 black bears.

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Black Bear Size and Weight

The weight of an American black bear varies depending on its age, gender, health, and season. The weight of black bears varies greatly depending on the season in the autumn, their pre-den weight is 30 per cent higher than in the spring when they emerge from their dens. Although American black bears follow Bergmann's rule and bear from the Northwest are frequently somewhat heavier than bears from the Southeast, bears from the East Coast tend to be heavier on average than bears from the West Coast. Adult males normally weigh 57–250 kg (126–551 lb), whereas females normally weigh 41–170 kg (90–375 lb).

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Adult males in California have an average mass of 86 kg (190 lb) while adult females have an average mass of 58 kg (128 lb), according to research. Adult American black bears in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Alaska weighed an average of 87.3 kg (192 lb) for males and 63.4 kg (140 lb) for females, whereas adult American black bears on Kuiu Island in southeastern Alaska weighed an average of 115 kg (192 lb) for males and 63.4 kg (140 lb) for females (254 lb).

Mature males weighed an average of 112 kg (247 lb) while adult females weighed an average of 47 kg (104 lb) in one research in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Bears in British Columbia weighed an average of 73.7 kg (162 lb) in 89 females and 103.1 kg (227 lb) in 243 males in one of the largest studies on regional body mass. A demographic survey in Yellowstone National Park discovered that adult men weighed an average of 119 kg (262 lb) while adult females weighed an average of 67 kg (148 lb). In north-central Minnesota, black bears weighed an average of 69.9 kg (154 lb) in 163 females and 124.95 kg (275 lb) in 77 males.

Black Bear Appearance

The most common bear in North America is the American Black Bear.

Black Bears have a shaggy coat that is normally black but can also be dark brown, cinnamon, or yellow-brown. The eyes are brown (blue at birth). The skin is light grey. From nose to tail, the black bear is around 4 to 7 feet long and two to three feet tall at the shoulders. Small eyes, rounded ears, a long brown nose, a huge body, and a short tail characterise this creature. Males weigh between 150 and 300 kilograms on average.

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American Black Bear Facts

1. Sounds

Normally, they are quiet (except in movies in which sounds are dubbed in). Various grunts in friendly contexts. When scared, make loud blowing noises. When scared, clack your teeth. They communicate a wide spectrum of emotions, from joy to terror, with a resonant, human-like "voice." Growling does not pose a threat (except in movies). Any sound a bear makes in a tale is referred to be a growl.

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2. Swimming Ability

The speed and distance limits have never been tested. In freshwater, can swim at least a mile and a half. In the Gulf of Mexico, one swam more than 9 kilometres. It is possible to swim to the island sites. Lean bears may run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Can run on flat ground, uphill, or downhill. Fat bears with winter jackets easily overheat and weaken.

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3. Bears Hibernate

Bears were not considered hibernators when hibernation was defined only in terms of temperature decrease.

Biologists have defined mammalian hibernation as a specialised, seasonal decrease of metabolism in response to environmental pressures like insufficient food and cold ambient temperatures, based on new knowledge of hibernation processes. Black bears have insulative pelts and lower surface-to-mass ratios than smaller hibernators, making them very efficient hibernators.

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As a result, bears lose body heat slowly, allowing them to reduce their metabolic rate by half and yet make it through the winter, keeping temperatures above 88 degrees–within 12 degrees of their regular summer temperature. (Excerpted from Lynn Rogers' "A Bear in Its Lair," Natural History Magazine, October 1981.) Mothers get up early to give birth and care for their cubs in the den, licking them clean and responding to their cries for warmth and milk. The urine and faeces of their cubs are consumed by wild mothers. They lick up meltwater, consume snow and icicles, urinate, and defecate as well.

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4. Potential Longevity (Lifespan)

If they are not killed, black bears can live for 21-39 1/2 years or more.

5. Causes of Death

In Minnesota, black bears under the age of 16-17 months die mostly from malnutrition, predation, tree falls, and other unintentional causes. Only a few people die as a result of parasites or disease. Except in national parks, very few adult black bears die of natural causes. Human-caused deaths account for nearly all adult bear deaths. Vehicles kill a few people. The majority of them have been shot. In Minnesota, bears are shot at an average age of 2 for males and 3 for females.

6. Number of Cubs

In the western United States, a litter of two cubs is common, but in the eastern United States, a litter of three is common. Often, the first litters are simply one or two. Several eastern states have recorded litters of six.

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7. Preferred Foods

Succulent greens, nuts, acorns, fruit, insects. When favourite meals are limited, meat and less succulent greens are consumed. Inability to reproduce slowed development, failure to add a large quantity of fat, and death of young bears, especially cubs, can all result from a lack of favoured meals.

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Conclusion

Ursus americanus, also known as the American black bear, is the most common bear animal in North America's woods. Adults are 1.5–1.8 metres long and weigh 90–270 kilogrammes (200–600 pounds) Black bears are a large, thickset animal with a thick coat. An adult black bear is around 150 cm long and stands between 100 and 120 cm tall at the shoulder. It has well-furred feet that allow it to walk like a person, with the full bottom half of the foot contacting the ground. Black is the most prevalent colour, but there are also brown, dark brown, blond, cinnamon, and blue-black colour phases.

Albino bears (white fur with crimson eyes and noses) are also seen, though they are uncommon. On the Kermode Islands, off the coast of British Columbia, there is a rare non-albino white phase black bear population. Although they live in North America, American black bears are not closely related to brown bears or polar bears. Genetic research shows that they diverged 5.05 million years ago from a common ancestor. American black bears used to occupy the bulk of North America's wooded areas.