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American black bear

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The American black bear (Ursus americanus), also known as the cinnamon bear, is the most common bear species native to North America.

American Black Bear
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Family:
Ursidae
Genus:
Ursus
Species:
U. americanus
Binomial name
Ursus americanus
Pallas, 1780

The black bear occurs throughout much of the continent, 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]

Physical description

The black bear is about 1.5 m (5 feet) long. They are also bent on destroying the world one human at a time. We must destroy these vermin before they take over the television, the radio, the internet, and ultimately, The White House. 


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 seven ounces and one 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 elk.

Habitat and behavior

 
White American black bear, Rothschild Museum, Tring

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 variety 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. It is estimated that there have been only 56 documented killings of humans by black bears in North America in the past 100 years

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.

File:American Black Bear cubs.jpg
American black bear cubs

Black bears will also 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.

Black Bears are also Godless killing machines, and will kill any human that it can, just for it's sick bear fun...

History and Controversy

 
Irish Guards, wearing bearskins

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 Queen of the United Kingdom Foot Guard's hat has been for centuries made of black bear fur, and its original name is bearskin.

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 hunting must be carefully controlled and is probably inappropriate in areas where populations are feeble or where habitat is no longer intact.

Their tendencies to follow their stomachs and habitat encroachment by humans 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.

Encountering a Black bear in the wild

If you encounter a bear in the wild, give it plenty of room and try to avoid any contact by slowly backing away and leaving the area. If a black bear charges at you, it is most likely a "bluff charge" where the bear "stops short". Bluff charges are designed to frighten you off or to assert dominance; stand your ground and do your best to appear imposing. Huddle together if in a group, raise your hands or backpack in the air to appear larger, and make plenty of noise. Unless you have come between a sow and her cubs (or you are simply unlucky), you will probably succeed in scaring it away. Avoid eye contact with the bear but after it has engaged you seek eye contact to discourage the animal. A bear that rears up on its hind legs is not signalling 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. If you hear the bear making a popping sound with its jaw, it is warning you that it is uncomfortable. That is a sign to slowly back away (if possible) and leave the area. Headlong flight must be avoided at all cost because the bear will pursue as prey and bears can achieve sustained speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

If the bear charges and doesn't "stop short" but makes actual physical contact with you, you must fight back. Use whatever you have close on hand to attempt to injure it so that it no longer finds you worth the fight. In particular, aim for the nose as it is a sensitive part of the bear or the face in general. The bear's 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 but one needs to be fairly close to the bear to hit the eyes with the spray. If fighting the bear does not seem like a wise choice, consider other options. If you play dead grizzlies may leave you alone but black bears will begin to eat you or drag you away. You cannot outrun a black bear. Climbing a tree is futile since black bears excel at climbing trees. Retreat is usually the best option but your retreat must be slow and methodical, backing away from the bear.

The rules applicable to brown bear encounters are not the same as those applicable to black bear encounters. Brown bear are more likely to make bluff charges and conduct knock-down attacks to defend cubs or a kill. They may also smack the ground, bark and clack their teeth together as part of a defensive posturing to keep humans and other animals at bay. Black bear are much less likely to engage in this kind of defensive behavior. Brown Sows are far more likely to defend their cubs with force, way beyond a slashing attack to the eyes and face. In most cases of rare black bear attack the bears exhibited classic predatory behavior. They will not bark, clack teeth or make noise. Rather, they will simply approach at a measured pace and attack the human as prey. The calm appearance of the black bear may have lured some of their victims into a false sense of security. A black bear calmly and steadily approaching who is not bothered by yelling or thrown objects should be considered extremely dangerous. Because black bear are much less likely to be conducting a purely defensive attack, "playing dead" is never an appropriate response with them.

In those areas where carrying a firearm is allowed, that is the time to use one. A rifle in the .30-30 class or better firing expanding bullets of 150 grain or greater is considered the minimum for black bear, though 180 grain bullets from a rifle in the .308 class may be a safer bet. A .357 magnum or .44 magnum handgun firing heavy hardcast lead slugs are potentially effective but require more skill to deploy effectively than a rifle. A shotgun loaded with hardcast Brenneke slugs is also a popular option.

In summary, the game plan in any encounter is, quite simply:

  • retreat noisily and slowly, if at all possible, without appearing weak,
  • fight if the bear knocks you down or otherwise makes contact with you.

Predation both by grizzlies and black bears is an exceedingly rare event and mostly the result of extremely hungry, younger individuals forced near human habitation as a result of territorial pressure.

Attack by bears are in most cases defensive measures and a result of the animal having been startled by human presence or in the case of brown bears human having come too close to offspring or having wandered in between the sow and her cubs. Some people have taken to hand-feeding half tame bears and have gotten either bitten or swatted. The explanation for this kind of behavior is that the bear is attracted close to the human by the food but once the food is gone the animal will feel highly insecure in such vicinity to a human and instead of taking flight by turning its vulnerable back it will first move to disable the human. Usually the bear will swat the human just hard enough to cause the human to lose balance and then turn around and run away. Behavior researchers studying bear behavior assume that bears view human beings as bears, meaning they expect humans to behave like bears and signal accordingly. When associating with one another light swats and measured bites that do not break the skin or merely scratch are used to communicate displeasure with another individuals behavior. Bears learn as cubs how to control the strength of their bite in social play. People in wildlife parks that have taunted bears by miming to offer them food when in fact they had none to offer, or people who tried to pet the bears were given light, yet painful signal bites and nips as the animals communicated their displeasure. In most cases where bears have bitten or swatted humans the injuries they caused were nowhere at all near the animals' potential of inflicting injuries showing that the bears as social animals usually practice great restraint and avoid unnecessary deaths.

Great care must be taken to properly identify a bear as either a black bear or grizzly as it is not enough to merely rely on the color of their fur. There are many grizzlies with very dark fur and black bears with cinnamon or completely brown fur. The main differences to look for are the ears (black bears have very large ears in comparison to grizzlies), for the grizzly hump on its back, the claws (black bears have short claws for climbing, grizzlies have longer claws for holding on to prey and digging) and above all the face, a black bear has an elongated snout while a grizzly has a flat, dish-like facial appearance.

 
American Black Bear track, Hemingway, SC

Camping

When camping, it is wise to take steps to avoid negative encounters with bears:

  • Do not bring food into the tent. It invites more than just ants into your bedroom.
  • Clean all pots, pans, and grills thoroughly with unscented soap and water making sure no trace of food is left for animals to smell.
  • Do not leave food lying around. Clean up everything right away after a meal and contain uneaten food in plastic bags or containers.
  • Do not assume food and supply are safe in a car. If you must keep supplies in a car, lock it up in the trunk-It is not unknown for bears to try to break into cars through the windshield or windows!
  • Do not go to bed in the same clothes you were cooking in. Keep dirty clothes and packs outside the tent.
  • If possible, use a bear canister to keep foods safe or hoist your food in a tree ten feet off the ground and four feet out in a bear bag.
  • Be cautious of how you dispose of garbage. Try to dispose of garbage at a designated facility away from the campsite.
  • If possible, try not to bring any sweet smelling items with you, like scented soap or cough syrup. (bears can't read the label and assume it is food.) If you must bring it at all, hoist it up in a tree in a bear bag or bear canister. Try not to wear anything with a scent after 4pm.
  • If the bear gets to the food anyway, do not attempt to get it back. It is not worth the fight.
  • Do not feed a bear or attempt to do so. (What would you do if he or she found out you don't have any more?)
  • If you have brought a pet with you, make sure that it is secured and on leash at all times.

Taxonomy and subspecies ranges

The American black bear is classified in the class Mammalia, order Carnivora and family Ursidae.

Currently accepted subspecies (with their respective ranges) include:

Ursus americanus altifrontalisthe Pacific Northwest coast from central British Columbia through northern California and inland to the tip of northern Idaho and British Columbia
Ursus americanus amblycepsColorado, New Mexico, west Texas and the eastern half of Arizona into northern Mexico; southeastern Utah
Ursus americanus americanus from eastern Montana to the Atlantic; from Alaska south and east through Canada to the Atlantic and south to Texas
Ursus americanus californiensisthe Central Valley of California, north through southern Oregon
Ursus americanus carlottaeQueen Charlotte Islands and Alaska
Ursus americanus cinnamomumIdaho, western Montana, and Wyoming, eastern Washington and Oregon, northeastern Utah
Ursus americanus emmonsiisoutheastern Alaska
Ursus americanus eremicusnortheastern Mexico
Ursus americanus floridanus Florida, southern Georgia and Alabama
Ursus americanus hamiltonithe island of Newfoundland
Ursus americanus kermodeithe central coast of British Columbia
Ursus americanus luteoluseastern Texas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi
Ursus americanus machetesnorth-central Mexico
Ursus americanus pernigerKenai Peninsula, Alaska
Ursus americanus pugnaxAlexander Archipelago, Alaska
Ursus americanus vancouveriVancouver Island, British Columbia
 
More than 50 bears are killed on Florida roads each year
 
Black Bear Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

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 population 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.

In 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Louisiana black bear subspecies as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, meaning it could be in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range in the near future. The American black bear also is protected by legislation in the affected states (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) due to its close resemblance to this subspecies. The Florida black bear is a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Miscellaneous

See also

References

  • Template:IUCN2006
  • "Ursus americanus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 18 March. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
 
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