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North America’s smallest and most common species of bear. It is a generalist animal, being able to exploit numerous different habitats and foodstuffs. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, due to the species’ widespread distribution and a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. The species is not overly dangerous to humans, but has been responsible for a few deaths, as well as property damage and livestock predation. The American black bear has been the source of inspiration for numerous popular cultural depictions of bears, including the Teddy Bear and Winnie the Pooh.

The most omnivorous species of all bears, the black bear’s diet is mainly vegetarian, feeding on buds, berries, switching to roots and nuts in the fall. In fact 3/4 of their diet is made up of vegetable matter. The other 1/4 is made up of carrion, insects, grubs, and worms. The black bear also hunts mice, small birds, and fish. Found in both deciduous and coniferous forest, from the Tundra to Mexico as long as there is natural forest for habitat. Den’s are often made out of a hollow tree, a shallow cave or an excavation.

In January the mother bear gives birth to 1-5 cubs during the dormant state, but the average number of cubs is 2. The cubs will spend the next two years with her. Black bears have few natural enemies besides humans. An old or injured bear might be attacked by wolves.

Black bears feature prominently in the stories of some of America’s indigenous peoples. One tale tells of how the black bear was a creation of the Great Spirit, while the grizzly was created by the Evil Spirit. In the mythology of the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian people of the Northwest Coast, mankind first learned to respect bears when a girl married the son of black bear Chieftan. In Kwakiutl mythology, black and brown bears became enemies when Grizzly Bear Woman killed Black Bear Woman for being lazy. Black Bear Woman’s children, in turn, killed Grizzly Bear Woman’s own cubs. The Navajo believed that the Big Black Bear was chief among the bears of the four directions surrounding Sun’s house, and would pray to it in order to be granted its protection during raids.

Morris Michtom, the creator of the Teddy Bear, was inspired to make the toy when he came across a cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a black bear cub trapped up a tree. Winnie the Pooh was named after Winnipeg, a female black bear cub that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934.A black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire was made into the living representative of Smokey Bear, the mascot of the United States Forest Service.

Unlike grizzly bears, which became a subject of fearsome legend among the European settlers of North America, black bears were rarely considered overly dangerous, even though they lived in areas where the pioneers had settled. Black bears rarely attack when confronted by humans, and usually limit themselves to making mock charges, emitting blowing noises and swatting the ground with their forepaws.

You can meet a black bear at Muskoka Wildlife Centre if you’re heading to that region of Ontario!

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 10:10 am and is filed under Canadian Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.