Lincoln Park Zoo

Common name: Black bear
Latin Name: Ursus americanus

Class: Mammals
Order:    Carnivora

Description
Black bears can range from white (rare) to blue-black to brown. They can be six feet long and grown to 600 pounds.

Range
Throughout North America

Status
Common

Habitat
The most common bears in North America, black bears occupy forests, mountainous regions, swamplands and brush areas.

Niche
Black bears are solitary, roaming huge territories that overlap with other bears’.

Life History
In winter, females birth two or three cubs and nurse them until spring. Cubs stay with aggressively protective mothers for a couple years before exploring the world on their own.

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Special Adaptations

  • Powerful limbs and strong claws make black bears excellent tree climbers.
  • True omnivores, black bears gobble grasses, berries, insects, fish, mammals and carrion. They will develop a taste for human food and garbage, which can cause problems in areas where humans camp.
  • Unlike other bears that hibernate completely, black bears are can easily be woken from their winter slumber in dens they create underground or in tree hollows.