GENERAL ATTRIBUTES

CLASSIFICATION

Common Name: American Black Bear 
Scientific Name: Ursus americanus 
Type: Carnivore 
Diet: Omnivore 
Average Life Span in the Wild: 20 years 
Size: 5-6 feet in length, 3 feet at shoulder 
Average Weight: 200 – 600 pounds 

opportunists

Bears are opportunists. As omnivores, they consume a large variety of foods, including vegetation, insects, fish, small mammals, and anything else that is readily available, adjusting their diet as the season progresses. As much as 90% of a bear’s diet can consist of plants. As well, bears can ingest anything we and our domestic animals do and more, including petroleum products. It requires a lot of calories to maintain their large body weight and so it behooves them to find foods that are easy to access, including our unmanaged attractants, in order to avoid wasting precious calories. Learn more

Vision

Bears see in colour and have good close-up vision. They are good at detecting movements however the jury is still out on their vision at over two hundred yards distance. When a bear stands up on its hind legs, it is not about to attack as hollywood tries to make us believe; it is simply trying to get a better sense of what has caught its attention.

Hearing

A black bear’s hearing exceeds human frequency ranges and has probably twice the sensitivity. Its large ears can detect sound from all directions and be a black bear’s first line of defence against danger, while its snout is busy detecting forage. Bears can also hear farther than they can see in overgrown and forested areas.

Smell

A bear’s sense of smell is excellent, 7 times more sensitive than a bloodhound’s and 2100 times better than a human’s; some estimates suggest that this enables them to smell strong food odours from sources up to 29–32 km (18–20 miles) away under ideal conditions.

Intelligence

Bears are highly intelligent, on par with the great apes, and have the largest brain compared to other land mammals of similar size. They have superior navigational ability and excellent long-term memory. 

communication

Bears communicate with both body language and vocalizations. They are usually fairly quiet in nature but may make a variety of grunts in amiable situations. Cubs make a low reverberating sound when they are feeding or a loud ‘screaming’ type sound when they are nervous. When protecting a food source, bears create a pulsing rising woo, woo, woo, woo sound. Bears blow and clack their teeth or moan when they are afraid. To give you a warning they may do a stiff legged “cowboy” walk, make huffing sounds, exhibit a lot of bluster or charge. When a bear charges, it is a display meant to communicate that it does not like what you are doing and that you need to back off. Vocalizations. Listen to bear sounds. Bears do not growl or roar but have unfortunately been depicted as doing so in movies or children’s stories.

Swimming Ability

Bears are good swimmers and can swim in fast moving fresh or salt water. An unfortunate grizzly named Tex, recently swam about 7 kms from the Powell River area to Texada Island.

Running Speed and tree climbing

Bears can run up to speeds of 56–64 km/h (35 to 40 mph) and can easily run quickly uphill, downhill, or sideways. Black bears, with their shorter claws can climb up and also descend trees with amazing speed and agility. Grizzlies, although their longer claws are specialized for digging, can and do climb trees. Mother black bears tree their cubs when they sense nearby threats, although it is instinctual for a cub to run up a tree when it is fearful. Heavier bears, and especially those at the tail end of hyperphagia, just before entering the winter den, don’t move as quickly. 

Daily Activity Period

Wild bears are most active at sunrise and sunset, spending eighty percent of their time foraging. Most bears will nap during the day, especially during hot summer weather, and make day beds out of soft materials in the forest. While bears do a good portion of their roaming during the night, it is also not unusual to see bears in the daytime as well.