American Black Bear

Description:

Black bears are medium-sized bears found in North America. The term "black" is a bit of a misnomer as these bears may be brown (cinammon), black, or even white (Kermode). Black bears may weight as much as 600 pounds, but most are much smaller. Males tend to be larger than the females.

Habitat:

Forests of North America.

Notes:

This black bear sow and her two cubs were climbing in the whitebark pines to forage on pine cones/nuts. These pine nuts are high in calories and are an important pre-hibernation autumn food for both black and grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere. Sadly, many of the Yellowstone whitebarks are succumbing to beetle infestations and the bears--along with other animals--will need to find new sources of food. Learn more at http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/white....