The American Black Bear

The American black bear(Ursus americanus), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with a diet varying greatly depending on season and location.It typically lives in largely forested areas but will leave forests in search of food and is sometimes attracted to human communities due to the immediate availability of food.The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the American black bear as a least-concern species because of its widespread distribution and a large population, estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. Along with the brown bear (Ursus arctos), it is one of only two modern bear species not considered by the IUCN to be globally threatened with extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the American black bear as a least-concern species because of its widespread distribution and a large population, estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. Along with the brown bear (Ursus arctos), it is one of only two modern bear species not considered by the IUCN to be globally threatened with extinction.

American Black bear Characteristics

• The American black bear is not closely related to the brown bear or polar bear, though all three species are found in North America;
• A small primitive bear called Ursus abstrusus is the oldest known North American fossil member of the genus Ursus, dated to 4.95 mya.
• The ancestors of American black bears and Asian black bears diverged from sun bears 4.58 mya. The American black bear then split from the Asian black bear 4.08 mya.
• The American black bear lived during the same period as the giant and lesser short-faced bears (Arctodus simus and A. pristinus, respectively) and the Florida spectacled bear (Tremarctos floridanus).
• The American black bear's generalist behavior allowed it to exploit a wider variety of foods and has been given as a reason why, of these three genera, it alone survived climate and vegetative changes through the last Ice Age while the other, more specialized North American predators became extinct.

Distribution and population

Historically, American black bears occupied the majority of North America's forested regions. Today, they are primarily limited to sparsely settled, forested areas.[26] American black bears currently inhabit much of their original Canadian range, though they seldom occur in the southern farmlands of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; they have been extirpated on Prince Edward Island since 1937.[27] Surveys taken in the mid-1990s found the Canadian black bear population to be between 396,000 and 476,000 in seven provinces;[28] this estimate excludes populations in New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. All provinces indicated stable populations of American black bears over the last decade.[26]

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