American Black Bear: Facts, Size, Diet, Habitat and Cubs

What does an American black bear look like?

A black bear has a fairly straight face profile, a narrow muzzle that is often tan or brown even on a black bear, and tall, rounded ears. It has no shoulder hump, so the highest point of its back is usually over the hips rather than the shoulders. Its claws are short, dark and strongly curved, ideal for climbing trees and tearing open logs. Some bears have a white patch or “V” on the chest.

Coat color is the most confusing feature. About 70% of all black bears are black, but in the Rocky Mountains and the West roughly half are brown, cinnamon or blond. Blue-gray “glacier bears” live in southeast Alaska, and white “spirit bears” live on islands off British Columbia. Our guide to whether black bears are always black explains these color phases and their genetics.

How big do black bears get?

Size varies enormously with sex, region and season. Adult males usually weigh 60–300 kg (130–660 lb) and females 40–150 kg (90–330 lb), with most adults somewhere in the middle of those ranges. Bears in the East and in food-rich areas near towns tend to be heavier than bears in dry country. A bear can weigh about 30% more in autumn, after weeks of feasting, than when it leaves its den in spring.

Head-and-body length is about 120–190 cm (47–75 in), plus a stubby tail of 8–18 cm (3–7 in). Standing on all fours, an adult is about 65–105 cm (25–41 in) tall at the shoulder; on its hind legs a large male can stand over 1.8 m (6 ft).

The heaviest wild black bear on record was a male shot in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1972, which weighed 409 kg (902 lb) after field dressing. Bears of that size are exceptional; a typical adult male weighs closer to 90–140 kg (200–300 lb).

Where do black bears live?

American black bears live only in North America. They occupy most of Canada and Alaska, the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia, the upper Midwest, the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific coast and patches of the Southeast, including Florida and Louisiana. Smaller, scattered populations live in the Southwest and northern Mexico, where the species is officially listed as endangered at the national level.

Their favorite habitat is forest with thick undergrowth and plenty of food: oak and hickory woods, mixed hardwood forests, conifer forests, coastal rainforest and wooded swamps. They usually avoid wide-open country, perhaps because for thousands of years they shared the continent with larger bears and big cats that dominated open land. Where food and cover are available, black bears can also live close to suburbs, which brings them into regular contact with people.

What do black bears eat?

Black bears are true omnivores, and up to about 85% of their diet is plant material. In spring they graze on fresh grasses, sedges, buds and shoots and look for winter-killed carrion. Summer brings berries, cherries and other soft fruit, plus ants, bee and wasp larvae and beetle grubs ripped from logs and stumps. In autumn they concentrate on acorns, beechnuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts.

Meat makes up a smaller share, but it matters. Many black bears hunt deer and elk fawns in early summer, and some catch salmon and other fish along the Pacific coast. In northern Labrador, where plants are scarce, black bears eat many caribou and rodents. For a season-by-season breakdown, see what black bears eat.

Before winter, black bears enter a phase called hyperphagia, when they may feed for up to 20 hours a day and eat 20,000 calories or more. This is also when they are most tempted by garbage, bird feeders, pet food and fruit trees near homes.

Behavior: climbing, senses and social life

Black bears are mostly solitary. Adults avoid each other except in the mating season and at rich food sources such as salmon streams or berry patches, where they form loose dominance hierarchies with the biggest males on top. They mark trees by rubbing, biting and clawing the bark.

They are superb climbers at every age and strong swimmers. Their sense of smell is excellent, far better than a dog’s, and they can learn to open latches and screw-top containers. On land they can sprint at about 40–48 km/h (25–30 mph) for short distances, much faster than any person can run.

Black bears may be active at any time of day, but many feed mostly at dawn, dusk and night, especially near people. Their sounds include huffing, jaw-popping and tongue-clicking, which are usually signs of nervousness rather than an attack, and cubs make a loud humming purr while nursing.

Winter denning

In the north, black bears spend about three to seven months in a den, from around October or November until March to May. Dens are usually in hollow trees, under fallen logs or roots, in rock crevices, or simply in a scraped hollow under thick brush. During this time the bear does not eat, drink, urinate or defecate, living entirely on stored fat.

Its heart rate falls from about 40–50 beats per minute to as low as about 8–20, its metabolism drops to roughly a quarter of normal, but its body temperature falls only a few degrees. In the far south, in places such as Florida, many bears den only briefly or not at all, although pregnant females still den to give birth. Read more in do bears hibernate?

Reproduction and cubs

Black bears mate in early summer, mostly in June and July. The fertilized egg does not implant in the womb until late autumn, a process called delayed implantation, and only if the female has stored enough fat. Cubs are born in the den in late January or February, usually two or three in a litter, though one to six are possible.

Newborn cubs are blind and lightly furred and weigh only about 280–450 g (10–16 oz). They nurse inside the den and emerge in spring weighing a few kilograms. They stay with their mother through their first summer and autumn, den with her the next winter, and become independent at about 16–18 months. Females usually have their first litter at three to five years old and then breed about every other year.

How long do black bears live?

Wild black bears can live more than 30 years, but most die much younger. Studies often find an average age at death of about 10 years, mainly because of hunting, vehicle collisions and conflicts near homes. The oldest known wild black bear was a female in Minnesota that lived to about 39. In captivity, black bears can reach their 30s and occasionally their 40s. Our guide on how long bears live compares them with brown and polar bears.

Adult black bears have few natural predators, though wolves, grizzly bears and, rarely, cougars or jaguars may kill them. Cubs are more vulnerable, falling prey to adult male bears, wolves, coyotes, bobcats and cougars.

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List classes the American black bear as Least Concern, with an increasing population. It is the most abundant bear in the world, with estimates well above 800,000 animals, and it has recolonized parts of its former range in states such as Ohio, Kentucky and Iowa.

Some local populations needed help. The Louisiana black bear was protected under the US Endangered Species Act from 1992 until its recovery led to its removal from the list in 2016. Today the main problems are habitat fragmentation, road deaths and conflicts that begin when bears learn to raid garbage and other human food.

Myths and facts

Myth: black bears are always black. Many are brown, cinnamon or blond, and a few are blue-gray or white. Color alone does not tell a black bear from a grizzly; see our grizzly vs black bear guide.

Myth: bears sleep so deeply in winter that they cannot wake. Denning black bears can rouse fairly quickly if disturbed, and mothers stay alert enough to care for newborn cubs.

Myth: black bears cannot climb once they are fully grown. Adult black bears climb very well, unlike most adult grizzlies.

Black bears and people

Black bears hold an important place in North American culture. The Teddy bear was named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who refused to shoot a captive black bear during a 1902 hunt in Mississippi. A black bear cub rescued from a New Mexico forest fire in 1950 became the living symbol of Smokey Bear, the US wildfire-prevention mascot, and Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Winnipeg, a Canadian black bear at London Zoo.

Wildlife agencies use the saying “a fed bear is a dead bear” because bears that learn to take food from people often have to be removed. Keeping garbage, bird seed and food out of reach, giving bears plenty of space and never approaching or feeding them keeps both bears and people safer.