American Black Bear facts for kids
| American Black Bear Temporal range: early Pleistocene
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| American Black Bear | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Genus: | 'Ursus' |
| Species: | ''U. americanus'' |
| Binomial name | |
| Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780
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The American black bear (scientific name Ursus americanus) is North America's smallest and most common species of bear. Black bears are omnivores (eating both meat and plants). Black bears usually live in forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. Sometimes they become attracted to human activity due to a lack of food. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, because the species has a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. In the past century, only 37 people have been killed by these animals.
American black bears usually hibernate during winter. During this time, the black bear's metabolism and heart rate both decrease in relation to one another. In fact, during hibernation, an American black bear's heart can stop for twenty seconds. The body temperature of black bears also decreases to 31 °C (88 °F) during hibernation. When hibernation is over, the black bear's body temperature returns to normal.
Images for kids
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Detail of head – taken at the Cincinnati Zoo
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Cinnamon-colored black bear eating dandelions in Waterton Lakes National Park
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Black bear at Grand Teton National Park
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American black bears can be distinguished from brown bears by their smaller size, their less concave skull profiles, their shorter claws and the lack of a shoulder hump.
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Some specimens may develop a white "crescent moon" mark on the chest. This white mark, which is constant in Asian black bears, occurs in only 25% of American black bears.
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Skull
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Cinnamon-colored black bear in Yellowstone National Park
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White-furred Kermode black bear
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Black bear swimming
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Newborn black bear cubs
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Mother black bear and cubs, hibernating
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Black bear feeding on a bush
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Black bear with pink salmon
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Harry Colebourn and Winnie, the bear from which Winnie the Pooh derives his name
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