The black bear evolved as a forest animal and its life history is driven by the resources and constraints inherent in forested habitats. Typical black bear habitat consists of mixed forest interspersed with clearings and patches of early successional trees and shrubs. Physical and vegetative differences among the regions of North America influence black bear populations and habitat use in accordance with the availability of food, escape cover, and denning sites.

Arkansas has a variety of habitats that range from upland hardwood forests to bottomland swamps. Currently, we have a great deal of biological diversity, including prairies. Arkansas also has specialized habitats with names like "glade" and "fen." So, the question of "what lives here?" is a special part of a bigger question because we have to look at what lives where in Arkansas.

Over its range, the wild turkey inhabits a wide range of forested, semi-forested and open habitats. There are differences among the 5 living subspecies and its associated references). In general, the eastern wild turkey is found in oak-hickory forests, or mixed hardwoods with red oak, beech, black cherry, and white ash predominating. Brood range necessarily includes pastures, forest openings, or savannah areas. Mature forests with a mixture of tree species are often preferred, but not essential.

In general, bears are the most solitary of all carnivores. Black bears are not exclusively loners, however. The bond between mother and cubs and among siblings is particularly strong until she again comes into heat and the yearling bears disperse. Some newly independent yearlings may remain together briefly. Black bears will also tolerate each other’s presence at concentrated food sources such as open dumps, corn fields, or berry patches.

Other than cubs (<1 year old) or yearlings (between 1 and 2 yrs old) accompanied by their mother, black bears can be reliably aged only by slicing and staining thin cross-sections of a tooth and then examining the annuli (annual rings of cementum) through a microscope. These annuli are similar to the growth rings on a tree stump.

The bear family or “Ursidae” contains 8 species of bears.

Black bear “attacks” on humans are both defensive and offensive. Defensive attacks are fairly common, especially in parks, campgrounds, and similar situations where humans and black bears are brought into close contact and bears are habituated or conditioned to humans and human foods. Injuries, typically minor scratches, occur when people crowd, pet, or hand-feed bears and intrude on the animal’s personal space.

In eastern North America, most black bears are black. As you move westward across the continent, the proportion of brown color phase black bears increases. In 1997, a rare white phase black bear we called "Halo" visited the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary. Click here to read about Halo.

Early settlers introduced European honeybees to the United States and propagated them for honey and for pollination of crops. Black bears soon learned to raid these artificial hives and eat the honey and larvae. Beehive damage from bears is substantial in many areas of the United States and Canada and losses have exceeded $200,000 annually in some jurisdictions. In Arkansas, monetary losses to honey production represented about 9% of total production value but may have been inflated.

In New England in colonial times, black bears were serious agricultural pests and were bountied as an incentive for controlling their numbers. Black bears still cause damage to agriculture, particularly corn. Corn is not only consumed but stalks are flattened, hindering mechanical harvesting. In Wisconsin, corn damage increased from 10% (of all damage claims) between 1936-1954 to 65% between 1986-1990, principally due to the increased use of short-maturity varieties of corn.

Black bears are capable of killing various livestock and poultry, including sheep, goats, swine, cattle, rabbits, turkeys, and chickens. Sheep accounted for most (90%) losses in Virginia but in Alberta cattle (mostly calves) comprised 81% of losses. Livestock depredations are comparatively uncommon in Massachusetts; 100% of livestock owners surveyed in 1990 indicated that damage was “low” or “moderate” with losses <$1000 per year.

Black bears have been perceived as nuisances in some National Parks at least since the 1890s. Throughout North America, human-associated foods continue to attract black bears to parks and campgrounds. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there were 107 personal injuries and 715 incidents of property damage between 1964-1976. In Yellowstone, property damage incidents averaged 262 between 1960-67 but averaged 5 between 1983-1993 after implementation of a bear management plan.

Over the past few decades, residential and suburban bear complaints have dramatically increased, surpassing traditional commodity-based complaints in many areas and not restricted to a single geographical locale. These problems may relate to rapid increases in numbers of both bears and humans, combined with habitat fragmentation by structures, highways, and agriculture.

Black bear life history summaries have variously reported weights ranging from 88 to 400 lbs. for adult females, and 132 to 617 lbs. for adult males. Lengths have been reported as 51 to 75 inches for adult males and 43 to 67 in. for adult females and shoulder heights at 31 in. for females and 40 in. for males. A tabulation of average and range of lengths and weights from 10 states is shown in the accompanying table. Comparisons should be made with caution.

The age of first reproduction in female black bears is related to food supply, and hence body size and condition. When foods are abundant, the bears become sexually mature at 2 years and produce their first litter at age 3. However, when nutritionally stressed, females may delay cub production until 5 or even 7 years. In Massachusetts, females typically give birth at 3, although a few delay until 4 years of age.

Female black bears typically come into heat in early June and remain in heat until mated or until the ovaries regress. Peak breeding occurs from mid-June to mid-July, but has ranged from late May to late August in Ontario and early June to early September in Tennessee. The female’s receptive period depends on the length between onset of estrus and mating and averaged 10 days in captive bears. Males travel widely during the mating season and probably locate the females by scent.

Several terms have been used for winter dormancy in black bears, including “hibernation”, “winter sleep”, “torpor”, or “carnivorean lethargy”. The confusion arises because biologists may use the same term in different ways. “Hibernation” has sometimes been defined based upon body temperature and the animal’s ability to react to external stimuli.

While insects comprise an important part of a black bear’s diet, particularly in summer, vertebrate prey is less commonly taken. Black bears will scavenge carcasses of winter-killed deer or other hoofed animals in spring after den emergence. However, most living prey animals are too swift or elusive to be caught by black bears on a regular basis. An exception occurs during a brief period in spring when newborn moose, deer, or caribou young are vulnerable.

Black bears have retained the forest-dwelling habits of their ancestral bear progenitors, unlike grizzly/brown bears which adapted to utilize open plains as well as forests. Black bears likely were not large enough to defend themselves against larger, now-extinct bears, cats, and wolves and used trees as escape habitat when threatened. Since the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna, few animals are capable of attacking and killing adult black bears.

Roads may have a significant effect on bears by fragmenting, altering, or removing habitat, changing movement patterns, or producing mortality through road kill or increased vulnerability to hunting and poaching. Black bears may readily cross limited access roads and trails in response to the availability of seasonally abundant foods. Bears may also use lightly traveled roads as travel pathways.