Black bears

Remember, you are in Bear Country when visiting Riding Mountain National Park

Parks Canada has a responsibility to protect wildlife and their habitat

As a national park visitor, you share this natural area with bears and other wildlife that depend on it for their survival. Although bears are naturally wary of humans, they are unpredictable. By increasing your knowledge of bear behaviour, you can help reduce the likelihood of an unpleasant encounter, and at the same time, help protect the black bear population.

With your cooperation, bears and people can co-exist. By reading the information provided and following park regulations, you will help protect both yourself and the bears. For more information, email RMNP-info@pc.gc.ca or call 204-848-7275.

Range

In North America, the black bear (Ursus americanus) once ranged throughout forested areas across most of North America, from the east coast to the west coast and from Alaska to Mexico.

Current Status

Today, black bears still exist in about 60% of their historical range. They can be found in most non-urban areas of Manitoba. Black bears evolved in forest ecosystems; as a result, their current distribution is largely influenced by the amount of undisturbed forest cover available to them. A very general population estimate suggests there may be up to 600,000 black bears in North America and more than 380,000 in Canada. Due to their relatively robust numbers, black bears are not a Species at Risk in Canada.

Threats

Black bears are wary of animal predators including other black bears and wolves. Their biggest threat? Human activity. Habitat fragmentation, habituation, and road take their toll on the black bear population in their current range.

Biology

The age of first reproduction ranges from 3 to 4 years. A female can produce young every 2 years. Black bears can give birth to 1-5 cubs in a litter, but 2 or 3 is the norm.

Mating takes place in June and July. If the female is able to find good quality forage over the summer, the embryo will implant in the uterus in the fall due to a process called delayed implantation. Bears must have a secure habitat where they can access as much natural food as possible to ensure their success. If the female has built up enough fat reserves to get her through the winter, cubs will be born in the den in late January or February. The cubs weigh about 300 g (just over ½ lb) at birth and gain up to 2 kg (5 lb) before they emerge from the den in mid-April or early May.

Black bear offspring typically remain with their mothers for 1.5 years, depending on the tolerance level of the mother. Bears that survive to become mature adults can live 20-30 years; however, most die at a much earlier age.

Habitat

Black bears are adapted to forest environments where they can retreat to safe cover and climb trees if threatened. You are likely to see them along roadsides or near campgrounds, where openings in the forest cover promote vegetation growth. 

Food

Black bears are omnivores, eating a combination of plants, insects and meat. Plants are their main dietary source, providing up to 85% of their intake. In late summer and fall, berries provide crucial nutrition as bears feed around the clock in preparation for winter denning. Black bears eat many of the same foods that grizzly bears do, but because they have short claws, they do not rely as heavily on calories that require serious digging—like roots and ground squirrels.

Spring/Early Summer

• Dandelions 
• Poplar buds/catkins
• Grasses and sedges
• Horsetail (Equisetum)
• Overwintered berries
• Deer, elk, moose calves
• Small animals
• Fish
• Carcasses of winter-killed ungulates

Late Summer/Fall

• Saskatoon berry
• Chokecherry
• Highbush cranberry
• Wild plums
• Sarsaparilla
• Mushrooms
• Insects
• Small animals
• Fish
• Carrion
• Carcasses of elk weakened or injured during the fall rut

Black bears are also scavengers, taking advantage of whatever food they find: carcasses, fruit and seeds from backyard trees and bird feeders, your barbecue or picnic lunch, or garbage. This is why it is so important for us to exercise good management of bear attractants and store food and garbage properly in the parks. Bears that become hooked on human food sources may become a risk to public safety and may have to be destroyed.

Shelter

Black bears survive food-scarce winters by denning for up to six months of the year. They prefer forest habitats and search for treed locations. A suitable site may be under a tree stump, log or rock, or in a hole dug in a hillside. Female black bears will line their dens with grass, twigs and leaves.

Social Behaviour

Black bears are generally solitary outside of the mating season, with the exception of mothers with offspring. Black bears are timid and will most often defend themselves from threats such as other bears, wolves and humans by climbing trees.

These bears have quite the vocabulary, and use a variety of grunts, jaw snapping, hums and vocalizations to communicate with each other.