Ursus americanus (Pallas); Black Bear

Individual black bears are primarily active during the warmer months of the year, but signs of their presence have been observed during every month. Although the black bear is often thought of as a true hibernator, this in not technically correct. Bears enter into a deep sleep during the colder months, but their general metabolism is maintained at nearly normal levels; thus, they are not true hibernators. Their body temperature is reduced only 7 to 80°C, their metabolism is reduced 50 to 60%, and their heart rate drops from 40 to 50 beats per minute to 8 to 10 beats per minute. Bears usually select denning sites during middle and late December. The denning period in the park averages 94 days (range 56-119 days) with most bears entering dens between the last week in December and the first week in January and emerging between the last week in March and the first week in April (Johnson, 1978). The average date of den entrance for adult females was December 31; for adult males, January 4; and for subadults of both sexes January 13. Emergence was in the reverse order (Johnson, 1978).

A den site may be inside a hollow log, under an overhanging rock ledge, beneath a fallen evergreen tree, or any other spot that will shelter the bear from the cold winds, rain, and snow. On March 28, 1939 a female with at least two cubs were found in their hibernaculum beneath the roots of a fallen spruce tree. Stupka (1947) recorded a "sleeping" bear under large rocks along a tributary of Forney Creek (2,800 feet) March 31, 1947. When the bear was disturbed, it shifted its position but did not leave its bed. Pelton and Beeman (1975) found seven of 10 den sites in large (3+ feet in diameter) trees (hemlock, white oak, and maple) 20 to 60 feet above the ground at a location on the tree where wind or lightning had caused a large limb to break off and cause formation of a cavity. Such sites afford greater protection from weather and man than ground sites.

A variety of factors are involved in causing a bear to begin denning. Foremost among these is a circannual, or endogenous, rhythm. In addition, increasing precipitation, lower temperatures, and food availability may all be supplemental causative factors.

Just prior to denning, bears eliminate all food from their digestive tract and form fecal plugs. Fecal plugs of park bears have been found to consist of bear hair and a variety of debris including wood chips, twigs, leaf fragments, and small roots that may have been ingested during collection of bedding material (Johnson, 1978). Occasionally, a bear may emerge from its den and walk about for a short distance, leaving evidence of its mid-winter stroll in the snow. The bear generally returns to its den without eating anything.

Black bears are primarily solitary and nocturnal. Although their eyesight is not very good, their senses of hearing and smell are excellent. They have no permanent home and sleep either in a tree or on the ground. They are expert tree climbers, especially when young. They also swim well.

Many black bears possess remarkable homing abilities. In the park, panhandling and nuisance bears sometimes need to be relocated from campground and picnic areas to more remote areas. They are often able to return home after being transported many kilometers from their original capture point. Beeman and Pelton ( 1976) recorded an adult male that returned 64 km in the park and three females that returned 19 km. The journeys of one bear, identified as Bear # 75, over a period of 24 months were remarkable. Bear # 75 has the most extensive relocation history of any panhandler black bear handled by park personnel. According to Kim DeLozier, park Wildlife Biologist, Bear # 75 traveled in excess of 1,500 air miles in an effort to return to its home territory in the park.

Table 1
Movements of relocated Black Bear #75
July, 1988 to July, 1990

Date	Capture Location	Relocation Area
July 30, 1988	Cades Cove Mill, TN	Cataloochee, GSMNP
August 9, 1988	Park Headquarter, TN	Ocoee Wildlife Management Area SE Tennesee
September 1, 1988	Cades Cave, TN	Cataloochee, GSMNP
June 23, 1989	Cades Cove, TN	Ocoee Wildlife Management Area
July 22, 1989	Cades Cove, TN	Sullivan Country, NE Tennessee
August 4, 1989	Johnson City, TN	Carter County, NE Tennessee
May 11, 1990	Cades Cove, TN	George Washington National Forest, Virginia, approximately 400 miles from Cades Cove
June 11, 1990	Pearisburg, Va.	George Washington National Forest, Virginia
mid-June, 1990	Roanoke, Va.	Mountains nearby
July 18, 1990	Johnson City, TN	Carter County, Tennessee
July 21, 1990	Unicoi County, TN	Buried; had been shot by poachers

Bears must fulfill nutritional needs for the entire year in just six to eight months. Their omnivorous diet consists of a wide variety of plant and animal material and varies with the seasons. Beeman and Pelton (1977 ) reported that plant foods composed 81% of the volume and animal foods composed 11% of the volume of the total diet of black bears in the park and surrounding areas. Artificial foods and debris composed the remaining 6 and 2%, respectively. In the spring, 90% of the diet is composed of grasses and other herbaceous stems and leaves. The remaining 10% or the spring diet is composed of squawroot, a parasite that grows abundantly on the roots of trees, especially oaks. Fruits of squawroot, blackberry, blueberry, huckleberry, and black cherry compose most of the summer diet. Black cherries constitute almost 25% of the early fall diet with lesser amounts of huckleberries, blackberries, and blueberries also being consumed. Acorns, hickory nuts, and beechnuts form a substantial portion of the fall diet. Animal foods consist primarily of beetles, yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, and ants. Wood-eating roaches, poultry, livestock, carrion, and garbage are also known to be consumed by park bears, There are many records of bears raiding yellow jacket nests from late July to October. Bears have also been recorded chewing the bark of various conifers, red maple, hickory, red oak, and yellow poplar trees.

The enterococci Streptococcus faecalis and Streptococcus faecium have been recorded from fecal specimens by Mundt (1963).

Bears have been observed taking deer in Tremont and deer and calves in Cades Cove. A park ranger observed a fight between a bear and a wild hog along the Clingmans Dome Road (DeLozier, personal communication). It is believed that the wild hog may have been injured by a car. The bear won the fight.

Taxonomic Category	Scientific Name	Common Name
Phylum	Chordata	Chordates
Class	Mammalia	Mammals
Order	Carnivora	Dogs, Cats, Bears, etc.
Family	Ursidae	Bears


left lateral view of skull and mandible	dorsal view of skull	ventral view of skull

North America	Great Smokies