Black Bear
by Marty Fancy
Title
Black Bear
Artist
Marty Fancy
Medium
Photograph
Description
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location.
This bear was sighted in North Carolina along a river where it had been wading in the Great Smoky National Park. The black bear is the only species found in North Carolina or anywhere in the eastern United States and is an important part of North Carolina’s cultural, historical and natural heritage. Before Europeans came to the New World, black bears lived in all forested
regions of North America and were abundant in the area that would one day
become North Carolina. However, like mountain lions and gray wolves, black
bears were often killed by early settlers to protect their families, crops and
livestock. In time, bears across the state were impacted by human development. By the early 1900s, black bears were found only in the most remote
mountains and coastal swamps of the Tarheel State.
Compounding the decrease in available habitat, the American chestnut
blight (a tree-killing fungus) hit the Mountain Region in the 1920s, causing
the loss of the most important nut-producing tree for bears and other species
of wildlife. As a result, bear populations suffered. Mountain lion and gray
wolf populations never recovered, but the black bear has made a remarkable
recovery in both population and range over the last 30 to 40 years.
Bears have come back to the state without the aid of stocking efforts like
those used to bring back wild turkeys and white-tailed deer. Black bear expansion has occurred naturally as bears have moved into suitable, but previously
unoccupied, habitats at a rapid rate. As of the late 2000s, there were approximately 11,000 bears in the state, occupying 50% of the state’s total land area.
Uploaded
October 5th, 2015
Statistics
Viewed 130 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/16/2024 at 6:50 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet