Things such as winterkilled animals are readily eaten, but carrion is apparently taken only if little else is available. As summer progresses, feeding shifts to salmon if they are available. In areas without salmon, bears rely primarily on vegetation throughout the year. Berries, especially blueberries, are an important late summer-fall food item. Bears are cannibalistic on occasion.
Black bears have very poor eyesight but their senses of smell and hearing are well-developed.
Moose, Dall sheep and caribou are the three ungulate mammals occurring in the area. Moose are most common in the forested regions south of the Brooks Range, but their range extends up mountain valleys into the larger northern drainages wherever trees and shrubs provide food and winter habitat. In summer moose frequently move into alpine habitat, but they are uncommon at the crest of the range. Caribou of the western arctic herd today range over the entire region. The herd declined from a population of at least 242,000 animals in 1970 to an estimated 75,000 animals in 1976.