Adult black bears, standing slightly over three feet at the shoulders, have a predominately black coat which is smooth and short haired, compared to the brown bears. Smaller than their cousins, the black bear is an agile climber, even in adulthood. Black bears are alert creatures, with a sense of smell more highly developed than other large animals, with exceptional hearing but apparently only average eyesight. The black bear was originally distrubuted throughout the wooded areas of North America, estimated at about two million in the 1500's, but has been eliminated fron vast regions of the eastern, southeastern and central United States, and now less than 200,000 are estimated to exist. It is a typical woodland animal and prefers forests with abundant undergrowth.
Black bears are solitary animals that wander all their lives in search of food.
The black bear's diet is similar to that of the brown bears, who will eat almost anything. The black bear hibernates for between five and seven months each year. The preferred sites for winter dens include small caves, crevices, geological features or beneath deadfalls or blowdowns. The females typically hibernate longer than the males, especially while suckling cubs, retiring earlier in the fall and leaving later in the spring. Unlike many other mammal babies, black bear cubs are able to follow their mothers full time after the family has emerged from the winter den.