Black Bears

Black bears seem to be the most popular animal in East Tennessee; it is definitely one of the most treasured animals in the area. Most of the black bears in the area inhabit the Cherokee National Forest and The Great Smoky Mountain National Park.   Thanks to the creation of the national forest and park back in the 1930’s the black bear population has continued to steadily grow. They can now be found in all areas of the east Tennessee Mountains, their roaming grounds use to include most of North America but due to the human population growing and the bear’s habitats shrinking bears were and are finding it harder to find food and shelter away from people. It’s unavoidable that the loss of the bear’s natural habitat has in turn not only caused problems for the bears but people as well. Once the vital habitats are lost; it becomes unavoidable that there will be a decline in the bear population. Also the bears that decide to wonder outside park borders into adjacent communities may come across human food and become erratic and dangerous. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times the public is warned to leave the bears alone and to not feed them they can’t seem to resist. This only encourages the bears to pilfer and get into things they shouldn’t be in.   People don’t think about or know but a wild bear’s life expectancy can be twelve to fifteen years or even more, but a bear that has been “touched” by humans is only expected to live six to seven years.  

So the fact that we have our national forests and parks; bear sanctuaries, and strict laws against killing the adult females being enforced as well as management by our wildlife agencies the bear population is being protected.  

All the bears we have in East Tennessee are black in color, but they can be brown or a reddish-brown color in other areas of the country. Males can weigh as little as two hundred and fifty pounds or as much as five hundred pounds, females are usually smaller and weigh around one to two hundred pounds. They can be up to six feet from end to end and three feet from the ground to shoulder.  They are like people as far as their eating habits are concerned they eat plants and animals but majority of their diet is made up of nuts and berries. They get protein from insects and animals they find that are already deceased. They have colored vision, like to swim, climb trees and have an incredible sense of smell.

Most bears can be seen out foraging in the morning or evening in spring and summer months. Bears also mate during the summer months, they are not monogamist both males and females may mate with more than one partner. They will find a den when cooler weather starts to approach which is usually a hollow tree stump or anywhere they can find shelter. Mother bears give birth in January and can have up to four babies, which will only weigh about eight ounces when they are born. Baby cubs will stay with their moms for around eighteen months or until mom mates again.