Black Bear Black Ink Heather

Black Bear

Not all black bears are black—some are brown or a rusty cinnamon color. There are also black bears with light blue-gray fur found in southeastern Alaska known as “glacier bears.” Some bears in the island archipelago in southern British Columbia even have white fur and are known as “spirit bears” by some Indigenous cultures of the region for whom these bears have cultural significance. Black bears in some areas where food is scarce are much smaller than in other areas where food is abundant. Typically adults are three feet tall at the shoulder, and their length from nose to tail is about 75 inches. All bears, including black bears, are sexually dimorphic—meaning adult males are much larger than adult females. A large male black bear can exceed 600 pounds in weight, while females seldom exceed 200 pounds.

Credit National Wildlife Federation