American black bear

American black bear
Temporal range: 2.6–0 Ma
Late PlioceneHolocene
An American black bear in Manitoba's Riding Mountain National Park
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species:
U. americanus
Binomial name
Ursus americanus
Pallas, 1780
Subspecies

16, see text

American black bear range[1]
  Present-day range
Synonyms

Euarctos americanus

The American black bear (Ursus americanus), also known as the black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with a diet varying greatly depending on season and location. It typically lives in largely forested areas but will leave forests in search of food and is sometimes attracted to human communities due to the immediate availability of food.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the American black bear as a least-concern species because of its widespread distribution and a large population, estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. Along with the brown bear (Ursus arctos), it is one of only two modern bear species not considered by the IUCN to be globally threatened with extinction.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference iucn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2022.