Thought to have a population as high as 600000, the American black bear is far and away the most numerous of the world. As omnivores they are highly effective hunters, however the number of current black bears may be higher than it should naturally be. This is because humans killed most of the wolves and grizzly bears in the USA. As a result black bears who are lower on the food chain have been filling in an ecological niche at the top. In areas where wolves or grizzly bears returned the black bears suddenly become far less problematic.
Over time we hope to list many places where you can visit bears and see them in their wild home, these will appear here, and a list of posts we have published on bears will appear below these links
Uninvited black bear crashes party in Connecticut
- Tim
- September 13, 2022
American Black bears are far and away the most numerous bear in the world by some margin. It is thought that at least 800,000 American black bears still roam the continental north America – though the closely related Asiatic black bear has a far smaller population of about 50,000 spread across south-eastern Asia and is …...
Grizzly bears are rebounding in the USA, how can this success story continue?
- Tim
- October 27, 2021
Back in 1975, the American Grizzly bear was declared endangered. With only minor differences, the American Grizzly bear is the same species as the European bear, that lives from Western Spain, through Europe to the Kamchatka bear of far Eastern Russia. In 1975 the USA lower 48 states grizzly bear population numbered somewhere between 136 …...
Species watch
- Tim
- May 11, 2022
I am intending to make this into a new set of articles that will appear on this website. Obviously, these species will not be the only ones that are covered – for those who read this website regularly, you will know that I talk about a wide range of species. The species that I am …...
DNA analysis has demonstrated significant differences between African and Asian leopards
- Tim
- November 15, 2021
For the majority of people, a leopard is a leopard. Sure there are quite a range of subspecies, but one generally looks rather like the other. Indeed the only significant difference people often notice is one that has not justification – that of the melanistic leopard (or black panther) In order to disturb wild leopards …...
Are we allowing the silent extinction of giraffes
- Tim
- November 13, 2020
Giraffe survival is in danger: according to the giraffe conservation Foundation giraffe numbers have fallen from 140000 and 80000 in the last 20-years. Yet other organisations suggest that the current number of wild giraffes is only 68000. How can we possibly let such a unique looking animal disappear from the world. Giraffes are a common …...
What does the near draw between Biden and Trump mean?
- Tim
- November 6, 2020
It looks like Biden is going to squeak a victory. Why wasn’t it a landslide? In many ways Biden couldn’t have had more favorable circumstances. In the middle of an epidemic – clearly poorly handled by the sitting president, and with a significant crash of the economy (which was doing reasonable badly before).