An American black bear (Ursus americanus, formerly Euarctos americanus) hauls a huge sockeye salmon from the waters of Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and rumbles off into the forest to eat it. It gets a meal and helps preserve this unique forest habitat by fertilizing it with fish scraps. It is estimated that American black bears drag more than 60 million kg of salmon 'fertilizer' into the woods each year, providing up to 20 per cent of the annual nitrogen requirements of waterside plants.
The black bear once roamed throughout North America. European colonizers saw this intelligent animal as a pest and hunted it ruthlessly right up to modern times. Numbers fell to about 175,000 before it began to make a comeback. The male black bear weighs up to 409kg and is up to 2m long; females are about two thirds as large. Colouring varies from blonde through brownish cinnamon to pure black, usually with a pale muzzle and sometimes a white chest spot. Across most of its range the black bear eats grasses, greenery, nuts and berries as well as insects and some carrion. They also visit bird tables.
.png "Black Bear (Wild Kratts).png (361 KB)")
