Coming Down

by Robert Bales

Title

Coming Down

Artist

Robert Bales

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

All three cubs were up in the tree and this is the second one coming down under the watchful eyes of the mother.

The black bear (Ursus americanus) is the most common and widely distributed bear species in North America. However, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the few areas south of Canada where black bears coexist with the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos). From 1910 to the 1960s, park managers allowed visitors to feed black bears along park roads, although the National Park Service officially frowned on this activity. During this time, along with Old Faithful, black bears became the symbol of Yellowstone for many people, and are still what some people think of when Yellowstone bears are mentioned. Since 1960, park staff have sought to deter bears from becoming conditioned to human foods.
Baby black bears are born and live in the safety of the mother's den during winter. The average cub litter size is 1 to 3. Babies are born blind. A black bear baby weighs between one half to one pound at birth.
They put on weight quickly. The mother spends the following year and a half weaning, feeding, and teaching her cubs what to eat and how to survive. At that point they venture on to live on their own.
The sad fact is that many baby cubs will not reach adulthood due to hunting and attacks from predators. The mother will usually mate every 2 years but frequency depends on food resources, age, environment, and habitat density.

Uploaded

June 11th, 2015

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