The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus ) is a subspecies of the American black bear that has historically ranged throughout most of Florida and the southern portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The large black-furred bears live mainly in forested areas and have seen recent habitat reduction throughout the state due to increased human development, as well as habitat modifications within bear habitat.
Florida black bears are typically large-bodied with shiny black fur, a short tail and many have brown fur on their muzzles. Pelage color is consistently black in Florida, but summer molting of the guard hairs may cause them to look brown. A white chest patch, called a blaze, is found in about 30% of the population. It is Florida's second largest terrestrial mammal (behind the American bison that are still found in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park), with an average male weight of 300 pounds (140 kg); the largest known male weighed 760 pounds (340 kg) and was found in Seminole County and the largest known female was 400 pounds (180 kg) and found in Liberty County. Females generally weigh about half as much as males. Average adults have a length of between 4 feet (120 cm) and 6 feet (180 cm), standing between 2.5 feet (76 cm) and 3.5 feet (110 cm) high at the shoulder. Their feet have short, curved, non-retractable claws on each of the five digits. Black bears walk with the entire sole of their feet touching the ground. Bears use a pacing stride, where both legs on the same side move together so that the hind foot is placed in or slightly in front of the track of the forefoot; the smaller (inner) toe occasionally does not register in the track. The eyes are small, and the ears are round and erect.
Florida black bears live mainly in forested habitats, and are common in sand-pine scrub, oak scrub, upland hardwood forests and forested wetlands. Black bears in South Florida are the only American black bear subspecies to live in a subtropical region. To a lesser extent, it also inhabits dry prairie and tropical hammock.
Before Florida was settled by Europeans, black bears occupied all of the Floridan mainland, and even the upper Florida Keys, with a population of around 11,000. The current range is 45% of the historic Florida range, as well as in southern Alabama, southern Georgia and southern Mississippi. Most major populations of Florida black bears live on or near public lands. These include Ocala National Forest, Big Cypress National Preserve, Apalachicola National Forest, Osceola National Forest and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. A study of the Okefenokee-Osceola population found over 500 bears in each of the two study areas. There is no way to know the exact number of black bears that exist in Florida, although scientific methods provide a range of statistical estimates within which they are 95% confident. A statewide population estimate was conducted in 2014 and 2015 before the hunt. FWC estimated there were close to 4,000 bears from results of spatially explicit mark-recapture methods. They exist within seven subpopulations, which are genetically and geographically isolated. Bear range has expanded over the last several decades and the recent abundance estimates are higher than those created in 2002 but some citizens fear that habitat continues to be destroyed and believe that their numbers are dwindling.
Black bears are shy and reclusive. They use various means to express their emotions including vocalizations, body language, and scent marking. They are mainly solitary, except when females have dependent cubs or during mating season. Although they are solitary mammals, they are not territorial, and typically do not defend their range from other bears, but will defend a food source from other bears. Black bears have good eyesight (especially at close range), acute hearing and an excellent sense of smell that is believed to be the best of any land mammal.
Florida black bears are omnivores. Their diet consists of 80 percent plants, 15 percent insects, and 5 percent animal matter. Usually, the animal matter consists of carrion and is found by scavenging. Their diet varies greatly with the seasons, likely because many of their preferred species of flora and fauna are seasonal. In the spring, they mainly consume Sabal palmetto, Thalia geniculata, Sus scrofa, Bombus bimaculatus and Camponotus species. In the summer, they primarily eat Serenoa repens, Ilex glabra, Rubus species, Phytolacca rigida, Vaccinium species, Camponotus species, and Anisomorpha buprestoides. In the fall, they eat Serenoa repens, Ilex glabra, Nyssa biflora, Vespula species, Apis mellifera, and Dasypus novemcinctus.
Female bears in Florida become sexually mature at three to four years of age. Breeding occurs from mid-June to mid-August, and coital stimulation is required in order to induce ovulation. Black bears experience delayed implantation, where fertilized eggs temporarily cease development after a few divisions, float free in the uterus and do not implant until late November or December. This adaptation allows bears to synchronize reproduction with annual food cycles. Lowered nutritional levels caused by poor acorn or berry production can result in delayed first breeding, decreased litter sizes, and increased incidence of barren females. Reproductive females enter winter dens in mid- to late December and emerge in early to mid-April after a mean denning period of 100 to 113 days. Actual gestation is 60 days, and cubs are born in late January to mid-February. Most studies in Florida have documented an average litter size of approximately two cubs, although greater productivity in Ocala National Forest (NF) in older females and females with previous litters has been noted. At birth, cubs weigh approximately 12 ounces and are partially furred but blind and toothless. Neonatal growth is rapid and cubs weigh six to eight pounds by the time they leave the den at about ten weeks of age. Cubs stay with their mother and may den with her the following year. Family dissolution usually occurs between May to July when cubs are 15 to 17 months old. Females generally form a home range overlapping their natal range, while young males disperse to new areas.
On June 27, 2012, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) delisted the Florida black bear, based on a peer-reviewed Biological Status Review. The report used the IUCN Red List criteria to evaluate the species' risk of extinction. In addition, the 2012 Florida Black Bear Management Plan was approved and put into action to prevent the subspecies from being listed in the future.
While the Florida black bear was removed from the state list of threatened species, the Bear Conservation Rule (68A-4.009) was adopted at the same time, providing continued protections to the species.
