Category:Bears

There are between 400,000 and 750,000 black bears (Ursus americanus) in North America, and Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources estimates 75,000 to 100,000 live in Ontario. Black bears are an important component of the province’s ecosystems as keystone species, predators of juvenile deer and moose, and competitors with other species.

Black bears have one of the lowest rates of reproduction of any land mammal in North America. Female bears have a very late age of reproductive maturity, having their first litter when they are five to seven years old. Black bears also have low fecundity, with only two to three cubs per litter, and reproduce once every two years at maximum.

Black bears have large home ranges. In Ontario, the range of adult females averages 15 to 25 km², while male ranges can be up to 10 times this size. They also migrate long distances outside of their regular ranges for seasonal foods, such as sucker spawning runs in the spring and blueberry patches in the summer. Black bear habitat is often limited by human development, fragmented and degraded by roads and construction. Black bears are susceptible to being injured or killed by vehicles as they forage along roadsides and train tracks.

Ontario is also home to approximately 1,000 polar bears, the most southerly population on the planet. Polar bears are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, 2007.