Food Habits of Florida Black Bears
Maehr DS and Brady JR. 1984. Food Habits of Florida Black Bears. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 48(1):230-235
The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is listed as threatened by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. This classification is based on increasing pressures from steady habitat loss, persecution by ranchers and beekeepers, and timber management practices associated with cellulose production (Williams 1978). Because little is known of Florida black bear ecology, the description of any aspect of its biology is an important step toward proper management. Food habits of the black bear in most of its range have been well documented. However, information concerning foods of the Florida black bear is sparse and restricted to localized accounts. Thirteen fall-collected stomachs from Ocala National Forest were analyzed by Harlow (1961), contents of 36 fall-collected stomachs from Osceola National Forest were described by Maehr and Brady (1982a), and numerous other notes date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries (DePourtales 1877, Maynard 1883, Chapman 1894, Cory 1896, Harper 1927, Moore 1953). Because nutrition, productivity, movements, and bear-human interactions are influenced by bear feeding ecology (Beeman and Pelton 1980), accurate characterization of food habits is necessary for proper management. This paper describes the food habits of black bears in Florida.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Maehr, David; Brady, James
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- hardwood, pine flatwood, scats, stomach content, subtropical cypress swamps