Population Characteristics, Movements, and Activities of the Black Bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Beeman LE. 1973. Population Characteristics, Movements, and Activities of the Black Bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee
The bear population is largely adult -- 68 percent. The survival rate is 78.3 percent. The reproductive rate is low, with only 17.4 percent of the females cubbing in one year, with litters averaging 2.1 cubs. Female bears have home ranges of about 780 acres, male bears have larger ranges. Panhandler bears, mostly males, return to a natural diet when the tourists leave. Bears are active at any time, mostly from 4 p.m. to midnight, least so from noon to 4 p.m. Bears enter the dens in early December and leave them in April or May. Tree cavities are the favorite den sites.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Beeman, Larry
- Date of Issue
- 1973
- Publisher
- University of Tennessee
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- activities, Animal Studies, Black Bear (Ursus americanus), Dissertation, Ecology, Great Smoky Mountains National Park NC TN, GRSM-00025, GRSM-01605, Movement (Animal), Population