This foraging behavior helps the decaying process in the forest and the return of nutrients to the soil. Their claws are also well-suited for tearing apart snags and logs and digging up forest duff where they encounter food such as insects and their larvae, small rodents and amphibians. Grizzly bears, although not adapted primarily for tree-climbing, can still climb any tree you can climb! In contrast, grizzly bear claws are much longer, more blunt and are used primarily for excavating food from their preferred open country and high mountain meadow habitats.

Short, curved claws make black bears excellent tree climbers. Not only that, but the seeds come with their own pile of fresh manure as fertilizer! Berry seeds pass through the bear unbroken and are able to germinate. Black bears play an important role in forest ecosystems as seed dispersers and nutrient providers. Their habitat is characterized by thick forested areas and understory vegetation with an abundant supply of fruit and nut-bearing trees and shrubs. Ecological Roles of Black Bearsīlack bears reside in temperate rainforests, dry eastern slope woodlands, neighborhood greenbelts, and anywhere they can find forest cover and plentiful food from sea level to 10,000 foot elevations.

Not only are they found exclusively in North America, black bears are the only living bear species to have evolved here. American black bears are the most numerous of all the bear species of the world, occurring in habitats across North America with a population estimate of around 25,000 widely distributed throughout Washington State.

Black bear hibernation