Be Bear Aware: Tip Of The Week

The Bear Facts

• Never feed a bear. It is illegal to create a nuisance by feeding bears.
• Unsecured garbage is the primary cause of most human bear conflicts.
• Bears generally will avoid humans unless they be come conditioned to eating human food or garbage.
• In most locales vegetative material comprises 80-90% of black bear diets.
• Black bears occur in all mountainous areas of New Mexico, from Chama in the north to the Guadalupe and Peloncillo Mountains in the south.
• New Mexico is home to a unique subspecies of black bear, the aptly named New Mexico black bear (Ursus americanus amblyceps), which also occupies portions of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Texas. Colors can be black, brown or cinnamon, but all are considered black bears.
• Grizzly bears no longer occur in New Mexico.
• Adult black bears weigh between 125 and 600pounds. They are strong enough to rip doors off cars
• Cubs weigh 10 to 16 ounces at birth and are born while the mother is in the den during the winter.
• Black bears can run up to 35 miles per hour, climb trees and swim well.