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The Florida black bear is a subspecies of the American black bear. In Florida, the population of bear has dropped from 12,000 to around 1,500, and primarily occupies our national forests, and surrounding private and state lands.
In 1974, the state of Florida listed the bear as threatened due to habitat loss and over hunting. Today, the bear is in decline due to fragmentation of habitat by roads and development, and an increasing number of roadkills.
The bear is wide-ranging with extensive habitat needs. A male may need 30,000 acres and female 15,000. A healthy reproducing population of black bears is estimated to require a minimum of 500,000 acres. Thus the black bear is known as an ``umbrella" species, meaning that preserving the bear and its habitat also protects other species that live in the same area.
Florida's black bears do not truly hibernate. Instead they have a period called ``winter denning" from approximately late December to early May. Pregnant females give birth to 2 to 4 young and stay in the den without eating for the 5 to 6 month period. Males and non-pregnant females come out of their dens several times, for short periods, only to re-den.
The Florida black bear is very shy, preferring the thick vegetative cover of forested wetlands such as riverine swamps, cypress swamps, bayheads, and titi shrub thickets. Bears use many of Florida's native plant communities including pine flatwoods, hardwood hammocks and upland sandpine and oak scrub. Bears use these communities for denning and resting sites, movement corridors and sources of food.
A bear's diet is 80% fruit, nuts and berries including acorns, palmetto fruits, gallberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. They particularly enjoy the heart of saw palmetto and cabbage palm. Bears also feed on many insects such as yellow jackets, termites, ants, and grubs. Bears have a reputation for liking honey, but actually the bears are attracted to the bee larvae.
Learn more about the Florida black bear and our very own South Walton wildland philanthropist that is working to restore habitat at www.malloryswamp.org.
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