Re: I\'m sending a letter to the teacher.
How do you think the teacher will like these apples? <font color="blue"> </font>
From the following link:
http://www.bearsinbc.com/pages/01black/01population.html
British Columbia's black bear population is currently at an historic high. The Wildlife Branch estimates that 120,000 to 160,000 black bears live in British Columbia, having increased from around 80,000 in 1870. (Demarchi 1999). This is nearly 30% of the 443,000 black bears in the Canadian population and approximately 15% of the 803,000 black bears in the North American population (Samuel and Jackson 2000).
The greater ability of black bears to adapt to human activities compared to that of grizzly bears has contributed to their success. Black bears have been trapped and hunted continuously by non-natives for nearly 200 years and by First Nations peoples for uncounted generations, yet populations persist in most areas. Black bears in some parts of the province may experience loss of forage as second-growth forests shade out berry producing plants and as large logs, root boles and stumps are lost for denning. These factors may lead to increased cannibalism and some localized population declines (Davis and Harestad 1996)
STATUS OF BLACK BEARS
North America
Black bears are the most common large carnivore in North America. At a recent black bear workshop for the U.S. and Canada, scientists concluded that black bears are long lived (20+ years), adaptable, highly mobile and more productive than previously thought. The current range of black bears includes all of the Canadian provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, most of the continental United States in the less-settled forested regions and the northwestern mountains of Mexico.
Historically, black bears occupied most of North America except the treeless barrens of northern Canada and the desert regions of the southwestern United States and Mexico (Seton 1929). In Canada, black bears occupy 85% of their historic range (Kolenosky and Strathearn 1987). They have been displaced from the southern farmlands of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In the United States, black bears have lost habitat wherever hardwood forests have been eliminated.
British Columbia
Black bears are Yellow-listed in BC, which means they are neither endangered nor vulnerable (see the risk category table below).* They are, however, classified as a "look-alike" species and are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), to which British Columbia is a signatory. They are listed because individual black bears are highly variable in size and colour and some black bears are similar in appearance to some threatened or endangered species of world bears, such as the Malaysian sun bear. British Columbia and Ontario have the largest populations of black bears of all the provinces. In British Columbia, black bears are found throughout the province. They are the only large mammal in the province that occupies every ecosection.
* The Glacier or blue bear of Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park has been placed on the Blue List, which contains species that are considered vulnerable or sensitive to human activities or natural events, or are species for which information is too limited to allow designation in another category (Harper 1994).
Ah yeah, I love socking it to a bunny hugging teacher!!! ~JT
