Editing American black bear (section)

== Distribution and population ==
[[File:Grand Tetons black bear.jpg|thumb|An American black bear at [[Grand Teton National Park]], [[Wyoming]]]]

Historically, American black bears occupied the majority of North America's forested regions. Today, they are primarily limited to sparsely settled, forested areas.<ref name="plan">{{cite web| url=http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/000ADOBES/Bears/Bears_IUCN_ActionPlan/bearsAP_chapter8.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723235737/http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/000ADOBES/Bears/Bears_IUCN_ActionPlan/bearsAP_chapter8.pdf| archive-date=July 23, 2011| title=Chapter 8. American Black Bear Conservation Action Plan |access-date=February 21, 2011 |author1=Pelton, Michael R. |author2=Coley, Alex B. |author3=Eason, Thomas H. |author4=Doan Martinez |author5=Diana L. |author6=Pederson, Joel A. |author7=van Manen, Frank T. |author8=Weaver, Keith M. }}</ref> American black bears currently inhabit much of their original Canadian range, though they seldom occur in the southern farmlands of [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]] and [[Manitoba]]; they have been extirpated on [[Prince Edward Island]] since 1937.<ref name="ScheickMcCown">{{cite journal |last1=Scheick |first1=Brian K. |last2=McCown |first2=Walter |title=Geographic distribution of American black bears in North America |journal=Ursus |date=1 May 2014 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=24 |doi=10.2192/URSUS-D-12-00020.1 |s2cid=83706088 }}</ref> Surveys taken in the mid-1990s found the Canadian black bear population to be between 396,000 and 476,000 in seven provinces;<ref name="canada">{{cite web| url=http://wwf.ca/newsroom/?1058| title=Canadian Population| publisher=World Wildlife Fund| access-date=August 31, 2011| archive-date=October 4, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004041940/http://wwf.ca/newsroom/?1058| url-status=live}}</ref> this estimate excludes populations in [[New Brunswick]], the [[Northwest Territories]], [[Nova Scotia]] and [[Saskatchewan]]. All provinces indicated stable populations of American black bears over the last decade.<ref name="plan" />

The current range in the United States is constant throughout most of the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and within the [[Appalachian Mountains]] almost continuously from [[Maine]] to northern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], the northern [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], the [[Mountain States|Rocky Mountain region]], the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and [[Alaska]].<ref name="ScheickMcCown" /> However, it becomes increasingly fragmented or absent in other regions. Despite this, American black bears in those areas seem to have expanded their range in recent decades, such as with recent sightings in [[Ohio]],<ref name="ScheickMcCown" /> [[Illinois]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeBrock |first=Ron |date=2021-07-19 |title=Black bear seen in Godfrey park |url=https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Black-bear-seen-in-Godfrey-park-16325152.php |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Alton Telegraph |language=en-US |archive-date=August 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802161227/https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Black-bear-seen-in-Godfrey-park-16325152.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> southern [[Indiana]],<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Black Bear hit by car in Southern Indiana |url=http://www.wsvx.com/2018/11/19/black-bear-hit-by-car-in-southern-indiana/ |work=Giant FM |date=19 November 2018 |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120010700/http://www.wsvx.com/2018/11/19/black-bear-hit-by-car-in-southern-indiana/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and western Nebraska.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Justin D. |last2=Wilson |first2=Sam |last3=Genoways |first3=Hugh H. |title=Recent occurrence of an American black bear in Nebraska |journal=Ursus |date=April 2009 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=69–72 |doi=10.2192/08SC030R.1 |s2cid=84359190 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=museummammalogy |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-date=May 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505094546/https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=museummammalogy |url-status=live }}</ref> Sightings of itinerant black bears in the [[Driftless Area]] of southeastern [[Minnesota]], northeastern [[Iowa]], and southwestern [[Wisconsin]] are common.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wisconsinoutdoorsman.com/threads/early-black-bear-sightings-in-southern-wisconsin.4797/|title=Early black bear sightings in southern Wisconsin|publisher=Wisconsin Outdoorsman|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424162942/https://www.wisconsinoutdoorsman.com/threads/early-black-bear-sightings-in-southern-wisconsin.4797/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/Iowas-Wildlife/Occasional-Wildlife-Visitors/|title=Occasional wildlife visitors to Iowa|publisher=Iowa Department of Natural Resources|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424161446/https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/Iowas-Wildlife/Occasional-Wildlife-Visitors|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, biologists with the [[Iowa Department of Natural Resources]] confirmed documentation of an American black bear living year-round in woodlands near the town of [[Decorah, Iowa|Decorah]] in northeastern Iowa, believed to be the first instance of a resident black bear in Iowa since the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Biologists-excited-after-black-bear-caught-on-camera-in-northeast-Iowa-508784351.html|title=Biologists excited after black bear caught on camera in northeast Iowa|date=April 19, 2019|publisher=KCRG|location=Cedar Rapids, Iowa|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424161439/https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Biologists-excited-after-black-bear-caught-on-camera-in-northeast-Iowa-508784351.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whotv.com/2019/04/17/video-shows-bear-in-iowa-dnr-says-it-could-be-states-first-resident-bear-since-the-1880s/|title=Video Shows Bear in Iowa, DNR Says it Could be State's First 'Resident' Bear Since the 1880s|date=April 17, 2019|publisher=WHO-TV|location=Des Moines, Iowa|access-date=August 16, 2019|archive-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418131545/https://whotv.com/2019/04/17/video-shows-bear-in-iowa-dnr-says-it-could-be-states-first-resident-bear-since-the-1880s/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Surveys taken from 35 states in the early 1990s indicated that American black bear populations were either stable or increasing, except in [[Idaho]] and [[New Mexico]]. The population in the United States was estimated to range between 339,000 and 465,000 in 2011,<ref name="us">{{cite web| url=http://wwf.ca/newsroom/?1058| title=United States Population| publisher=World Wildlife Fund| access-date=August 31, 2011| archive-date=October 4, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004041940/http://wwf.ca/newsroom/?1058| url-status=live}}</ref> though this estimate does not include data from Alaska, [[Idaho]], [[South Dakota]], [[Texas]] or [[Wyoming]], whose populations were not recorded in the survey.<ref name="plan" /> In [[California]] there were an estimated 25,000-35,000 black bears in 2017, making it the largest population of the species in any of the 48 [[contiguous United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tahoewildbears.org/black_bear_facts.htm |title=Black Bear Facts |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809012840/http://www.tahoewildbears.org/black_bear_facts.htm |archive-date=August 9, 2017 |url-status=usurped |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear/Population| title=Black Bear Population Information| access-date=June 8, 2016| archive-date=October 5, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005024328/https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Black-Bear/Population| url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020 there were about 1,500 bears in [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]], where the population density is about two per square mile.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Bears - Great Smoky Mountains National Park |url=https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/black-bears.htm |website=U.S. National Park Service |access-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207231908/https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/black-bears.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In western [[North Carolina]], the black bear population has dramatically increased in recent decades, from about 3,000 in the early 2000s to over 8,000 in the 2020s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://wlos.com/news/local/asheville-black-bear-population-how-many-growth-north-carolina-wildlife-wildlife-resources-commission-study-cubs-wnc-nature-center | title=As black bear population booms, state aims to slow growth | date=March 27, 2023 }}</ref>

As of 1993, known black bear populations in Mexico existed in four areas, though knowledge on the distribution of populations outside those areas has not been updated since 1959. Mexico is the only country where the species is classified as "endangered".<ref name="plan" />