How much does an American black bear weigh?
Adolph Murie, the famous naturalist, once said, “A bear a long distance from a scale always weighs more.” The general public often misjudges the weights of black bears. While they are large, they are not the 4,000-pound beasts that some visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park describe. Weights can vary greatly depending on the age, health, and sex of the bear as well as the season and the condition of the habitat. Seasonality is a major factor pre-denning weight in the fall is considerably higher than the weight of the bear when it emerges from hibernation in the spring. American black bears exhibit sexual dimorphism, where males are generally 33% larger than their female counterparts of the same age. American black bears on the East Coast of North America are larger than those found on the West Coast. Average weights are: Males 250 lbs. (range from 125 lbs. to over 600 lbs.) Females 150 lbs. (range from 90 lbs. to over 300 lbs.) What is the record weight of an American bla
