What animals prey on black bears?
Black bears have retained the forest-dwelling habits of their ancestral bear progenitors, unlike grizzly/brown bears which adapted to utilize open plains as well as forests. Black bears likely were not large enough to defend themselves against larger, now-extinct bears, cats, and wolves and used trees as escape habitat when threatened. Since the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna, few animals are capable of attacking and killing adult black bears. Grizzlies, other black bears, and occasionally wolves are the only modern non-human predators which can accomplish this. While there are frequent anecdotal or second-hand reports of grizzlies killing black bears, actual accounts are few. In one Alberta instance, a grizzly with 2 yearlings attacked a sow black bear with 2 cubs, successfully killing the cubs. In the Yellowstone ecosystem, radiotracking and field sign indicated probable predation of a female black bear by an adult male grizzly. Encounters not leading to mortality may be com
