Okay this is a controversial topic and I did a video on the subject sharing my opinion in order to get some discussion going. I would like to hear from some of the guys on this site because most of you are pretty in tune with animals and their ways. What say you?

I know brown bears kill cubs, not sure about black bears.

Thought it was to get the females back into heat again.

Watch the video.

Lions and housecats do the same thing and they are effective hunters. This is just his idea of what happens.

So do mink and even rabbits. I think it is natural for nonpack animals to chow down on the little guys......jk

I must disagree with your opinion that bears are not adept at killing moose and caribou.
The LARGEST segment of predation on moose calves is by black bears . Many stick with the cow until she drops the calf and then they eat it immediately. Brown bears do exactly the same thing with caribou. So much so that the bears even migrate north with the caribou to be present while the cow is giving birth.

It is not unusual for brown bears to kill adult moose in the spring right after emerging from the den.

Yes they do kill cubs .

I'm sure there are those on the forum that can cogently address the topic of estrus in bears and what might or might not, stimulate it.

They claim lions do this not only to bring the females into heat but also to kill the progeny of the males they just ran off.

Interesting. I have heard of wolves following pregnant moose and caribou but never black bears. Learn something new every day.

A large male black bear will dominate all smaller bears-cubs with a female do better than sub adults that go out on their own and try to establish home range.These bears are killed by larger bears but more often pushed into unsuitable habitat-in years with poor food sources the mortality for sub adult bears can be as high as 50%.
Reproductive failure and mortality of newborn and young cubs is higher in years of poor food sources.

Some of you guys have brought up some really thought-provoking points, I wish you would share them on the discussion feed on Youtube so others who watch the video can see them.

They are so predictable that we used that behavior to remove bears by darting them. All that was needed was to find a cow just before delivery. The bear would be there somewhere.

The initial estimate was that there were about 60 bears in the area. Over 90 were eventually removed. This was all in an effort to increase moose calf survival

I was just reading last night on Alaska. Dept. of Fish & Game site that approximately 50% of the brown bear cub population doesn't make it beyond its third year due to boar predation.

A friend of mine retired from guiding on the peninsula but his old partner still operates down there. He offered just one moose hunt last year where it wasn't uncommon to have eight moose hunters booked per year. The bear and wolf populations are at an all time high in that area according to him and they're knocking the snot out of the moose.

Bernie, always enjoy your posts, videos & pictures.
With all due respect, Pennsylvania Black Bears eat Whitetail Deer (fawns).
Year ago, PGC biologist did a Black Bear study. One thing stood out to me in his study, Black Bear was the #1 predator of Deer. His study revealed huge numbers of fawn being eaten by Black Bear.

Thanks for the comments. I do know that bears eat fawns, I believe I mentioned that in the video, but my point is that they are opportunity predators, unlike wolves and coyotes which use specific techniques to hunt for fawns during the fawning season. Guess I should have made that more clear in the video. I'm curious about the numbers of coyotes in the area where the study was done. Any data on that?

Black bears hunt fawns in the hay fields here in North Jersey. Have observed them many times. They zig-zag thru the fields just like a pheasant hunter would. When they flush a bigger fawn that can run, they run them over, knocking the fawn off its feet, then the bear spins around and grabs it. I have not seen them try and grab a running fawn, only using the run-over tackle method. I have seen where a doe tried to defend a fawn and was grabbed by a bear. A few years ago my Dad did a mercy killing of a doe we assumed was injured this way. Her bottom jaw was dislocated, half her face was raked off and she had claw marks on her back. Several times I have trapped a bear by accident and a bigger bear killed and ate it. Bears do not seem to bother snared fox, coyote or bobcats but will eat any mink they find. When we raised domestic mink the bears in our zoo loved the fat mink carcasses but would not touch an equally fat coon carcass.

Lots of good writing from Dr. Gary Alt on black bears.
I spent ten years in an abnormally high bear population and found Alts writings quite accurate to my own observations.

Very interesting point Bernie and I enjoy your videos. I don't have any experience with wild bears other than the rare game came picture of one. I do have experience with skull cleaning though and your 2 need to be simmered in a bath of 4 to 1 ratio of water and peroxide. It'll whiten them tremendously and they'll match the professionally done one. :-)

If a boar kills younger bears, then it could very well be killing ones it sired. How does that fit in to passing on his genes?
If a boar kills younger ones for food, then that doesn't bode well for the overall bear population. That seems like an evolutionary dead end for a species.

Hmm.