It's time to reveal the answer to this week's #KnockKnockWhosBear!
This picture from Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada is of a...
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... #BlackBear!
Are you ready for another #KnockKnockWhosBear challenge? Are you? ARE YOU??
Take a look at this bear below. Let me know what species you think it is & why. I'll post a location clue in 1 hr, & reveal/explain in 3 hr.
Who is this bear???
Wapusk National Park is home to all three North American bear species: black bears, brown bears, and polar bears. So, this location means that we'll need to do more than just look at a range map for bear species. Let's consider some characteristics.
Once again, remember while fur color is important, it is not reliable as the only means of IDing bear species. Both black bears and brown bears come in a variety of shades and colors, including white, black, cream, grey, dark brown, blond, and cinnamon. So, while helpful...
It's not reliable on its own. This bear happens to be a cinnamon colored black bear, which makes the species name sound like a misnomer. But let's think about some of the other physical features of this bear.
First of all, I don't see that characteristic grizzly hump between the shoulders. I think there's a bit of fat up there on the shoulders, & this is a slightly odd angle (an almost straight on shot). But there is no hump there. Brown bears have a hump of muscle, not black bears.
Next, I see those characteristic black bear ears. They're big and tall and sort of oblong in shape rather than round, fluffy, and small/close to the head.
Now, as I mentioned, this is a bit of a weird angle, so looking for dishing or concavity of the face is a bit difficult. But if you look carefully, you can trace a straight line from the top of the head to the tip of the nose. That is common for a black bear.
