The most common bear for the table is black bear. Black bear is similar to venison in taste. It has a deeper red colour than beef and has a pork like texture. If cooked correctly, bear can be the most delicious meat you could place on your fork. The nutritional factors of bear meat can be very surprising. Bear meat contains less calories than lean beef does. Bear is very high in protein with approx. 20 grams of protein in 100 grams on meat. It has a very high iron content and is also a great source of vitamins A and B
Of the ten species of bears found around the world, there are three species that can be found in Canada. They are the polar bear, the brown bear and the American black bear.
The polar bear is the largest species of bear and land carnivore. They have white or yellowish fur with black skin. The males are usually six to eight feet in length and can weigh up to 1,760 pounds. Hunting polar bears is legal but is very regulated and controlled to manage polar bear populations.
The brown bear is the second largest bear species in Canada. The more familiarly known brown bear is the grizzly bear and can be found in British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. It is estimated that there are up to 29,000 grizzly bears in Canada. They range in colour from as dark as nearly black to as light as blond. The largest grizzly recorded was 10 feet tall when standing and weighed over 1,200 pounds.
The American black bear is Canada’s smallest bear but is the most widely distributed. It can be found from the Newfoundland to British Columbia and as far north as northern Yukon/Northwest Territories. The black bear colour is predominantly black though there are some brown and blond black bears. Adult black bears typically range from 47 to 79 inches in head-and-body length, and 28 to 41 inches in shoulder height. Their weight varies depending on age, sex, health and season. Males typically weigh between 125 to 550 pounds while the females weigh around 90 to 375 pounds.
