Matrilinear hierarchy in the American black bear (Ursus americanus)

The American black bear (Ursus americanus) was long thought to be solitary and its social organization has not been well described. Here, we present new data on black bear social structure. The objectives of the study were to make detailed observations of the behavior of wild black bears to determine their social interactions and structure. We tested whether black bears interacted socially beyond mating and competing for resources, if black bears tracked relationships and interacted regularly even when resources were not limited, and whether the social structure of a population of black bears was based on a matrilinear hierarchy. We collected data by direct observation of bears from 1993 to 2014. Observations of 1210 social interactions at a provisioning site indicated that females compete and form matrilinear hierarchies. Dominant bears established a hierarchy for food, control of space, and control of younger bears. Post interaction scent marking took place, which suggested that dominant females were conditioning subordinates to their scent marks. Affiliative behavior occurred between related and unrelated bears and helped to establish the social structure of the bear community. Based on our data, human-bear conflicts can be reduced by behavioral modifications by humans when they encounter bears. Knowledge of bear behavior and the matrilinear hierarchy provide a basis for non-lethal management of bears that find themselves in a bear-human conflict situation.