American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

 Hutch

 Starsky

 Starsky (left) Hutch (right)

Starsky

At Omaha’s zoo, we have two black bears, Starsky (male) and Hutch (male). These two goofs are fun to watch at work when they are being trained.  They are very smart and witty. Sometimes during their training sessions, they like to try being witty by cheating to get a snack with their cuteness.  Starsky likes to hang out in his corner of the den as Hutch likes to lie under a log. It is hard to motivate these boys sometimes unless there is a treat involved for them. Sounds like a lot of college students I know when the words, “free” and “food” are involved.  I don’t blame them.

A little bit of a background about these bears is that they are native to Northern North America. They are omnivores which mean that they like to eat meat and plants. Starsky and Hutch really like their sweet potatoes and fish! Black bears have narrow muzzles and large jaw hinges. This helps with their sense of smell and munching down on their diet. An interesting fact about these bears is that they use their teeth and claws to help eat their diet; they also use them to mark trees to communicate with other bears.