Black bear in flowers; photo © Jerry DeBoer on Flickr (all rights reserved; used by permission). The black bear is a symbol of Louisiana, New Mexico, and West Virginia. See all state mammals.
Official State Animal of West Virginia
The state Division of Natural Resources conducted a poll to elect a state animal as a symbol for West Virginia in 1954-55. The students, teachers, and sportsmen of West Virginia chose the black bear as the animal symbol for their state by a large margin. The Legislature officially adopted the black bear as the state animal of West Virginia on March 23, 1973. All State Mammals
Black bears are found in all of West Virginia's 55 counties. The black bear is also the state mammal of Louisiana and the state animal of New Mexico.
Black Bear Facts
Black bears are very intelligent, shy, and secretive animals - actually seeing a bear in the wild is a very rare experience. Black bears (Ursus americanus) are not always black - there are cinnamon, white, beige, and "blue" (slate gray) black bears. Adult black bears vary considerably in size, from 130 - 500 pounds (occasionally as much as 700).
The black bear is omnivorous and will eat just about anything. While they prefer nuts, berries, grasses, and roots, they also eat insects and small mammals, and if nothing else is available, carrion. The black bear ranges from the far north (Alaska and northern Canada) to northern Mexico. They can run up to 30 mph and are good swimmers.
The black Bear is a solitary creature (except females with cubs). A mating pair may stay together for one to several days, then part ways. The cubs are born in the winter during hibernation, and will remain with their mother until their second summer. When they emerge from the winter den the mother teaches the cubs which plants to eat and where to find the grubs and other insects that will supplement their diets.
