Photo by Dr. William Weber

This sub-species of the American black bear is black with a brown muzzle. Males weigh about 350 pounds; females, approximately 150. They live in forests and eat mostly vegetable matter. A female's home range averages 11 square miles (28.5 km2); a male's can reach 66 square miles (171 km2), making male bears particularly vulnerable to roadkill. Florida black bears have been on the state's list of threatened species since 1974. There used to be 12,000 in the state; now there are 1,500 or fewer. More than 50 bears are killed on Florida roads each year.