VOCALIZATIONS AND BEHAVIORS
When a bear makes sounds and gestures, what do they mean to communicate? We cannot speak bear, but we can have a very good idea what a bear wants to say when it speaks. We can watch how a bear communicates with other bears and then recognize the similarities when a bear tries to communicate with a human. What we have learned is that when bears communicate with people in this manner, an attack on a person has not happened.
Too often bears are killed by people for communicating with people the best way they know how. The bears are killed because their behavior during communication is misunderstood as being aggressive and dangerous. The communicating bear is not aggressive, it is uneasy and nervous.
Mike McIntosh
WiseAboutBears.org
Video and Audio files provided by the Wildlife Research Institute and the North American Bear Center
Family and Friendly Sounds
Cub Screaming
When cubs are afraid, they scream. That’s the sound that brings mom running.
Cubs Nursing
Black bear cubs make motor-like pleasure sounds as they nurse.
Friendly Sounds of a Captive Bear
Friendly sounds are tongue-clicks and grunts.
Grunts From Mother to Cub
Grunts are most often from mothers to cubs. The cub is saying, “Mom, come back. I need you.” When she comes, we’ll hear the mother give a couple higher-pitched grunts of greeting and then her usual grunts of concern.
Motherly Grunts
June with her cubs Spring 2007.
Mourning a Missing Cub
They use their human-like voice to express a number of emotions. This sound of mourning is from a mother who is missing a cub. she made this sound for 3 days, even while nursing her other cubs, until the moment they all were re-united.
Tongue Clicks During Courting
Tongue-clicks are most intense when they are from a male to an estrus females.
Scary Sounds You Shouldn't Be Afraid Of
Harmless Nervous Bluster
These instinctive behaviors are displays of nervousness and not preludes to an attack
Moaning
This moan of fear is sometimes interpreted as a growl. It’s often from a bear too scared to come down from a tree.
Forceful blowing indicates high anxiety
Anxiety is expressed with a long, narrowed muzzle and forceful blowing, sometimes followed by clacking teeth.
Huffing is the release of nervous energy
Bears huff when they’re getting over a scare, like a person taking a deep breath. They do it when they reach safety up a tree, when they finally dare to come down, and when they stop running away.
Bluff-charging is harmless bluster
This mother had an unusual tendency to bluff-charge. When she got close, she showed fear by blowing and clacking her teeth just before she retreated.
Pounce and slap = nervous uncertainty
When a bear is uncertain, it often lunges toward the possible danger, slaps the ground or a tree, and blows. It’s just part of assessing whether to run or stay.
Sounds of Conflict
Bears make a deep-throated pulsing sound when they are very distressed.