FACTBOX: Five facts about black bears

(Reuters) - Colorado wildlife officers have had to kill dozens of black bears who have roamed into residential areas in search of food because of a scarcity of their natural food supply.

Here are five facts about black bears:

* Although called black bears, the species can be honey-colored, blond, brown, cinnamon or black. Brown or cinnamon-colored black bears are sometimes mistaken for grizzly bears, but there are no known grizzlies left in Colorado.

* Adult females are called sows. Adult males are called boars and young offspring are called cubs. The cubs stay with their mother for one year, denning with their mother and litter-mates over the winter. By their second spring, they become self-reliant and separate from their mothers by their second autumn.

* Boars typically weigh between 275 and 400 pounds (125 and 180 kg). Sows normally weigh between 175 to 200 pounds (80 to 90 kg). Mature black bears stand about three-foot (one meter) high when on all fours. Some bears can be five-foot (1.5-metre) tall when standing on their hind legs.

* In Colorado, black bears may have a range from 10 sq miles to 250 square miles, and primarily live in areas with Gambel's oak and aspen, near open areas with abundant chokecherry and serviceberry bushes.

* Black bear eat nuts, insects and vegetation, and learn to forage from their mothers. Bears who find human food, even once, may change their habits to seek easy meals found from human sources.

Source: University of Colorado Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.