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Drive thru
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Walk thru Park

Come see the black bears, elk, reindeer, cougars, buffalo and more!

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Bear tracks

Drive thru and Walk thru Park

Come see the black bears, elk, reindeer,
cougars, buffalo and more!

Buy Tickets

Welcome to Bear Country USA!

Very few people have had a full-grown black bear look in the window of their family car, or if they have, it was not by choice. Even fewer have seen a reindeer or an elk up close. However, many people are getting experiences like these at Bear Country U.S.A. in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Nestled on over 200 acres amidst towering pines and rolling meadows just eight miles south of Rapid City, Bear Country U.S.A. offers visitors intimate views of many North American mammals. Visitors take a leisurely three-mile drive through several enclosures and encounter black bear, elk, reindeer, deer, cougars, bobcats, Rocky Mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn and bison.

At this “the home of the largest collection of privately owned black bear in the world”, Bear Country U.S.A. guests are guaranteed to see more than they bargained for. From the comfort of their own car, visitors watch as these clowns of nature frolic in a pool, climb trees and amble across the road in front of your vehicle.

You can buy tickets at admissions when you come or you can book them online below.

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Experience the Park

You can enjoy both drive-thru and walk-thru experiences. The drive-thru option lets you stay in your car and see a variety of North American animals like black bears, elk, bison, and mountain lions in their natural habitats. For an up-close look, the walk-thru area allows you to observe smaller animals and bear cubs. Both options offer a safe and fun way to see wildlife, making Bear Country a great destination for all ages.

Whether you’re seeking an exciting car ride or a leisurely stroll, there’s something for everyone at our wildlife park.

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baby bear climbing up a tree
Bear Paw

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Discover Our Wildlife

At Bear Country USA, discover the excitement of seeing bears, mountain lions, timber wolves, and more in their natural habitats. Our park offers a rare opportunity to observe these magnificent creatures up close. Come and explore the wild side of South Dakota like never before.

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Black Bear

Read About Black Bears
mountain lion

Mountain Lion

Read About Mountain Lions
Timber wolf

Timber Wolf

Read About Timber Wolves
Read About All Our Animals
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Nestled on over 200 acres amidst towering pines and along rolling meadows just eight miles south of Rapid City, Bear Country U.S.A. offers visitors intimate views of most North American mammals.

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Black Bear

Size

  • HEIGHT: On all four’s: 3-4 ft. Standing: 4-7 ft.
  • LENGTH: 4-6 ft.
  • WEIGHT: Average male 425 lbs. Average female 200 lbs.

Breeding

  • MATURITY: About three years old.
  • MATING: Mating occurs in Late June and Early July.
  • GESTATION: About 7 months.
  • YOUNG: 1-5 cubs a year.

Lifestyle

  • HABIT: Solitary, but come together for breeding.
  • DIET: Omnivorous: which means it eats fruits, nuts, vegetables, breads and meat.
  • LIFESPAN: Can live up to 25 years.

Scientific Name

  • FAMILY: Family: “Ursidae”. Classified as: “Ursus americanus”

General Information

At Bear Country we have over 100 black bear, the world’s largest privately owned collection. In the wild, black bears live primarily in eastern forests, swamps, and western forests and wooded mountains. You rarely spot them higher than 7,000 feet.

To date, the total black bear population in North America is close to pre-settlement numbers – about 1 million. In the US alone there are more than an estimated 600,000 black bear. Stable populations of black bears are found in 38 states and most of Canada. Their range is extensive: Most of Canada, south on the West Coast through northern California, in Rocky Mountain states to Mexico, north MN, WI, and MI; in New England, NY and PA through the Appalachians; in the Southeast, most of Florida and southern Louisiana. They have recently been seen in Texas as well.

The black bear is omnivorous which means it eats vegetables, fruit, breads and meat. We also have a special “bear cake” produced at a local mill that provides them with all the necessary vitamins and nutrients. During autumn, they eat more than usual to gain body fat to sustain them through their winter “hibernation”. Bears do not hibernate, but rather fall into a deep sleep from which they can awaken quickly. When food is abundant, they will eat up to 45 lbs. a day and put on 5 lbs. per day in preparation for winter. During “hibernation”, the bear may only eat once a week, or if it is very cold he will not eat for a month. While “hibernating”, the black bear does not urinate or defecate. Bear Country has participated in the past with researchers at the University of Illinois in a project to study how the bear recycles toxins during “hibernation” with the hope of helping people with kidney disease and osteoporosis.

Breeding season is in late June to early July. The fertilized egg matures to the blastocyst stage and goes dormant. Blastocyst will not implant in the uterus until late November. In early December, embryo development proceeds normally (delayed implantation: a process shared with badgers, mink, weasels, otters, and wolverines). Birth occurs in late January. Gestation is approximately 7 months. The delay in gestation is approximately 5 months and true gestation is approximately 8 weeks. A black bear usually has between 1 to 5 cubs.

The cubs are born during the “hibernation period” in late January. When they are born, they weigh about nine ounces and are the size of a stick of butter. From then on, they grow very quickly. In March, when they weigh three to five pounds, we collect the cubs from their dens. By May they can be 12 to 20 pounds. While they are on display in our Wildlife Center, their weight will increase to about 75 pounds by the end of the summer. An adult male can weigh as much as 650 pounds, but usually is about 450 to 500 pounds at full weight. The female will reach a maximum weight of almost 400 pounds.

The black bear’s name is deceptive. It is a species name and does not refer to their color. They can range from pure black to cinnamon to blonde. Black bears in the East are nearly black, while those in the West are black to cinnamon with a white blaze on their chest. The black bears in Alaska can have a blue or white color phase to blend with their snowy surroundings.

You will notice many black bears in trees. Unlike the grizzly, who does not have claws that are well-adapted for climbing, the black bear is a very proficient climber. The black bear’s curved claws allow them to easily and quickly climb high into trees and will often sleep in the crotch of branches. Grizzly bears, on the other hand, climb by hugging the tree and grasping branches with their mouth to pull themselves upward. Their claws are straighter, longer and adapted for digging.

Black bears are similar to hogs and are even named the same–males are boars and females are sows, but babies are called cubs. They can live to be about 25 years old.

Black bears breed in June and early July, but the cubs are not born until January. Researchers have found that the gestation period is not as long as it appears. There is a delayed implantation of the fertilized egg in the female bear in December and the gestation period is only eight weeks. This would explain the extremely small size of the newborn cub. Research is this area continues in the wild by government and conservation agencies.

You will notice that some younger black bears have coats that are shedding. They do not reach their full size, coat appearance or breeding age until they are about three years old. They seem to go through a sort of “puberty” stage between their first and third years.

Bear Country does sometimes take in orphaned bear cubs. We had a very famous cub named Coconino. Some hikers found her in 1990 at Big Bear in California. Her eyes were still closed and her umbilical cord attached, an obvious newborn. The hikers took her to a local vet who called Bear Country for advice on feeding the orphan. They named her Coconino, which means “little brown one” in Spanish. She is called Coco for short. The Department of Fish and Game in California found out the vet and his wife had this bear and was going to confiscate her, sending her to a rehabilitation center and turn her back into the wild. The vet and some concerned citizens knew that the cub could never survive in the wild after being hand-raised. They went to the intended rehab center and found that it was visitor facilities that allowed too much contact with humans and did not properly train the animals so survive in the wild. Soon all of Big Bear was on the campaign to find Coco a suitable home. She was featured on the news magazine show “Hard Copy.” Finally, by ruling of the court Coco was given to Bear Country, where she arrived under the media’s watchful eye. Here she is able to live a captive life in a natural environment. She quickly acclimated to the other cubs and seemed to enjoy their company. Some of Coco’s “friends” from Big Bear had come to visit her and they agree that she is in the best possible situation. Bear Country received several letters from her “friends” thanking us for allowing Coco to live here.

Why are male bears a threat to Cubs in the wild?

This is especially dangerous for females with cubs, because a mother bear cannot become pregnant while she’s still nursing last year’s litter. That’s why male bears will sometimes kill the cubs, forcing the female’s body to stop lactating and shift back into reproduction mode

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Mountain Lion

General Information

The Mountain lion is a very agile animal. It can easily cover 23 ft. in a single leap. They are known for their speed and quickness. One wouldn’t think that such a large animal could be quick, but they are.

Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and generally hunt in daylight where there are no humans. The mountain lion stalks its prey and when it attempts to flee, it pounces on the back of an animal with a powerful leap that knocks it to the ground. Once the lion has its prey on the ground, the prey can be killed with a single bite to the back of the neck. Mountain lions have huge hunting territories, and they eat all kinds of different animals. Deer is their principal source food, but they have been known to feed on rancher’s cattle. They can run very fast over short distances, but they tire quickly. Therefore, the cat must capture its prey on the first attack. If the prey is able to avoid the initial attack, it usually escapes. Mountain lions rarely share hunting territories and usually avoid each other. On the off chance two meet, they will make no attempt to defend their own territories or take over those of others.

The territories of male mountain lions may overlap those of females, so the males can detect when females are ready to mate. During a 14-day period of mating, a male and female hunt together and sleep next to each other. The female later gives birth in a carefully hidden den, located between rocks or in a cave. Blind at birth, the cubs have spotted coats until they are six months old. They begin to take meat provided by their mother at six weeks. Although they can hunt for themselves after nine months, they usually remain with their mother for two years. The cubs then leave her and wonder off to establish a territory of their own.

Many folk tales repeat the savagery of cougars, their numerous attacks on man and their bloodcurdling screams, but authentic, unprovoked attacks on man are far less numerous than those of the domesticated bull. Unless cornered, the cougar avoids contact with man, but at bay he is an adversary that should command respect and caution.

These cats spend most of their time on the ground, but they are adept at climbing trees and often do so when pursued by dogs. Their chief range preferences are rocky, precipitous canyons, escarpments, rim rocks or, in the absence of these, dense brush. Heavily timbered areas usually are avoided. Looking for scrapes, the signpost of the male, which consist of small piles of leaves, grasses and so forth, which he scrapes together and on which he urinates, can usually detect the presence of a cougar in an area. These are best looked for on their travel routes along the ridges and rim rocks.

Contrary to popular opinion, cougars seldom use caves as dens. An area under an overhanging ledge, a crevice in a cliff, a dry cavity in a jumbled pile of rocks, an enlarged badger burrow, a cavity under the roots of a tree or a dense thicket seem to be more desirable.

Their food is almost entirely animal matter, but. as with domestic cats, grasses may be eaten occasionally. The chief item of diet is deer Analyses of stomachs revealed that in the Southwest the mule deer accounted for 54 percent of the total food (by frequency of occurrence); white-tailed deer, 28 percent; porcupines, 5.8 percent; cottontails, 3.9 percent; jackrabbits, 2 percent; domestic cows, 1.6 percent; miscellaneous (including sheep, goats, skunks, foxes, coyotes, beavers, prairie dogs and grasses), 4.7 percent – In certain areas they are known to kill and feed upon horses, particularly colts. In general, the cougar’s food habits are of neutral or beneficial character. The high percentage of predation on deer probably is beneficial from a game management view in most instances because the cougar tends to prevent overpopulation of deer, which is the bane of the game manager in many areas where this cat has been exterminated.

Cougars are thought to be monogamous, at least for the mating period. The female is said to initiate the courtship and mating act. There appear to be no regular periods of reproduction. A female containing four large embryos was killed in April; another with three young nearly ready to be born was killed on January 20. Also, records are available for October and December. The gestation period is about 3 months. The number of young ranges from two to five, averaging three. At birth, the kittens are woolly, spotted, have short tails and weigh about 1 pound each. They develop teeth when about a month old, are weaned when about 2 or 3 months old and may remain with their mother until more than 1 year old. Adult females usually breed every other year.

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Timber Wolf

Size

  • HEIGHT: 26 – 33 inches.
  • LENGTH: 6.5 ft. (including tail)
  • WEIGHT: Can weigh up to 175 lb.

Breeding

  • MATURITY: Two years old.
  • MATING: January through March
  • GESTATION: 9 weeks.
  • YOUNG: One to eleven pups.

Lifestyle

  • HABIT: Most active at night, but may be seen during the day. Hunt in packs.
  • DIET: Small animals and birds. When in packs, will hunt sheep and other large animals.
  • LIFESPAN: N/A

Scientific Name

  • FAMILY: Other common name: “Gray Wolf”. Family: “Canidae”. Species classification: “Canus lupis”. Related to the jackal, coyote, and domestic dog.

General Information

Timber wolves are widely distributed. They are found in various parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. In the United States, they range from the Rocky Mountain ranges to areas in the Great Lakes states. Timbers can be found of prairies and forests, but usually not in high mountain ranges because of the lack of food. Their color ranges from nearly white to nearly black, but are usually grayish.

The “pack” is a very complex and strict organization. They communicate through posture, voice, and scent. The alpha, or dominant, male is the leader. Only the alpha male and alpha female are allowed to breed. The entire pack cooperates in feeding, protecting, and training the pups. The pack distinguishes its territory by marking it with urine and feces. Dominant males can stare down other wolves in the pack to prevent a fight and dominate females do the same to prevent females from mating with her mate, but fights are very rare. Some members may stay with the pack for life.

Wolves are big game hunters. After a howling chorus, the pack will leave the den for the evening hunt with one adult guardian staying behind to watch over the young. Timber wolves will generally hunt in packs of 12 or more during the non-breeding season. They feed on anything that is available. They primarily hunt birds and mammals such as deer and caribou. Their hunting range can be up to 60 miles is diameter. Wolves can run up to 40 miles an hour and can easily cover 50 miles a day. By smell alone, wolves can locate prey, other pack members or enemies. It can tell them if other wolves were in the territory, if they were male or female, and how recently they visited.

In the spring, females have litters of one to eleven pups. The pups are born blind and deaf, so they have to depend on the their mother and other members of the pack. The whole pack takes care and raises the pups (non-breeding females produce milk and males compete to baby sit). The pups also eat regurgitated food. When the hunters return from a hunt, the pups will jump and bite at their throats to get them to regurgitate the undigested meat from the recent kill. The pups normally stay with the parents until the following winter, but may remain much longer. Parents and their young constitute a basic pack.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the gray wolf is listed as a threatened species in Minnesota and as an endangered species in the United States. The decreasing numbers of wolves are the result of encroachments on their territory by humans, who have regarded wolves as competitors for prey and as dangerous to livestock, pets, and people. However, very few wolves attack humans. There might be “some” isolated incidents, but which is usually the case in those, the wolf was only trying to protect itself from the invasion from the human. There have been some efforts to try to reintroduce the wolf back into the wild, but those efforts have been very controversial.

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See you in late April in 2025!

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