Readers should note that productivity data presented are from bears harvested in 2003. Information from reproductive tracts obtained in 2004 cannot be fully analyzed until ages of sows are determined, which is later in the year. However, as an exciting note one of the reproductive tracts already analyzed from 2004 had 6 corpora lutea present! That would have been quite a family if she could have raised all of those cubs. Readers should also be reminded that they must add one year to the age of the bear for reproductive information. For example, if it is reported in this section that a 2-year old had corpora lutea then that means that she would have had her cubs at 3-years old.

Sixty-one reproductive tracts were collected in 2003. Seventeen (27%) were of limited use because either the age or part of the tract was missing. Reproduction in black bears is directly related to the female's age, and therefore must be considered by age classes.

Two of 7 yearlings showed evidence of breeding. This is extremely rare but has been documented in the wild. We have marked some additional yearling bears with radio implants to look at known age of primparity in West Virginia . It will be interesting to compare this with long-term reproductive tract data. Nine of 12 (75%) 2-year old females bred in 2003. Of the 9 breeders, 2 sows had 1 corpora lutea and 4 contained 2 corpora lutea, and 3 contained 3 corpora lutea.

Twelve of 14 (86%) of 3 or 4-year old sows showed evidence that they had bred in 2003. The other two sows, a 3-year old and a 4-year old, each had 2 placental scars, indicating that they had given birth in 2003. There was an average of 2.92 corpora lutea in these pregnant sows. On an interesting note, the reproductive tracts collected from the southern part of the state continue to show very high reproductive potential, including a 4-year old female from Raleigh County with 5 corpora lutea.

Nine of 10 (90%) of females 5-years and older contained corpora lutea and 1 (10%) showed no evidence of breeding. There was an average of 2.88 corpora lutea per pregnant female.

Eight of the 9 females with complete reproductive tracts but missing or broken teeth had been bred while the other had placental scars. The remaining eight were missing important sections of the reproductive tract and could not be further analyzed.