Cinnamon bear

{{Short description|Subspecies of carnivore}}

{{about|the animal|the 1930s radio show|The Cinnamon Bear}}

{{subspeciesbox

| name = Cinnamon bear

| image = "Cinnamon" Black Bear.jpg

| image_caption = Captive cinnamon bear 'Kodiak'

| genus = Ursus

| species = americanus

|status = T5

|status_system = TNC

|status_ref = {{Cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100661/Ursus_americanus|title=Ursus americanus|website=explorer.natureserve.org|quote= Washington: S5, Wisconsin: S5 Colorado: S5, New York: S5, Manitoba: S5, Alberta: S5, Ontario: S5, British Columbia: S5 New Mexico: S4, Nevada: S4, Idaho: S4, Idaho: S3, Utah: S3}}

| species_link = American black bear

| subspecies = cinnamomum

| authority = Audubon and Bachman, 1854

}}

The cinnamon bear (Ursus americanus cinnamomum) is both a highly variable color morph and a subspecies of the American black bear, native to the United States and Canada.

As a subspecies, they therefore most likely exist alongside the mostly black-colored eastern American black bears present in those regions, and breed with them. Although there are also small populations located in the north east foothills and mountains of California, above 3,000 ft. elevation. The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is its brown or red-brown fur, blocky head, and often a storage of fat causing a small hump on its back near the neck/shoulder, reminiscent of cinnamon. The subspecies was given this designation because the lighter color phase is more common there than in other areas.{{clarify|date=February 2017}} It is proposed that the brownish coats actually mimic a grizzly bear.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.nature.org/science/2017/02/07/when-black-bear-actually-blue-bear-color-phases-grizzly-identification/|title=When is a Black Bear Actually a Blue Bear?|date=7 February 2017}}