Consistently weighing in around 700 pounds, the Black Bears of New Foundland, Canada(some 10,000 of them) are the largest of their kind in North America............. "In general for all animal types, it pays to be bigger in the colder climates that exist at high latitudes and altitudes"............. "Heftier animals have a smaller surface area-to-volume ratio, which helps reduce heat loss — a pattern known as Bergmann's Rule. (In general, a more massive organism has a smaller surface area-to-volume)",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,""The bigger you are, the more fat you can store to help you get through the winter".....................And the New Foundland Black Bears have shown to be Caribou and Moose eaters, much more so than their fellow Black Bears across the rest of the Continent, who will kill newborn hoofed browsers but not so much the adults

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bear-land-sea-biology-caribou-moose-wildlife-black-bear-1.3994002&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTI4MzIzOTEzMDQ0NTgyMjYxNTcyGjAzMWJmZmM1MjYxMzc1ZGE6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNGHNrmCLHUS1IDWDwFn6pb1ArK2ig

From Land & Sea's archive: The black bears of Newfoundland

Track Newfoundland's black bears with biologist Shane Mahoney and the Land & Sea crew

By Angela Antle, CBC News Posted: Feb 26, 2017 

When wildlife biologist Shane Mahoney was studying the effects of hydro-electric development on Caribou, he often saw very large Black Bears near the herds.

Traditionally, Newfoundland's black bears were thought to be scavengers, relying mostly on berries for survival.

Mahoney found they are much more predatory than originally thought, frequently hunting down caribou and moose and often weighing in at 700 pounds.

That makes them the largest bears on the continent

.

In this full episode of Land & Sea from 1986, you can track some of these massive creatures with Shane Mahoney and the crew.   

watch the full 25 minute video of the Land & Sea Crew tracking New Foundland Black Bears
https://youtu.be/P8PZjVB6MCo
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Why Are Animals Bigger in Colder Climates?

By Lindsey Konkel, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor | November 20, 2012

For most species of vertebrates, body mass increases the closer you get to the poles. The average weight of an adult male white-tailed deer in Florida, for instance, is about 125 pounds (57 kilograms), while a mature buck in Montana might weigh 250-275 pounds (114-125 kg).

For many types of animals, it pays to be bigger in the colder climates that exist at high latitudes and altitudes. Heftier animals have a smaller surface area-to-volume ratio, which helps reduce heat loss — a pattern known as Bergmann's Rule. (In general, a more massive organism has a smaller surface area-to-volume.)


New Foundland Black Bears are giants reaching 700 pounds

There are several factors that can affect an animal's body size and weight, said Kyle Ashton, a herpetologist at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate State Park in San Francisco. An abundant food supply, sexual selection for bigger males and encounters with competitors may all lead to bigger bodies. 

While Bergmann's Rule explains how animals deal with issues of heat loss and heat regulation in the cold, there may be other reasons to pack more pounds in colder climates. "The bigger you are, the more fat you can store to help you get through the winter," said Ashton.

More nutritious foods may also fuel bigger body size closer to the poles, according to researchers from the University of Houston. Plants from higher latitudes tend to be softer and contain more nutrients than plants closer to the equator, they found.

While the pattern of bigger bodies in colder climates holds for most mammals, birds and some reptiles, such as turtles, lizards and snakes, seem to break the mold. "They reverse the rule and tend to be smaller in colder climates and bigger in warmer ones," said Ashton.

The verdict is still out on why some reptiles, which obtain their body heat from the external environment, follow the rule while others reverse it. Ashton suspects it may be advantageous for turtles, which may go several months without eating in colder climates, to carry extra fat stores. For lizards and snakes, some scientists think smaller bodies may warm faster in cold temperatures.