Don't confuse black bears with grizzly bears. They are completely different animals and they seldom behave the same. Female black bears aren't nearly as protective of their cubs, for example, as grizzlies are of their cubs. A mother black bear is far more likely to abandon her cubs and run than to attack someone trying to approach one of her cubs. She will do her best to warn her cubs of any danger beforehand. If someone were to pick up one of her cubs, she would certainly fret about it, and might even go so far as to do some woofing or bluff charges in an attempt to gain the return of her young, but most will send their cubs up a tree and leave, or climb the tree with them. This does mean that caution is unnecessary in the presence of a mother black bear and her cubs. Like people, black bears are individuals and some individuals are more aggressive than others.