The tree in the picture looks to still have the bark on it to me. Generally bears will be standing on their hind legs when they mark their boundrys. So will cats. The height can give some indication of the size of the critter.

The OP's pic looks more like a feline scratching post to me. Here is a bobcat scratching post in the mountains where I hunt. Notice the over all height from the base of the rock. Altho the discoloration of the tree is very obvious, it doesn't go completley through to outer bark of the tree.