Young bears prefer to hibernate during colder weather conditions when food for eating is scarce.In adverse, colder weather conditions (generally winters), when there is snow on the ground, low body temperature occurs, and there is a lack of availability of proper food, some animals hibernate. While hibernating, animals are in a state near minimal or no activity wherein the rate of their metabolism is slowed down. Hibernation can also be described as metabolic depression.Previously, hibernation was a term mainly reserved for rodents who were considered as ‘deep’ hibernators but later on, with more research applied to the subject, bears also came under the category of hibernators, and the main emphasis of the phenomenon was shifted from body temperature to the suppression of metabolism.Whilst a below-normal body temperature was taken as the culprit before, the metabolic rate is the thing that needs to be focused on with regards to hibernation. Although bears are now commonly known to go into hibernation, many experts believe that what bears do can’t be termed as proper hibernation but actually torpor or denning.Denning is when bears go into hiding in dens. Pregnant polar bears very commonly dig a den to give birth and to have a safe space for them and their cubs to stay for a while, as giving birth is a significant process, be it for any mammal, humans, or wild bears. Torpor, on the other hand, is a process that enables bears, and many other animals, to survive through periods of unavailability of food.After reading about which body function slows down during hibernation of bears, why not find out the answers to what is a group of bears called and how fast can a bear run?Why do bear cubs never hibernate?Black bear cubs are extremely small in size when compared to females; they are 1/500th the size of a female bear. Cubs are born in dens, as discussed earlier because females go into dens to give birth. Human disturbance, such as habitat degradation, unregulated collection, lack of management, and deforestation which degrades ground is mostly to blame for the reduction in the black bear population.While habitat loss undoubtedly played a role in the decline of black bear populations, mismanagement of harvest and poaching may have hampered recovery. Among the hibernators, black bears have an extremely good survival rate in an ordinary winter. Hibernation is the mechanism that black bears use to slowly conserve energy and reduce their internal fires of metabolism. This may even help them survive in snow.In the spring and summer bears don’t hibernate as summer is ideally the best time for male black bears to mate with female black bears. Black bears are most active in the early morning and late evening hours in summer. Bear cubs are born in winter without the ability to see or eat and are covered with fine hair. Cubs don’t go into hibernation or torpor like the females as they feed on their mother’s milk instead. Bear cubs grow very fast and weigh more than 300 pounds at less than two years of age.Bear cubs hide in dens with their mother after being born and also during their first fall to learn to protect and feed themselves. Bear cubs nurse in dens after being born there with their mother. They have to get used to collecting food, climbing, and more, and to learn all of that they spend time with their mother in their first years. Protecting yourself is important, especially when you are a large animal who has to survive such harsh conditions, and who is better than parents to learn from?Do all black bears hibernate in winter?Due to not falling in the category of true hibernators, black bears go into a torpor period during winters. Bears are large mammals and their ‘hibernation’ is a little different as during torpor, the physical inactivity gets disturbed and bears can wake up for brief periods in the cold, and in hibernation, animals don’t wake up at all. Animals, such as chipmunks and woodchucks, only wake up after the harsh winter season ends.Do black bears in the south hibernate?Wild bears whose habitat falls in places with warmer temperatures have to hibernate for shorter periods or have no hibernation at all. Warm temperature leaves no need for bears to collect food and lower their body temperature and metabolic rate to function. It is possible for bears found in the south to sleep less and to have smaller torpor periods.Why don’t black bears really hibernate in the Smokies?The true question is if bears really hibernate and not if they do in the winter season or in places with warm temperatures. Some people find it unusual if they spot a bear in the Smokies as they think that bears are supposed to be hiding away in dens but in reality, bears are not true hibernators. True hibernators have to lower their temperatures to significant extents and they don’t get up from their ‘sleep’ until the winter goes away. As bears go into the state of torpor or physical inactivity and survive by breaking body fat, you might have to believe your eyes if you spot a bear in the Smokies during winters!How long do bears hibernate?Black bears hibernate for long periods that last for weeks and sometimes for months as well. The long periods of staying in dens are needed to protect themselves from the harsh cold. Without lowering their body temperature by more than 10 degrees, they undertake the process of breaking down muscle tissues to get the energy that they need. Bears can also hibernate for up to seven and a half months without food.Why do bears come out of hibernation?Bears come out of hibernation on their own as the weather gets warmer and as the temperatures rise. The hibernation in bears is surprising for many as unlike in true hibernation, their body temperature doesn’t go down to a very large extent. They live without having anything to eat or drink, and they don’t pass waste. So, how do they survive? They do that by breaking their body fat into water and calories to help their bodies to function. Many animals’ body temperatures go down so as to conserve energy but bears help themselves by breaking down tissues. A bear’s muscle and organ tissues break down, providing access to the body protein and those tissues are rebuilt by using nitrogen.Do black bears ever alter their hibernation patterns?True hibernators are known to decrease their body temperatures to extreme extents. For example, squirrels almost freeze themselves to survive the period of insufficient food in order to save energy. Bears hibernate in a different way; you could even call it ‘super hibernation’ or ‘torpor’. Basically, bears enter a period, which is called torpor, by decreasing the body temperature but only by 10 degrees or so. Their metabolism and their heart rate slow down. They survive the period, which sometimes goes up to several weeks and even up to as much as six months, with no food or water, and without removing the waste materials from their bodies. Bears are known to come out of hibernation themselves as the weather changes, but due to rising world temperatures, bears are beginning to come out of hibernation or their ‘torpor’ periods sooner than they naturally would, and this is due to worrying climate change.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! 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Young bears prefer to hibernate during colder weather conditions when food for eating is scarce.
