Eating as much food as physically possible then falling into a long sleep sounds like
a regular Sunday to me.
But for other species, it’s a necessary part of survival.
But hibernation is more than just sleeping through the winter.
It involves bodily adaptations to the animal and careful preparation all summer long.
Keep watching as we talk about what exactly hibernation is, and discuss the popular debate
regarding wether or not bears really hibernate.
What is Hibernation?
Hibernation isn’t just sleeping for weeks at a time.
In fact, many animals wake up pretty often during their hibernation.
In times where food is scarce or temperatures are low, an animal may go into a state of
hibernation.
Their heart rate will slow to a very low rate and their body temperature drops significantly.
Hibernation allows the body to decrease all of it’e energy use by limiting itself to
the bare minimum of survival.
It will feed on stored food and energy that was consumed before going into hibernation.
The animal will wake up when survival is easier.
They may come out a little skinnier, but there is little to no muscular damage or nutritional
loss.
Who Hibernates?
A warm blooded animal uses energy from food to regulate body temperature.
It takes far more energy to keep the body regulated in cold temperatures.
Plus, it becomes even harder to find food in the winter.
Because of this, many animals are not able to consume enough food to survive during a
harsh winter.
This is where hibernation comes in.
Animals that hibernate usually live in a northern country that is susceptible to a cold winter
or shortage of food.
These animals include rodents, skunks, badgers, bats, groundhogs, marmots, and more.
Warm blooded animals aren’t the only ones that hibernate, however.
Certain frogs, reptiles, and even insects have also been shown to hibernate through
the colder months.
Do Bears Hibernate?
A common question and debate in the animal world is this: Do bears actually hibernate?
Regretfully, the answer isn’t that simple.
As it turns out, bears will go into a sleep like state for the duration of the winter,
if necessary, but it isn’t considered a true hibernation.
What bears do is something called torpor.
Just like hibernation, torpor is a survival strategy that is used triggered by colder
temperatures or lack of food in an environment.
The animal will still have a lowered heart rate, body temperature, and metabolism.
While hibernation is voluntary, torpor is not.
It is a sleep influenced by their environment to save energy.
Torpor can last for shorter periods of time if necessary, and bears are more likely to
wake up than an animal that is hibernating.
Bears can wake up for a number of reasons.
If their den floods or has an intruder, they may wake up for their safety.
If there is a food source nearby, bears are even know to come out of their dens in the
winter and eat.
Additionally, female bears will go into torpor pregnant, and will need to wake up when their
new cubs are born and to nurse them.
Although possible to wake up, this means a bears metabolism will go back to an active
level, and likely use up an increased amount stored energy.
Because of this, bears will stay asleep unless absolutely necessary to wake up.
Some bears have even been recorded sleeping in torpor for over 100 days.
Staying Awake All Winter
If the conditions are right for a bear, they may not even need to go into any sort of hibernation
all winter.
For example, it is not uncommon for male (or non pregnant female) polar bears to stay out
of hibernation for the winter.
They are so accustomed for the harsh weather that it is sometimes more suited for their
survival if they stay awake.
Other bears, too, will stay away if there is enough food in the area to keep them healthy
in the cold.
If fed year round, captive bears in the zoo will not hibernate.
This can keep the bear exhibit open year round, without having to close the enclosure due
to hibernation.
But This has shown to make some bears overweight, since they are used a decrease in food throughout
the winter.
So to keep the bears healthy, many zoos still cut back on feeding during the winter to keep
bears at an optimal weight and health.
Hibernation or torpor,, no matter what you call it, bears have adapted to everything
that mother nature can throw at them though a brutal winter.
This light hibernation is one of many survival strategies that makes bears an apex predator.
If you learn anything from this video, let it be that bears can be awake at any time
of the year, so it’s best to stay clear of any potential dens until you know they’re
empty.
Make sure to like and subscribe for more videos and to learn about why animals do the things
that they do.