A 2019 tweet from Colorado Parks and Wildlife warning that black bear hibernation is significantly altered when human foods are made available. Threats or alarms may also be reason for a black bear to stir about during their long rest, and even a brief meander out of their dens is not unheard of. For example, pregnant bears break torpor to give birth to their cubs, and later to nurse and tend to them. For this reason, some biologists argue that bears are not true hibernators, as they can be easily awoken. However, bears can awaken at any point during the winter months, and many researchers argue that they must do so to avoid sleep deprivation. Many of us might think that bears sleep continuously without arousal for months. Furthermore, food, water, and therefore, waste elimination, are nearly completely halted for up to 200 days, until they reenter the world in March or April. To cope with months of hunger, bears are programmed to conserve energy by entering a state of extremely limited activity and notable physiological transformation, called torpor.Īccording to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, during hibernation a black bear’s metabolism and heart rate reduces by up to 50-60%, they lose 20-30% of their body weight, and their body temperature drops by around 12☏. While winter temperatures in Colorado are often harsh, bears do not hibernate because they are cold, but because their food supply is drastically reduced. In late October to mid-November, black bears begin to settle into their winter homes, AKA their hibernacula (dens, caves, or hollowed out trees filled with insulating leaves). During hibernation, mama bears wake from torpor to birth, feed, and tend to their cubs. What happens during hibernation? Black bear cubs during active months (spring-fall). How and why do bears hibernate? How can humans support them in doing so? How might climate change impact black bears? Did humans ever hibernate? Their impressive winter behavior brings up many questions for us non-hibernators: Inactive for nearly half of the year, bears are some of the most iconic species to hibernate in North America. Our high-altitude neighbor, the black bear, takes this notion to the extreme. CP&W photoĪs we endure months of piled-up snow and below-freezing nights, many of us naturally adopt a slower pace and richer diet during the winter. This massive caloric intake is similar in quantity to eating 30 Burger King Whoppers a day.
Black bears need to eat around 20,000 calories a day in the months leading up to hibernation.
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