Do black bears hibernate

Do Black Bears Hibernate ? When people defined hibernation simply in terms of temperature reduction, bears were not considered hibernators. It is a common misconception that bears hibernate during the winter. While bears tend to slow down during the winter, they are not true hibernators. They will hibernate through the long cold winter and their calm and cute posture have caused many people to fall in love with them.

Bears hibernate in order to survive the winter without food.

S including Alaska, Canada and Mexico. There are over 300black bears in the U. Black bears are the most common bear in the U. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. American black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. Bears are land mammals which can reach between 1. This is because the diversity of species is great. The smallest bear species is the sun bear which can weigh around to 1lbs, but some larger bears can reach over 0lbs.

These physical characteristics make it one of the largest land animals on the planet.

Grizzly bears hibernate for 5–months each year. When it comes to bears , one of the biggest sources of mystery and fascination is the annual hibernation. Although adult bears do indeed hibernate every winter, young cubs bypass this natural survival mechanism. An abundant food supply may cause a later hibernation date but a bad food year will not cause a early hibernation date.

Bears will hibernate in excavated dens, under trees, in rock caves or in hollowed-out trees and often will rake leaves, twigs and other plant material into dens as bedding. Bears choose a denning site with the coming of cold weather. Dens are usually hollow stumps, tree cavities, or wherever there is shelter.

Bears in the Smokies are unusual in that they often den high above the ground in standing hollow trees. Bears do not truly hibernate , but enter long periods of sleep. They do go through periods where they are lethargic and sleep a lot, but they’re asleep, not comatose, and they wake up frequently. Bears in Florida have shorter periods of lethargy than more northern bears, and some don’t slow down.

Instea they experience what is often called denning, ursid hibernation or carnivore lethargy. This period of reduced activity occurs in all black bear populations. Winter lethargy is brought on by many factors, including reproductive status, food availability, amount of daylight. Black and grizzly bears , unlike polar bears , are true hibernators.

They just enter into a specialized winter dormancy. Polar bears probably do not hibernate in a way they do. In general, black bears are strongly associated with forest cover, but they do occasionally use relatively open country, such as clearcuts and the fringes of other open habitat.

BC boasts one of the highest populations of black bears in the world with their numbers being somewhere between 1and 1thousand animals.

Bears technically enter a state of torpor. Torpor is different from hibernation as they do not lower their body temperature to match the outside temperatures. This allows them to wake up quicker in the event of danger.

Whether or not bears hibernate is a complicated question, so I wanted to find out the correct answer for you. As winter weather rolls in, black bears are bedding down for hibernation. Rick Stronks, the chief naturalist at Algonquin Provincial Park, shares some interesting facts about these seasonal deep sleepers: 1. Besides their infamous appetite, Great Smoky Mountain National park bears are also known for their ability to hibernate during the winter months.