A Good Winter’s Rest: Hibernation of Brown Bears as a Sign of Their Well-Being

How former dancing bear Dana and other bears prepared for the cold winter months at the FOUR PAWS sanctuaries

Unbothered by the cold temperatures, former dancing bear Dana and other brown bears at the sanctuaries and cooperation projects of global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS, are still enjoying a good winter’s rest. After being busy preparing their winter dens and building up a thick layer of fat at the end of last year, many bears have been hibernating since and only occasionally wake up to enjoy a quick treat or have a look around their enclosures. Most bears have relearned this natural behaviour since arriving at the sanctuaries, despite their often traumatic past in private keeping. Being exposed to continuous stress and big crowds of visitors in their prior keeping did not allow bears to hibernate and rest.

“Unlike other animals like hedgehogs, who sleep deeply during the winter, brown bears go into a lighter form of hibernation. In fact, if disturbed, they can become quickly mobile and reactive. Our caretakers provide the bears with everything needed to allow them to hibernate, including dens and seasonally adapted diet. Moreover, they track the bears’ individual hibernation patterns and preferences to adjust the care to the bears’ needs,”

Elena Stagni, Animal Behaviour and Welfare Specialist at FOUR PAWS

Former dancing bear Dana made herself comfortable in her new retreat

Though bears are unaffected by minus temperatures or snow, some bears are very invested in the task of building their own dens and take their time to dig and fill them with straw and other materials. Others, who do not know yet how to prepare a den or do not like digging it themselves, prefer retreats prepared by their caretakers.

31-year-old Dana is a former dancing bear from Bulgaria, who arrived in BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa in Bulgaria over twenty years ago in 2003. Given her age, she is one of the oldest brown bears in the sanctuary but still very invested in preparing her den. This winter, her caretakers built her a den which they then covered with branches: “While Dana curiously explored the den and approved it by sitting inside, it seems like it wasn’t cushioned well enough for her, as we spotted her adding more straw inside,“ says Gergana Basina, Chief Animal Caretaker at BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa.

Former restaurant bear Dasha from Müritz took some early test naps in November

19-year-old Dasha from BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz in Germany did not wait long to start attempting to hibernate and was already spotted resting in front of her barrel den in early November. The brown bear and her sister Lelya were locked up in tiny cages and kept as tourist attractions in a hotel-restaurant complex in Ukraine, until they were rescued and transported to BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr in Ukraine in 2019. As they required further specialised care, the sisters were moved to Müritz in April 2023. “We are glad to see that Dasha and Lelya feel comfortable in their new forever home. Though we prepared a barrel den for Dasha, it was amusing to see that she preferred taking naps in front of it at first, before going inside,” comments Thomas Beer, Chief Animal Caretaker at BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz in Germany.

High levels of stress in improper private keeping can stop bears from hibernating

The majority of brown bears living at the FOUR PAWS sanctuaries and cooperation projects share a story similar to Dasha in BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz and Dana in BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa and come from improper private keeping and circuses, where they were exposed to high levels of stress, abuse and had no spaces to withdraw to hibernate.

Given those previous hardships, some rescued bears were only able to hibernate for the first time in their lives after arriving in the sanctuaries. “Sometimes we can see that bears learn hibernation practices from other bears living next to them at the sanctuaries. Once they saw other bears digging their winter dens, they curiously started imitating the activity and preparing their own,” says Albana Hoti, Head of Animal & Facility Management at BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina in Kosovo.

Hibernation – an essential part of a bear’s year

In the wilderness, brown bears retreat into small stone caves or dens to hibernate, which they dig out and fill with straw, branches and other materials. They normally start hibernating between October and December, which then can last up to six months. To save energy during this resting period, the animals lower their heart rate, slow down their breathing and hardly move.

As they can lose up to 40% of their body weight in this process, a thick layer of fat protects them from not losing any muscle mass or ending their hibernation in late spring weakened. Experienced caretakers at the FOUR PAWS sanctuaries and cooperation projects help the bears gain this protective layer by increasing the quantity of nutrient-rich foods like nuts, berries and seeds from September onwards.

FOUR PAWS bear sanctuaries and cooperation projects: Species-appropriate homes for traumatised bears

FOUR PAWS bear sanctuaries and cooperation projects across the world are home to over 80 brown bears and over 40 Asiatic black bears rescued from cruel private keeping, circuses, bile bear farms and other facilities, where they were exploited, abused, locked up in tiny cages and kept in inappropriate conditions. Experienced caretakers and veterinarians help the bears recover from their previous trauma, conduct regular in-depth veterinary checks and allow the animals to live a species-appropriate life with daily enrichments and a diet tailored to their specific needs.

Source: FOUR PAWS

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