Ever been told you're a bear when you wake up?
By Katie Boer KPIC NewsWINSTON, Ore. -- Nobody wants to be woken up during a winter nap, but for some carnivores at the Wildlife Safari, they just 'grin and bear' it. MultimediaCarnivore Supervisor Sarah Roy said, "It's more like a very deep sleep stage that they go through the winter months, where they lower their heart rate, they stop eating and drinking, they form basically a plug in their digestive tract until the spring and just go into a very deep sleep."
"They bulk up and build up for the hibernation period and their body survives off that extra fat and weight they've put on, and they'll burn a hundred or two hundred pounds just sleeping through the hibernation period," said Roy. During the inclimate weather, bears actually seek out shelters to protect them from the outside weather elements and help gear them up for the hibernation process. The staff keeps a close watch on the bears. If they wake up or become active, their food supply isn't completely cut off. Roy said, "They can still wake up. We go in every 48 hours to check our hibernating brown bears and the huts, and they'll kinda sit up groggy eyed. But, within minutes of us leaving they're back asleep. It doesn't really affect their overall hibernation process." |
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February 9, 2012
- Roseburg, Oregon
She says the extra snooze is a necessity. During winter months, bears hibernate due to their diet, as their food resources become scarce
