Black Bear Behaviour:  Black Bears In Action

Why Hibernate?      Home Range      Feeding Habits      Daily Patterns     Social Behaviour

Source: Bear Aware 

 Why Do Black Bears Hibernate?  

•   Hibernation is an important survival strategy for Black Bears 

  • Black bears are considered highly efficient hibernators

•  When? 

  • Their main food supply in BC includes green vegetation, berries, salmon, and insects: 

    • Most of this is not available in the winter 

    • So, when the cold weather arrives, bears start to become tired (increasingly lethargic) and enter their dens 

  • In the Fall (September to November) 

    • The bears start to feel their tummies grumble 

    • Bears have an incredible urge to stuff their faces with any yummy food they can get their paws on 

    • The drive for food makes bears eat as much as they can so they will have enough fat to last while they sleep in their dens 

  • In the Winter (December to March) 

    • When it's too cold and miserable for them to be out and about searching for food 

    • They sort of hibernate, but can easily be awakened 

On Vancouver Island and in Coastal BC 

•  Black bears are awake longer than the bears on the Mainland 

  • This is because the coastal climate isn't as cold and there isn't as much snow as in the interior of BC 

  • Because of the reduced winter and snow load, bears are able to find food like roots, insects and even fish for longer periods of time

Source: Bear Aware

Where? In coastal regions most dens are in or under large trees, snags, logs, or stumps  and may be up to 25 m above the ground:

• If big trees are not available, bears will often den in rock cavities, under brush piles, or in holes dug into the ground 

How Long?

Black bears sleep for three to five months on the south coast and longer (seven months) in the interior and the north:

• Females, particularly the pregnant ones, hibernate longer than males

Bears usually stay in dens between November and April, but will come out to stretch and look for food from time to time

February and March are usually the only months where the bears like to sleep and not wake up

These are the coldest, ugliest months of the year, when the rest of us want to go to Hawaii or Mexico anyway!

What Happens? Black Bears have a unique process for recycling metabolic wastes into nutrients:

• During hibernation their heart rate drops from about 50 beats per minute to around 10

• Oxygen intake decreases by half, and body temperature drops by about 3ºC

• In a most remarkable biochemical feat, hibernating Black Bears do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate

Black Bears may lose up to a quarter of their body weight during hibernation:

• They have only six months to build up a lot of fat so they eat a lot of food before and after hibernating 

Source: Bear Aware

When bears wake up, they are attracted to foods that are abundant and high in protein 
and energy: 

• They look for food that they can get with little energy expenditure 

•  Although this strategy helps them survive, it can also bring them into contact with human beings... but, more on that in the  "Awareness" section 

Source:  Bears In BC - Hinterland - BC Government

Read more at A Bear In Its Lair 

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