Brown bear

A REAL SLEEPYHEAD

When spring comes, the brown bear slowly wakes up from its winter sleep. When it pokes its snout out of the den opening in March or April, it may have been up to six months since it was last out in the fresh air.

The brown bear's winter sleep is not a true hibernation, but rather a form of deep sleep. The bear can lower its body temperature, its metabolism drops by around 70%, and its heart rate can drop as low as 10 beats per minute.

During the winter sleep period, food intake is not necessary, as the brown bear can slowly consume the fat deposits it has built up during the summer months. For the same reason, only minimal amounts of waste are produced, and the brown bear can therefore sleep for up to seven months without having to get rid of urine or feces.

The brown bear is a loner and mostly lives alone, with the exception of female bears with small cubs. The density of brown bears in an area depends largely on the availability of food. In areas with limited access to food, brown bears have large territories, while in areas with abundant food, the territories are smaller. Adult bears usually only seek each other out during the mating season.

Mating takes place shortly after the end of hibernation in the warm months of spring. The female bear has a special reproductive mechanism, known as delayed implantation or prolonged gestation. This means that the fertilized eggs do not implant in the uterus until autumn, when the next hibernation period begins. The cubs therefore only begin their development when the female bear goes into hibernation.

The female typically gives birth to between one and four cubs, weighing around 0.5 kg. The cubs spend the first months of their lives with the mother in the den, where they exclusively suckle. During this period, the female bear can lose up to a third of her body weight, and good fat reserves are therefore essential.