Are bears hibernating animals, and do bears want to hibernate?

Be. Lack of food is a major cause of hibernation in animals, and if food is sufficient, many bears do not hibernate and instead hunt all winter. But when there is not much food, the bear hides in the burrow for the winter.

Small mammals have a rapid drop in body temperature when they hibernat, but bears only have a body temperature of about 4 degrees and a 75% slower heart rate. Once the bear begins to hibernate, energy** is converted from diet to body fat stores.

Expand the knowledge: There are three main types of black bear hibernation holes, the first is the nest on the ground (hereinafter referred to as the crypt), this kind of hole is easy to find, but the protection function is very poor, and the tiger can go out freely. Brown bears mainly have this type of hibernation hole.

The second type is the tree hole, which is usually only accessible to black bears due to their poor tree-climbing skills, so it has the best protection. But if the hole is at the root of the tree, the tiger can also enter it.

The third type is the cave, in which black bears that hibernate in caves are also vulnerable to tiger catch, according to Kramtsov and Chivochenko (1981). The protective effect of the cave depends on the size of the entrance and the presence of a narrow inner chamber inside. If the entrance is small enough, the tiger can't get in.

Lack of food is the main reason for bear hibernation.

If food is sufficient, many bears do not hibernate and instead hunt all winter. But when there is not much food, the bear hides in the burrow for the winter. Small mammals have a rapid drop in body temperature when they hibernat, but bears only drop by about 4 degrees, but their heart rate slows down by 75%.

Once a bear begins to hibernate, its energy** is converted from diet to stored fat in the body.

Hibernating animals can be roughly divided into two categories, one is amphibians and reptiles. Amphibians and reptiles such as frogs, snakes, and turtles are ectotherms, and when the weather is cold, they cannot move and enter a state of hibernation.

The other group is mammals. Mammals are further divided into two types: bear and squirrel. Most hibernating animals use pre-stored fat (equivalent to 30%-40% of body weight) for energy during hibernation.

When the outside temperature drops, they lower their body temperature. Reducing the number of pulses and breaths saves energy, but the body temperature of bear-hibernating animals does not drop much, staying around 38°C or 30°C. Why is that?

It turns out that bears are huge, and it takes a long time for their body temperature to rise up after it drops. In addition, bears have a "trick" that doesn't have to be so energy-efficient. That is, the rock state, which never excretes during hibernation.

If urine is excreted, nitrogen compounds are excreted from the body, and instead of urinating, bears use the kidney wall to absorb them and reuse them as nutrients. Now some scientists have noticed this in bears"Trick", is exploring how it can be used to ** people with kidney disease.

So, do small mammals with squirrel animals also have this "trick"? Unfortunately they don't. Some of these animals need to dig holes in the ground to create a hole that can safely accommodate their bodies during hibernation, so they don't weigh much, up to 9 kilograms.

Animals such as bats have to "get up" from time to time to drain their feces and urine. But like bears, they store enough fat for energy first, so they don't eat or drink during hibernation. They are occasionally found storing food, but that is in case of famine when they wake up from hibernation too early in the spring.

However, animals such as voles are still inseparable from their food during hibernation. They wake up every 10 days during hibernation to excrete, then eat some food before going back to sleep. Their body temperature drops from 37°C-38°C to 8-10°C, and in some cases, even down.

What happens to these animals if the temperature is too low during hibernation? Generally, because their hibernation place is underground, it is difficult for the temperature to drop below 0 °C, but if the temperature of the hibernation place drops to about -10C, they will get up and shake the muscles of the body, so that the body produces heat, however, if they have to do so, it will be a good drain on the skin, so they are very cautious when choosing a hibernation place, and they must consider it in many ways, neither too cold nor too hot.

In fact, small mammals are more common to hibernate phenomenon, because the individual is small, the metabolic capacity is high, and more food is needed, and the winter skin ant sleeps with the locust key to reduce the metabolic rate of lead grip, mammals are mainly rodents, insectivores, and pterocods have hibernation habits, and large mammals only have bears, raccoons, and badgers have hibernation habits.

Moreover, the hibernation of bears also has periodic temperature changes, which belongs to shallow low temperature hibernation, and can wake up at any time, which is very dangerous.

Polar bears are hibernating animals.

Polar bears hibernate in the harsh winter when they go out much less and can go almost without food for a long time, at this time they seek shelter from the wind and lie on the ground to sleep, and their respiratory rate decreases and they enter partial hibernation.

Partial hibernation, on the one hand, refers to the fact that they are not hibernate by animals such as snakes, but rather sleepy, and can wake up immediately in case of emergency. Also, polar bears just don't eat or drink for a longer period of time, not the entire winter.

Polar Bear Habits:

Polar bear cubs are born with the mother bear and gather into a harmonious group in places where food is abundant or when waiting for the sea to freeze, and at this time the unrelated adults will show a high degree of social behavior in frolicking and fighting, and the polar bear is extremely athletic and is the top layer of all carnivores in the Arctic.

Its endurance in the water is extremely strong, according to monitoring records, a polar bear can swim hundreds of kilometers in the sea, polar bears belong to seasonal breeding, mating from March to June, winter from November to late January of the following year to give birth, each litter gives birth to 1-3, cubs are weaned after two years, and after weaning, they will leave to live alone after a period of time with the date bear.

Reach maturity after the third year, but the breeding period is generally 4-6 years old, and polar bear cubs have a high mortality rate due to the amount of food, most of them die without food, and the mortality rate is very low after adulthood.