Bear cubs in winter den

Photo: Peep Männil
 Translation: Liis
A proper bear den looks like this, but there are few of them (photographed in spring)
 
Brown bear      Pruunkaru       Ursus arctos
 
Halfway into January more than sixty female bears had cubs in their winter dens, and the cubs may be from one to four – most often however two or three. The weight at birth of the sparsely fur-covered, toothless and blind bear cubs is about three hundred grams and in the winter den they manage very well together with the slumbering female bear. The fat content of bear milk is more than 10%. The mother must feed the growing cubs out of her fat reserves from the previous year for almost four months, without going out from the den, a small miracle in itself. The milk teeth of the bear cubs appear at seven weeks of age, thus in the beginning of March and depending on the spring they start discovering the world guided by the bear mother in April.
 

During the winter hibernation the organism of the bear only feeds on the stored fat reserves. During that time the bear doesn’t eat or drink, excrete or urinate. Scientists have shown the presence of a hibernation hormone (Hibernation Induction Trigger – HIT) in the blood of hibernating bears that prevents the muscles of the big animal from atrophy during the half year of lying.



 

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