Grizzly Bears are seasonally active, awake for part of the year and asleep for part of the year. To conserve energy, they hibernate during the winter months. They put on massive amounts of weight before retreating into winter dens where they live off of stored fat. While hibernating, a Grizzly Bear’s body temperature drops by a few degrees, its heart rate slows, and the bear does not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate. As spring returns, the bears’ activity increases slowly.
Read updates below on Grizzly sisters Nova and Nita coming out of hibernation after months of rest.
UPDATE #3 – April 24th:
After months of rest during hibernation, grizzly sister Nova and Nita are beginning to go out on exhibit. The seasonal adjustment is slow, so they are still spending some time in their dens each day.
UPDATE #2 – April 3rd:
As the days grow warmer, we grow closer to grizzles Nova & Nita waking fully from hibernation. Their activity levels have increased from 2 hours a few weeks ago, to currently around 5 hours per day. We are still providing them with a quiet, undisturbed environment behind the scenes.
UPDATE #1 – March 13th:
The grizzlies have been hibernating behind the scenes for several months. As spring slowly arrives, we start to see their activity and appetites increase – especially on particularly warm days. The girls are still spending most of their time resting, but they’ve gone from less than an hour of activity a day to up to two hours of action.
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