Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Brown bears are not obligatory hibernators, but when temperatures drop and food is scarce in nature, they go into a deep resting state during winter - slowing their metabolism, retreating into dens, and conserving energy until spring.

Before being rescued by FOUR PAWS bears often suffered in private keeping and most never had that chance to hibernate.

In captivity, the conditions are often completely inappropriate:

🚫 No soft ground to dig a den.
🚫 No bedding material
🚫 Constant noise and human disturbance.
🚫 Poor and/or incorrect feeding, leaving them without enough body fat to enter hibernation.

The natural triggers for hibernation are factors like temperature and snowfall. ❄️

So even if the management is poor, a bear living outdoors during a cold winter will still feel its body respond - but without the right conditions, it simply can’t enter hibernation. 🐻💤

Being kept in an environment or management that prevents the expression of this behaviour deeply wired into their biology and without providing them with a choice is a welfare concern in itself.

At our FOUR PAWS sanctuaries, everything changes. 🌿 Bears finally have the freedom and resources to choose - to dig dens, collect bedding, and rest when the cold sets in.

Almost all of our rescued bears now hibernate each winter. Some even experience their first winter sleep in decades. Others take time to rebuild trust in their surroundings before they’re ready to rest.

When a rescued bear hibernates for the first time, it’s more than instinct — it’s a sign of safety, healing, and peace.

💛 Because every bear deserves this.

#BrownBear #Hibernation #FOURPAWSSanctuaries

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