‘Spunky’ grizzly bear sisters begin to wake from ‘long winter’s nap.’ Watch them stir
A pair of bear sisters are starting to stir from slumber at a Maryland zoo, a video shows.
Nova and Nita, grizzly bear sisters at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, have been in hibernation for several months. But now, the duo’s lengthy hibernation will be coming to an end with the start of spring, a March 4 video from the zoo shows.
“Grizzly sisters Nova and Nita are beginning to stir from their long winter’s nap,” the zoo said in its post.
The sisters entered into their den for hibernation — or “sleepy sister snuggles” — in November, according to the zoo’s video that month.
“In case you missed it, grizzly bears Nova & Nita have moved inside for the winter where they’ll be snoring the season away,” the zoo said.
Nova and Nita came to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore in 2017 as cubs after losing their mother in the Montana wilderness the year before, according to the zoo’s post from July 2023. They were found “foraging for themselves,” but one of the cubs appeared to be much smaller than the other, the zoo said.
After a biologist captured the sisters, a veterinarian discovered one of them had been shot, according to the zoo. The gunshot wound wasn’t severe, and after antibiotic treatment, the cub healed.
The pair spent some time at the Montana Wildlife Center in Helena for rehabilitation and preparation to be released back into the wild, the zoo said. But several weeks after the cubs were taken in, their mother was found with “severe shotgun wounds to her face,” which resulted in her euthanization, according to the zoo.
Because the cubs were too young to be back into the wild on their own, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks connected with the Maryland zoo to give them a “permanent home,” the zoo said.
Since coming to the zoo in Maryland, Nova and Nita have underwent several hibernation periods. During those times, the bears remained “behind the scenes” and out-of-sight for visitors, according to the zoo.
When the “spunky sisters” aren’t hibernating, they enjoy playing around in their habitat. A “favorite pastime” for Nova and Nita is wrestling, where they enjoy “showing off their strength and natural abilities,” the zoo said.
Why do bears go into hibernation?
Bears hibernate as a result of an evolutionary adaption to survive winter, when food supply and temperatures are low, according to the National Park Service. The length of hibernation for bears can vary across the world — ranging from a few weeks for bears in Mexico to about five months for those hibernating at Yellowstone National Park.
During the fall months, bears go through a process called hyperphagia, which is when they put on a lot of weight to prepare for their hibernation, the agency said.
Bears are considered by some scientists to be “super hibernators” because they lose less body heat than other hibernating animals, such as squirrels and chipmunks, the National Park Service said.
Animals with lower body temperatures have to wake up more frequently during hibernation, whereas bears “generally do not eat, drink, defecate, or urinate during hibernation,” the agency said.
Grizzly bears go into a “mild form of hibernation” called torpor, according to the Grizzly Bear Foundation. During torpor, grizzly bears can wake up and move around, contrary to popular belief that bears sleep during their entire hibernation, according to the organization.
This story was originally published March 5, 2024 at 1:55 PM with the headline "‘Spunky’ grizzly bear sisters begin to wake from ‘long winter’s nap.’ Watch them stir."
