Indian summer preventing bears from hibernating

BURSA - Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

Seventy-five bears that are being cared for at the Ovakorusu Celal Acar Wild Animals Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa’s Karacabey district, will finally go into hibernation when the current unseasonably dry and warm weather in the area ends. According meteorological forecasts, the Indian summer is set to end on Nov. 15.

The center releases animals back into their living spaces after treating them, and is the only such center in Turkey for wild animals that have been illegally brought to Turkey or discovered in need.

On an area of nearly 300,000 square meters, 10 vervets (green monkeys), six long-legged buzzards, a rhesus monkey, a boar, a wolf and a golden eagle are being treated and cared for at the center, as well as 75 bears, three of which are cubs.

Animals that recover enough to live in nature after the rehabilitation process are released by the center back to the places where they are found, but those that are not healthy enough to live in nature are sent to licensed zoos.

The hibernation process of bears in the center starts on Nov. 3 and ends on Nov. 15. However, because of the current Indian summer the beginning of this process has been delayed this year.

The bears are fed by officials with special foods such as pears, carrots, apples, and raisin and honey bread. Until the start of hibernation, the bears spend their days strolling around the forested area, swimming in the pool and playing with each other.