Bear at Turkish zoo digs den to hibernate

BURSA – Anadolu Agency

The bear started digging the earth at zoo to make a place for hibernation.

Measures are being taken at zoos around Turkey to help them spend a comfortable winter despite the fall in temperatures, but some animals have insisted on following instinct rather than waiting for humans.

A bear family at the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Zoo, including a 17-year-old female and two 14-year-old males, have begun preparing for the winter, with one digging a den for hibernation just like in its natural habitat.

The other two have begun spending the winter months in their closed shelters.

The bear started digging the earth early in the morning in the upper part of the shelter and packed down the soil to make a bed to hibernate. Bears go into hibernation in the wild and slow down their metabolism enough to survive until the mid of March.

Zoo officials said that last year the other two bears had spent the winter in the shelter and that the same bear had dug a den in another place. “We leave food around the den, and the bear periodically goes out and return to the den after eating the food,” an official said.