It might seem like a nuisance to lock up or freeze smelly food waste and suspend bird feeders from high wires to discourage bears from hanging around but the natural condition known as hibernation is a fascinating stage of life that could hold promise for improving many human health conditions.
Medical researchers are studying black bear hibernation to find out why these animals can virtually stop many of their bodily functions without showing any signs of ill-health upon awakening. For five months, bears don't eat, drink, defecate or urinate, have no nutrition or waste disposal, and yet their bones don't deteriorate, they continue to develop lean muscle mass and their bodies show no build-up of urea, a toxic waste product that is normally eliminated by the kidneys.
Studies of bear hibernation could provide hope for people with kidney disease, gallstones, obesity, anorexia nervosa, and other problems, and even aid in human space travel.
Hibernation is fascinating for other reasons. Impregnated female bears give birth to cubs during hibernation in January or February and retain enough brain function to care for their cubs and react to danger.
This is the time of year when bears go into a state called hyperphagia, a stage of excessive eating, and they will drink several gallons of water and consume between 15,000 and 20,000 calories of food if it's available, according to the North American Bear Centre website.
Females have an even more powerful incentive to chow down. If impregnated females don't get enough food, they won't bear cubs. In a process called delayed implantation, the embryo dissolves if the female hasn't consumed enough calories to sustain birth and lactation. It helps to control bear population in lean times and ensures the survival of cubs and female bears through winter.
dstrandberg@tricitynews.com
