Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 08:59
Forums
Polar Bear Response to Sea Ice Loss

Hello Christina, I am Misty from New Start Middle School in Flagstaff, Arizona. Do polar bears hibernate? If yes, where do they hibernate and for how long? If not, what do they do all year? Thank you for your time.

                                                                           Sincerely,



                                                                                      Misty
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 09:30

Cristina Galvan

Hi Misty,What a great question - this is one of the main focus questions of the
project around polar bear hibernation.
Pregnant females do hibernate. They create a snow den and hibernate for
the months of October to March when they come out of the den with their
young.
However, other bears do not do a traditional hibernation where they go
into a den for the winter months. One of the questions that the
research team is looking at is if the bears do a "walking hibernation"
during times when food is hard to find. They are looking to see if the
polar bears lower their body temperatures and activity rates when it is
hard to find food.
Polar bears spend most of their time walking around the sea ice (or
swimming) in search of food. They can travel great distances across the
ice.
Thanks!
Ms Galvan