Polar Bear: broadcast from the zoo - Video online. Emaciated bears in a zoo beg for food Appearance and morphology

Terrible brown bears are the majestic guardians of the forests. This beautiful animal is considered a symbol of Russia, although its numerous habitats can be found in all corners of our planet. Since the brown bear is endangered complete disappearance, it is listed in the Red Book. Basically, this animal lives in Russia, the USA and Canada. Not a large number of bears survived in Europe and Asia. The lifestyle of this important "master of the taiga" is very interesting. How long does a brown bear live? What weight can it reach? Most Interesting Facts we will tell about the life of the brown clubfoot in this article. Brown bear: appearance description This animal is very strong. The powerful body is covered with thick hair, and the withers stand out clearly on the back. It has accumulated a large number of muscles that allow the bear to inflict crushing blows with its paws, cut down trees or dig the ground. His head is very large, with small ears and small, deep-set eyes. The tail of bears is short - about 2 cm, barely noticeable under a layer of wool. The paws are very strong, with large curved claws reaching a length of 10 cm. When walking, the bear evenly transfers the weight of the body to the entire sole, like a person, and therefore it belongs to the species of plantigrade animals. The coat of the famous "master of the taiga" is very beautiful - thick, evenly colored. Brown bears have a tendency to molt - in spring and autumn they renew their fur coat. The first change of coat occurs immediately after hibernation and is very intense. Its manifestations are especially noticeable during the rut. Autumn molt proceeds slowly and continues until hibernation. How long does a brown bear live? The life expectancy of a clubfoot depends on its habitat. In the wild, a brown bear can reach an age of 20 to 35 years. If the animal is kept in a zoo, this figure almost doubles. In captivity, a bear can live up to 50 years. The onset of puberty occurs between the ages of 6 and 11 years. Dimensions and weight of the animal The standard length of the torso of a clubfoot predator ranges from one to two meters. Most big bears live in Alaska, Kamchatka and Far East. These are grizzlies, true giants, whose growth when standing on their hind legs reaches three meters. Maximum weight bear (brown) can be 600 kg. These are real heavyweight giants. Average weight an adult male is at the level of 140-400 kg, and the weight of a female is 90-210 kg. The largest male was found on Kodiak Island. His body weight was enormous - 1134 kg. However, animals living in middle lane Russia, weigh much less - about 100 kg. By autumn, this animal accumulates a large fat reserve for the upcoming hibernation, and therefore the weight of the bear (brown) increases by 20%. Habitats Bears mostly live in dense forest areas, in swampy areas. Often they can be seen in the tundra or alpine forests. In Russia, this animal occupies remote northern regions. Brown bears are very common in Siberia. The calm forests of the taiga allow clubfoot to feel spacious and free, and nothing prevents their existence here. In the USA, bears live mainly in open areas - on the coasts, alpine meadows. In Europe, they mainly live in dense mountain forests. In Asia, you can also find populations brown bear. Their range covers small areas of Palestine, Iran, northern China and Japanese island Hokkaido. What do bears eat? Omnivorousness and endurance are the main qualities that help the beast survive in difficult conditions. In the diet of a brown bear, 75% is plant food. The clubfoot can eat tubers, nuts, berries, grass stalks, roots, and acorns. If this is not enough, the bear can go to the crops of oats or corn, feed in cedar forests. Large individuals have remarkable strength and prey on small young animals. With just one blow of a huge paw, a bear can break the spine of an elk or deer. He hunts roe deer, wild boars, fallow deer, mountain goats. Without problems, brown bears can eat rodents, larvae, ants, frogs, worms and lizards. Skillful fishermen and camouflage bears often feed on carrion. The clubfoot skillfully covers the found remains of animals with brushwood and tries to stay nearby until it completely eats its “find”. If the bear has eaten recently, it may wait a few days. After a while, the meat of the killed animal will become softer, and he will eat it with pleasure. The most amazing occupation of bears is catching fish. They go to the Far Eastern spawning rivers, where salmon massively accumulate. Especially often she-bears with their offspring hunt here. The mother skillfully catches the salmon and takes it to her cubs. At the same time, up to 30 bears can be seen on the river, which often fight for prey. Behavior The bear has a very developed sense of smell. He clearly feels the smell of decomposed meat, even being at a distance of 3 km from him. His hearing is also very well developed. Sometimes the bear stands up on its hind legs to listen for a sound or feel the direction of the smell of food. How does a bear behave in nature? The brown "master of the taiga" begins to bypass his possessions at dusk or early in the morning. In bad weather or during rainy periods, he can wander through the forest all day long in search of food. Speed ​​and agility are the distinguishing qualities of the beast At first glance, this huge animal seems very clumsy and slow. But it's not. The big brown bear is very agile and easy to move around. In pursuit of the victim, he can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h. The bear is also an excellent swimmer. He can easily overcome a distance of 6-10 km on water and bathes in hot weather with pleasure. summer days. Young bears nimbly climb trees. With age, this ability becomes a little dull, but does not disappear. However deep snow is for them ordeal, since the bear moves along it with great difficulty. Breeding period Recovering strength after long sleep, brown bears are ready to mate. The rut begins in the spring, in May, and lasts about a month. Females announce their readiness for mating with a special secret that has strong smell. According to these marks, males find their chosen ones and protect them from rivals. Sometimes fierce battles arise between two bears for a female, in which the fate, and sometimes the life of one of them, is decided. In the event of the death of one of the males, the winner can even eat it. AT mating season bears are very dangerous. They make a wild roar and can attack a person. Reproduction Exactly after 6-8 months, cubs are born in the den. Usually the female brings 2-4 cubs, completely bald, with underdeveloped organs of hearing and vision. However, after a month, the cubs' eyes open, and the ability to pick up sounds appears. Immediately after birth, the cubs weigh about 500 g, and their length reaches 25 cm. By 3 months, all the milk teeth erupt in the cubs. Babies feed on their mother's milk for the first 6 months of their lives. Then berries, insects, greens are added to their diet. Later, the mother brings them fish or her prey. For about 2 years, babies live with their mother, learn habits, the subtleties of hunting, and hibernate with her. The independent life of a young bear begins at the age of 3-4 years. The father bear never takes part in the upbringing of the offspring. Lifestyle The brown bear is a fickle animal. In one place he eats, in another he sleeps, and for mating he can move away from his usual habitat for several kilometers. The young bear roams the area until he starts a family. The brown master marks his possessions. He alone can hunt here. He marks the borders in a special way, tearing the bark from the trees. In areas without plantings, a bear can peel off objects that are in its field of vision - stones, slopes. In summer, he can rest carelessly in open glades, lying down directly on the ground. The main thing is that this place is secluded and safe for the bear. Why a rod? Before hibernation, the bear must gain the required amount of fat reserves. If it is not enough, the animal has to wander further in search of food. From this came the name - connecting rod. Moving in the cold season, the bear is doomed to death from frost, hunger or a hunter's gun. However, in winter you can meet not only connecting rod. Often a bear's sleep can simply be disturbed by humans. Then this well-fed beast is forced to seek a new shelter in order to again plunge into hibernation. Finding a lair The bear chooses this winter haven with particular care. Reliable people are chosen for lairs quiet places located on the borders of swamps, in windbreaks, on the banks of rivers, in secluded caves. The shelter should be dry, warm, spacious and safe. The bear equips its den with moss, laying out a soft bedding from it. The shelter is masked and insulated with tree branches. Very often a bear has been using a good den for several years. The life of brown bears is to search for food, especially before hibernation. Before falling asleep, the beast diligently confuses its tracks: it walks through the swamps, winds and even steps backwards. Quiet and peaceful rest Bears sleep in a cozy den throughout the long frosty winter. Old males leave their shelter before anyone else. The she-bear with her offspring stays in the den longer than the others. Hibernation of brown bears lasts 5-6 months. It usually starts in October and ends in April. Bears do not go into deep sleep. They remain sensitive and vital, they are easily disturbed. The body temperature of a bear during sleep is in the range of 29-34 degrees. During hibernation, little energy is consumed, and the clubfoot has enough of its fat reserve, acquired in active time. During the period winter holiday the bear loses about 80 kg of its weight. Features of wintering All winter the bear sleeps on its side, comfortably curled up. Less common are postures on the back or sitting, with the head down. Breathing and heart rate slow down during sleep. Surprisingly, this animal does not defecate during winter sleep. All waste products in the body of a bear are re-processed and converted into valuable proteins necessary for its existence. The rectum is closed by a dense cork, consisting of needles, compressed grass and wool. It is removed after the animal leaves the den. Does the bear suck its paw? Many people naively believe that during hibernation, the clubfoot extracts valuable vitamins from their limbs. But it's not. The fact is that in January there is a renewal of the skin on the paw pads of a bear. Old dry skin bursts and gives him severe discomfort. To somehow moderate this itching, the bear licks its paw, moisturizing and softening it with its saliva. Dangerous and strong animal The bear is first of all a predator, powerful and terrible. A chance meeting with this angry beast will not bring anything good. Spring rut, winter search for a new shelter - during these periods, the brown bear is most dangerous. Descriptions or photographs of animals that live in nurseries and are friendly to people should not deceive you - they grew up there in completely different conditions. In nature, a seemingly calm beast can be cruel and easily blow your head off. Especially if you wandered into his territory. Females with offspring should also be avoided. The mother is driven by instincts and aggression, so it is better not to get in her way. Of course, the behavior of a clubfoot depends on the situation and time of year. Often the bears themselves run away when they see a person in the distance. But do not think that since this beast can eat berries and honey, this is his favorite food. The best nutrition for a bear, it is meat, and he will never miss an opportunity to get it. Why clubfoot? This nickname has firmly stuck to the bear. And all from the fact that when walking, he steps alternately on the right and left paws. Therefore, from the side it seems that the bear is clubfoot. But this slowness and clumsiness is deceptive. In the event of a dangerous situation, this beast instantly gallops and easily overtakes a person. The peculiarity of the structure of the front and hind legs allows him to show unprecedented agility when climbing uphill. He conquers peaks much faster than he descends from them. It took more than one millennium to form such a complex system of habitat and life of this amazing animal. As a result, brown bears have gained the ability to survive in areas where severe climatic conditions. Nature is amazing, and one can only admire her wisdom and immutable laws that put everything in its place.

More than half of the collection of polar bears in Russian zoos are animals that came from nature. The other half are the offspring of pairs of polar bears, formed in zoos from wild individuals and (or) already born from them in captivity.

AT wild nature on different reasons, including, naturally, the cubs are left unattended by their mother and, unfortunately, their continued existence in the tundra is under threat.
According to experts, 10-15 bear cubs die every year when they leave their natural habitats. But not all cubs are waiting for such a sad outcome.

At the end of September 2018, the Administration of the urban settlement of Dikson applied to the Office of Rosprirodnadzor Krasnoyarsk Territory and to the leadership of the Krasnoyarsk Park of Flora and Fauna "" with a request for assistance. AT locality appeared young polar bear. All measures to scare the animal did not bring the expected results. The bear cub returned to the village, ate in landfills, there were times when he spent the night under the houses (in the village of Dikson, almost all houses are built on piles due to permafrost).

Dikson is the northernmost settlement of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. There, beyond the Arctic Circle, courageous people have been living and working for many years. In addition to harsh living conditions, hurricane winds and frosts, every year the northerners have a chance to meet with a polar bear. Bears willingly visit places of residence and economic activity person. Some are drawn here by curiosity, others by hunger. Especially attract landfills with food waste, which, unfortunately, are located near polar stations, expedition bases, mines, settlements on the coast.

The bear cub from Dikson was probably left without a mother. The female polar bear takes care of her cubs for the first two years, teaching them how to get food, how to avoid danger, what to do in a snowstorm. They will no longer lie in a lair, but will all year round roam the expanses of the Arctic. Only in the third year of life, in the spring, the cubs leave their mother and begin an independent life. Such young animals are already almost as tall as their mother, but life experience not much yet. Like human teenagers, they tend to be careless. Therefore, even teenage bears up to 3 years old often get into trouble, come to villages and end up in "criminal chronicles".

photo by Sofia Rosenfeld

Well, what if it suddenly happens that a bear cub, not yet trained in the basics of survival, hunting, life in ice, remains an orphan? The chances of survival for an untrained animal to forage are extremely small. It was such a bear cub, already quite large, that nailed to the village, finding for itself the opportunity to survive, scrambling through the dumps.
Possible Scenarios the development of such a "neighborhood" is predictable, it is likely that people or animals will suffer. There is no way to return the rescued baby to the wild because he does not have the necessary behavior skills in his natural habitat. In this regard, only the zoo can become the only home for such animals.

Specialists of the Krasnoyarsk Zoo "Roev Ruchey" have great experience for the rescue and maintenance of polar bears. In particular, in 2006, a white bear cub Felix was rescued and successfully settled down in Krasnoyarsk from Wrangel Island. Four years later, two bear cubs were brought from the Taimyr Peninsula - females Aurora and Victoria, who got a chance to survive thanks to the zoo.

Thanks to the Program for the Guardianship of Polar Bears in all zoos in Russia, which, as a responsible nature user, has been implementing since 2015 by the Oil Company "", the cause of rescuing foundling bear cubs has received serious support. Within the framework of this Program, polar bears are kept in all zoos in Russia, Scientific research and monitoring of polar bear populations in their natural habitat. A separate area of ​​activity was the development of a project to rescue endangered polar bear cubs.

An active participant in this project was the Park "", the closest to the habitats of the northern giants.

October 1, 2018 at Federal Service documents on the coordination of the procedure for the removal of a polar bear cub from natural environment habitation with subsequent overexposure and rehabilitation in the Krasnoyarsk Zoo "Roev Ruchey".

On October 10, 2018, experienced employees of the Krasnoyarsk Zoo "Roev Ruchey" flew to the village of Dikson to catch, transport and temporarily keep a bear cub in Krasnoyarsk.

This group of professionals, consisting of zoo specialists and hunters from the Krasnoyarsk Environmental Protection Agency, together with the local services of Dikson, carried out a whole rescue operation to capture and transport this dangerous predator, despite its young age.

ANO "Society of Wild Nature" together with the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after. A.N. Severtsova Russian Academy Sci.

It was possible to ensure that all necessary measures to rescue the bear cub were carried out thanks to the support of PJSC "NK "".

With the prompt assistance of airlines "" and "" on October 16, the bear cub was sent under the supervision of a veterinarian and a zoologist and delivered "to the mainland", first to Norilsk, and on the same day the bear cub arrived in Krasnoyarsk.

Currently, the polar bear is undergoing rehabilitation at the Krasnoyarsk Zoo "Roev Ruchey", he was placed in quarantine, where he is closely monitored by veterinarians. After carrying out all the necessary measures to study his health and his rehabilitation, a decision can be made about his future fate.

Given that this is not the first time uninvited guests have appeared in Dixon

ANO "Society for the Preservation and Study of Wildlife" and the Krasnoyarsk Zoo "Roev Ruchey", based on the results of the operation to rescue the bear cub, decided that it was necessary to create a point for saving cubs in Dixon, equipped with special boxes for catching and overexposure of babies, food supplies and necessary medicines.

The rescue of the polar bear cub was made possible thanks to the coordinated actions of many organizations - Krasnoyarsk Park flora and fauna "Roev Ruchey", the Administration of the city of Krasnoyarsk and authorized state authorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, ANO "Society for the Preservation and Study of Wildlife" and others.

Source: materials of the ANO "Wildlife Society" and the Park "", video

The bear is the largest land predator, striking in its size and habits. To look at these powerful and dangerous representatives of the animal world is interesting for everyone - both adults and children. Bears living in the wild can be hungry and take you for food, and polar bears are not afraid of humans at all. Therefore, the safest place to get acquainted with the prototype of cute Winnie the Pooh or Umka is a zoo or a circus. However, we know that bears hibernate in winter. Is it worth starting acquaintance with bears in winter? Have the zoo bears hibernated? Let's try to figure it out.

First of all, it should be noted that of all the species of bears, only some (brown, Himalayan and black) fall into winter sleep, that is, they spend several months in the den. Female polar bears during pregnancy too winter months spend in the lair. And the bears' winter sleep itself differs from hibernation in that it preserves the basic vital functions. For example, in a brown bear, the body temperature drops by only a few degrees (from 37 to 31), and he can wake up at any moment. For comparison, body temperature hedgehog, which hibernates, is only 1.8 degrees.

So, do bears sleep in zoos? Let's start with the white polar giants. Male polar bears do not hibernate; on the contrary, they sleep even less in winter than in summer. Indeed, in their habitats, the main food - seals, seals, reindeer and even white whales is in winter and summer. In winter, polar bear hunting is also simplified. For example, white whales are weakened by the fight against ice, so it becomes much easier to catch them than in summer.

Another thing, female polar bears. They really most time during the winter months is spent sleeping. This is due to the fact that at this time the female bear bears offspring and feeds the born cubs. In order to give birth and feed 1-4 cubs, a female bear almost doubles her weight before wintering. Female polar bears living in captivity do not need to stock up on fat, so in most zoos they do not sleep in the winter, but have fun riding down a hill or chasing crows.

For the most common brown bears in our area, winter sleep is a necessary physiological process. AT winter period there is little food, so the bears eat up for the future before wintering and arrange a winter lair - a lair. The weight of clubfoot increases by 40%, so they can “nap” a little in winter. In zoos, brown bears (as well as the same sleepers - black and Himalayan bears) behave differently. Some, like their counterparts in the wild, make themselves comfortable and sleep until April. Others - they cannot sleep and walk lazily all winter - roam in cages or aviaries. Zoologists believe that winter sleep is necessary for these species of bears, since in its absence obesity can develop with all its consequences. Therefore, you should not visit brown, black and Himalayan bears, firstly, you can prevent them from sleeping, and secondly, you will not see anything interesting, because the bear's body is programmed for sleep.

So, do bears sleep in zoos? In zoos where maximum care is taken to preserve natural conditions for animals, those representatives of the clubfoot world who are supposed to, of course, sleep. Therefore, if you decide to visit a brown, black or Himalayan bear, it is better to wait until spring. If you are interested in other representatives of this formidable tribe, then feel free to go to the zoo.

Many people go to zoos to see the largest land predator, which attracts both children and adults with its habits. And some people like to hunt bears. However, in the wild, these predators are quite dangerous, especially when hungry. Therefore, it is best to start acquaintance with these animals in such safe places as a zoo or a circus.

Which types of bears hibernate in the zoo and which don't?

Among all types of bears, only:

• brown;
• black;
• Himalayan.

But it should be noted that winter sleep is significantly different from hibernation. Firstly, bears retain vital functions, for example, the body temperature of a brown bear during winter sleep decreases by only 5-7 degrees (for comparison, hedgehogs in hibernation have a body temperature of about 2 degrees). Secondly, some species can wake up at any moment.

Female polar bears also spend most of the cold season in their den, which cannot be said about males. These polar giants become active in winter and lead efficient hunting on seals, reindeer, seal, etc. As a rule, in zoos, females also do not sleep in winter, since there is no need to stock up on fat and feed cubs.

Brown, black and Himalayan bears, both in the wild and in zoos, usually sleep until April, but there are those who cannot sleep, moving lazily around the cage. It is best not to disturb these individuals, as they can become obese if sleep is disturbed. Although these views are very popular for visitors, visiting them is much more more interesting in spring. Thus, you will not harm their health and get more pleasure, because they will be more active and friendlier.