It’s January, but Yosemite has only seen a small amount of snow. So where are the bears? Are they hibernating yet? The answer might be more complex than you’d expect. Hibernation in black bears is dependent on food availability—meaning that once a bear is using more energy than they can find, they’ll hibernate. Bears that continue to find enough calories foraging in the late fall and winter may go into hibernation later, or skip it altogether (these bears are more often males). Likewise, if bears have access to human food or trash in the winter, they may skip hibernation altogether, even in winters with heavy snow accumulation. There were several accounts on social media of this occurring last winter in the Tahoe Basin. It’s critical to maintain proper food storage year-round. Making the assumption that all bears are hibernating as soon as the weather cools off is a common mistake that can be much more difficult to correct than maintaining proper storage of human food and garbage year-round.
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