🐻 What does a bear eat while hibernating?

Bears eat their fill in autumn and snooze all winter. Let's find out how this big forest friend gets through the cold season.

📷 An Asiatic black bear with round ears and black fur.

What kind of animal is the bear?

In Korea lives the Asiatic black bear, which has a white crescent-moon mark on its chest. It once nearly disappeared, but thanks to a long-running restoration project in Jirisan Mountain, it now lives in the forest again. Bears are omnivores that eat grass, fruit, acorns, insects and even fish.

During the cold winter, bears hibernate in dens. For the months they sleep, they don't eat or drink anything at all. They survive on the fat they stored by eating lots of food in autumn, and their hearts beat slowly to save energy.

Amazingly, mother bears give birth inside their winter dens. The newborn cubs are very small, but they grow quickly on their mother's milk until spring. And yes, bears really do love honey. The honey and larvae inside a beehive are a nutritious treat for a bear.

🔍 Things to observe

• Find the shape of the white mark on an Asiatic black bear's chest in a photo.
• Look at what a bear's paw pads and long claws look like.
• Look up other animals that hibernate in winter.

🖍️ Tips for drawing together with your child

• Draw two big circles for the head and body, then add small round ears.
• Color the body brown or black and add a white crescent on the chest to make an Asiatic black bear.
• Fill the whole picture cozily with no empty spots and add a honey pot, and Auntie Honeypot will be thrilled.

💬 Let's talk about it

• If you slept for months, what would you do first when you woke up?
• What does the mark on a bear's chest look like to you?

🏪 In the game: Auntie Honeypot