Seven out of 17 bears in the Bear Sanctuary near Belitsa are already having their winter nap, the manager of the park, Dimitar Ivanov, has told BTA. The team's hopes are that this year more bears will go into hibernation, Ivanov pointed out, clarifying that this is also a measure of the quality of life in the park.

Naturally, some of the bears, usually the younger ones, have a harder time falling asleep because they prefer to play outside. Others, who are older and have age-related diseases, hibernate for short time, but there are also those who go to bed and don't come out all winter, Ivanov said.

The team that cares for the inhabitants of the park encourage the bears’ instincts. They have started making small shelters for blind bears or those that have some kind of problem. "Then we started digging these little shelters into a slope and we found that it worked pretty well, as once a bear got into them they started digging further, making a real den," Dimitar Ivanov also said.

Photos: FB / BearSanctuaryBelitsa

English publication: Al. Markov