Boo Grizzly Awakes

Here we see video footage of a grizzly bear emerging from his winter hibernation, or more accurately, dormancy. Boo Grizzly was orphaned as a cub in 2002. He lives at the Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge in Golden, British Columbia, a facility created for Boo and his brother when they were rescued.

Among other things, the refuge permits a rare in-depth analysis of grizzly bear hibernation. A log den was constructed within the refuge for the cubs to use in the winter. This custom-built den includes a motion-activated camera in the roof that allows continuous monitoring of activity inside. As a result, we now know that grizzly bears engage in limited activity during the winter, unlike true hibernators. For that reason we now use the more accurate term winter dormancy rather than hibernation when referring to a bear’s winter slumber.

His caretaker Nicole Marie caught footage of Boo coming back from his months of dormancy, and she's quite delighted. (via Geekologie)