The 32-year old brown bear Svetla from the dancing bears park in Belitsa is now hibernating in her lair. These past few days she has very carefully been preparing her den, veterinarians from the park say, and explain that like most inhabitants of the park in Belitsa, Svetla the bear used to be a dancing bear, and that she was rescued in 2007. For years she was used as a tourist attraction in Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts and in other parts of the country. When she wasn’t making money for her owners, they kept her chained in their back yard. Since she was rescued, Svetla has adapted perfectly to her new home in Belitsa. 

• Belitsa – the place where bears are happy

The news that Svetla the bear is now sleeping went viral on Facebook, and was seen as a sign that winter is coming. An interesting detail is that when temperatures are lower, bears fall into a deeper and longer sleep. As temperatures begin to rise and snow begins to melt, the sleep of the bears grows “shallower”, they wake up more easily and can grow aggressive.

• Photohunting brown bears in Bulgaria