Spring bursts
Spring is a busy season for wild animals, especially bears, who emerge from their winter slumber in search of calories after this period of inactivity. (Although there are milder winters when food is abundant).
Bears then consume the fragile shoots of early spring grasses, which are richer in protein and easier to digest.
Bears graze in the sunniest clearings between April and June. They also forage for tender grasses and leaves in the steep, confined channels of limestone crags.
For many species, it’s also calving time. In the case of bears, cubs are born in late January or early February, but it’s in spring that they first emerge from the den and begin to explore the outside world.
From May onwards, the rut begins and the bears scour the valleys in search of mates. This gives rise to an exciting scenario in which a multitude of individuals can be observed (13 bears observed on one day at the end of May 2022!).
This is also the time of independence for the young bears in their second year.
