Reasons why do animals hibernate
Hibernation, as a unique evolutionary adaptation, is not without its drawbacks.
Over the winter, these animals will lose up to a quarter of their body weight, and their sleepy state makes them vulnerable to predators.
The animals are vulnerable when they wake up and must recover rapidly if they are to survive.
They can never wake up if they don't have enough energy stored, but the risk is well worth it.
On a cold winter morning, we all know how difficult it is to get out of a warm bed.
Although wishing away the winter months that sound like the perfect holiday, the involuntary biological process known as hibernation is essential for the survival of many animals.
Significance of hibernation
Food becomes scarce during the winter months. It is because many plants cease to produce the leaves and seeds that animals consume.
For certain species, hibernation is critical to their survival. Bears, chipmunks, bat, etc. thus hibernate because it helps them to use their stored energy more slowly.
They'll have to deal on their own to survive in winters.
Winter can be harsh for non-migratory birds.
Although migratory animals will migrate to warmer climates in the winter, non-migratory animals are trapped in the bitter cold.
To conserve energy, their metabolism, or the rate at which the body consumes calories, slows down as well.
True hibernators, also known as "deep hibernators," are warm-blooded endotherms that become fully incapacitated by physiological changes and are thus virtually impossible to wake up during the winter months.
On the other hand, bears go through fewer changes during the winter, allowing them to respond to danger more quickly.
Why don't humans go into hibernation?
Year-round comfort is ensured by biology and technology to humans.
However, this hasn't kept scientists from looking into the benefits of human hibernation.
On the way to Mars, NASA looked into the possibility of lowering astronauts' body temperatures to cause a kind of hibernation.
Scientists have long been fascinated by the fact that hibernating animals wake up fully well, much healthier than they were before hibernation.
The human body has long been known to use periods of deep sleep for body repair and rejuvenation, and scientists now believe that hibernation is a similar reparative mechanism.
The mechanism that helps hibernating animals to slow their blood circulation by lowering body temperatures while never developing clots despite sleeping for days or weeks is one of the main challenges that researchers have been working on.
Conclusion:
Certain animal species have developed an adaptation that enables them to survive prolonged periods when food is scarce: they enter a hibernation state.
The temperature of their central body is also significantly lowered.
Thus, it is very significant for animals to hibernate for their survival in winters.
