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Nutrition and growth of suckling black bears (Ursus americanus) during their mothers' winter fast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Olav T. Oftedal ,
Gary L. Alt ,
Elsie M. Widdowson  and
Michael R. Jakubasz
Olav T. Oftedal
Affiliation:
National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20008, USA
Gary L. Alt
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania Game Commission, RD 5, Box 5043, Moscow, Pa. 18444, USA
Elsie M. Widdowson
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Michael R. Jakubasz
Affiliation:
National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20008, USA
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Abstract

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In black bears the last 6–8 weeks of gestation and the first 10–12 weeks of lactation occur in winter while the mother is in a dormant state, and reportedly does not eat, drink, urinate or defaecate. Measurements were made of the body composition and organ weights of cubs, of the composition of milk, and of milk intake (by dilution of 2H2O), in the first 3 months after birth. Additional milk samples were collected until 10 months postpartum. Bear cubs were small at birth, only 3·7 g/kg maternal weight, and chemically immature, as indicated by the high concentration of water (840 g/kg) in their bodies. Organ weights at birth were similar to those of puppies. In the first month after birth cubs gained 22 g/d or 0·23 g/g milk consumed; the milk was high in fat (220 g/kg) and low in water (670 g/kg). About 30% of the ingested energy and 51% of the ingested N were retained in the body. Over the entire 12-week period bear cubs required about 11 kg milk, containing (kg) water 7, fat 2·5, protein 0·8 and total sugar 0·25, to achieve a 2·5 kg weight gain. The birth of immature young and the production of high-fat, low-carbohydrate milk seem to be maternal adaptations to limit the utilization of glucogenic substrates during a long fast. Isotope recycling indicates that mothers may also recover most of the water (and perhaps much of the N) exported in milk by ingesting the excreta of the cubs. Lactation represents another aspect of the profound metabolic economy of the fasting bear in its winter den.

Keywords

Neonatal nutritionMilk intakeBody compositionBlack bears
Type
Nutrition and Growth of the young Black Bear
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 70 , Issue 1 , July 1993 , pp. 59 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1993

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