With Chengdu on the verge of winter, the bears have spent the autumn months feasting on a special diet of calorie-rich foods that will see them through hibernation.

The bears at the sanctuary generally don't sleep the entire winter away, but they do go through a period of winter dormancy where energy levels drop significantly. That makes autumn a key period in a bear's natural cycle when they are at their most active – fuelled by huge appetites.

Their natural impulses are telling them to load up on the seasonal bounty of calorific nuts that will allow them to build up enough fat reserves to see out their winter dormancy period.

For staff at Animals Asia's China sanctuary, that means modifying feeding regimes to allow the bears to express these natural impulses.

Animals Asia China Bear and Vet Team Director Nic Field said:

"Preparation to hibernate takes place through the autumn and we try to reflect this by adopting seasonal feeding strategies to mirror the bears' natural cycle. During this period we increase their food amounts incrementally and will add nuts to their diet too."

The sanctuary follows a timetable set by the bears' natural rhythms, but staff typically find that late November and early December will see the bears' activity and appetite begin to decrease again.

Until then, the bears will enjoy the taste of a freedom that allows them to express their natural instincts the way they love most – through their stomachs!

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