Bears that eat ‘junk food’ may hibernate less and age faster
Researchers have been
conducting studies on female bears in Colorado to see if there is a link
between processed foods they consume and aging. They monitored 30 female bears
and their food consumption, and then ran tests on their cells. They found that
sugary processed foods that the bears scavenged from human leftovers may
decrease their hibernation periods. The researchers also found that the cells
of the bears that consumed process foods appeared to age faster than those who
didn’t. This is alarming because human foods could have many more affects on
the animals that eat them that we don’t even know about. It is important that
we keep our food away from the wildlife when we eat in their environment.
Bears that eat 'junk food' may hibernate less and age faster
That is scary to hear about. Bears eating processed food can really cause them to age faster and hibernate shorter. We need to make sure we clean up after our self or else bear species could be in danger.
ReplyDeleteThis is just one more way that humans are negatively impacting the environment. It is disappointing to see how people's ignorance is now harming bears, and all of this is completely preventable if people just throw their trash away and aren't lazy.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary to think that even what we consume can impact the environment in this way. Also. if this junk food harms the bears this much, what is it doing to our bodies?
ReplyDelete