News Animals

Hibernating bears don’t get blood clots. Now scientists know why

A key clotting protein decreases in the slumbering bears — and other immobile animals

A photo of a brown bear walking through a field of green leaves and other plants with trees visible throughout.

When a brown bear settles down for hibernation, its body makes adjustments to prevent developing dangerous blood clots while immobile, a new study shows.

Ole Frøbert and T. Petzold

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

People stuck sitting in tight airplane seats for an entire long-haul flight are at risk of dangerous blood clots. But somehow immobile, hibernating bears are not.