Hibernating or not hibernating? Brown bears' response to a mismatch between environmental natural cues and captive management, and its welfare implications.

In wild brown bears, likely factors triggering hibernation response to harsh environmental conditions are temperature, photoperiod, and food resources availability. In fact, constantly fed captive brown bears are described as skipping hibernation being active all year-round. Is the hibernation response so flexible and subordinate to contingencies, or else is an adaptation that, if dismissed, may negatively impact on bear well-being? This study investigates the potential hibernation response in captive brown bears under unvaried management conditions using an integrative approach simultaneously analyzing multiple animal-based variables together with environmental covariates.

Post-traumatic and postoperative peripheral paralysis of the facial nerve.

Forty-five patients with postoperative or post-traumatic paresis of the facial nerve were studied and it was found that in only 2.6% of the postoperative cases was there some temporary facial nerve palsy, while in 11% of the cases with facial lacerations the paralysis was permanent. The preauricular area was the most hazardous, while in the submental area no paresis was recorded.