Bear-ly staying awake for the March Nappness competition are these un-bear-ably adorable bears, sleeping for the title “Sleepiest Bear”.
March Napness is a competition hosted by the Four Paws Animal Welfare Organization. This bracket style competition was inspired by March Madness; however, instead of basketball, bears from all over the world compete to see who can hibernate the longest. This competition starts on March 1st and ends when every bear wakes up.
Four Paws is a global animal welfare organization that rescues and protects animals under direct human influence. They work to stop animal abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This is an international charity, although it’s mainly focused in Europe. March Napness involves bears from six different Four Paws bear sanctuaries in the countries of Ukraine, Kosovo, Germany, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Australia, with a total of 23 competitors.
This is Tomi, a competitor in the Four Paws sanctuary in Korovo
Photo provided by Four Paws Website
“The sleepiest bear wins,” Four Paws spokesperson Claire LaFrance told NPR. “The bear that remains sleeping the longest is crowned king or queen for that year.”
These bears hibernate from October or November all the way to May or April. However, there are many factors that can change how long a bear sleeps, such as food availability and environment. This makes predicting which bear will sleep the longest a challenging task while also making it a fun activity for people to guess.
“When animals, especially bears, hibernate, they can actually wake up from time to time,” said LaFrance. “They can wake up, they can get out of their den, and they can walk around. Maybe have a snack, and then go back to sleep.”
The rules are that if a bear is awake and active from their hibernation for 5 consecutive days, then the bear is kicked out of the bracket and is disqualified.
This is Julia, a competitor in a Four Paws sanctuary in Ukraine
Photo provided by Four Paws Website
According to NPR news, Four Paws hopes that this competition will inspire their audiences to learn more about bears and how to protect them. March Napness raises awareness of bears, their habitats, and that bears can hibernate at any age once given proper care and conditions. Along with teaching people about bears, Four Paws also hopes that people could learn from these furry creatures.
“I think they can really help bring back the movement that sleep is self-care and there’s no harm in taking a little nap when you need it,” LaFrance said.
To follow this adorable competition, there are descriptions of each bear on the Four Paws Website and also posts weekly updates about the bears. Four Paws posts updates and coverage of this competition on their social media pages such as Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Four Paws allows their audiences to participate in this competition by providing interactive online brackets for spectators to write down and predict who will be the hibernation champion.
