# @bhamzoo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddwaj8UkXUv
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71028094-bhamzoo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d31d0ea310.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-26T16:00:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Birmingham Zoo (@bhamzoo) — https://gondola.cc/bhamzoo

## Caption

As you may already know, this week is Fat Bear Week! 🐻

It’s a time to celebrate the brown bears of Alaska as they pack on the pounds in preparation for winter torpor. Here at your Birmingham Zoo, we’re celebrating our two American Black Bears, Bety and Sassy! 🖤
Bety and Sassy are entering hyperphagia, a period when bears spend more time foraging and consume up to 10x more calories than they do in spring and summer. This extra food helps them build the energy reserves they need to survive their long winter torpor.

While a wild male brown bear may eat 80–90 lbs. of food a day during hyperphagia, our female black bears consume around 15–20 lbs.

This time of year, you may spot Bety and Sassy high in the trees searching for berries and acorns. So on your next visit, be sure to look up, and if you see them, wish Bety and Sassy a happy Fat Bear Week! 😊🤎
#fatbearweek #bear #animal #zoo #bham

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 384
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- **Comments:** 1

## Tags

animal, bham, zoo, fatbearweek, bear

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