What are the similarities between migration and hibernation?

Answer 1

Migration and hibernation are both very instinctual animal behaviors. While one describes an animal traveling to different regions and only staying at each location for a short period of time, and the other showing a central territory which is inhabited all year long, these two behaviors have many similarities. Both of these behaviors are exhibited by animals for life-sustaining purposes, and are necessary for their short term as well as long term survival. Most grass grazing animals are those who migrate, while predatory or food collecting animals, such as bears and squirrels tend to hibernate through out the winter. Why do some animals migrate and others hibernate? The answer to this question is specific to each species, but is overall tremendously important to all animals and to every ecosystem. For deer-like creatures such as elk, moose, and caribou, it is extremely beneficial for them to migrate south to grassy, warmer climates in order to store food which is available in the winter, and move north again when the temperatures become too warm and food becomes scarce. No animal illustrates this better than the caribou. The caribou recedes to warmer climates at the beginning of winter when the arctic and subarctic lands begin to become frozen, hard, and unable to provide enough food for the hundreds of herds. When spring begins, however, caribou flock to the arctic regions of Canada and Alaska in the thousands. By this time, the ice and snow have begun to melt away, and the tundras of the north become a vast, green land with ample shrubs and grasses for the caribou to feed on. Just as it is more beneficial for the caribou to migrate thousands of miles back and forth every year in order to graze, so it is favorable for the brown bear to hibernate. During the winter, a 900 lb grizzly sleeps soundly in its den for months, and is awoken when its body begins to tell it that its stored body fat is low and that soon it will have to leave its haven and find food. When the warm days finally arrive, the grizzly begins to hunt vigorously to restore its strength from the long inactive months and begin the long process of storing up fat for the following winter. The grizzly's prey includes the caribou migrating north, but also extends to buffalo, berries, moths, and carrion left over from wolf-kills made in the winter months. The grizzly spends these warm months hunting regularly and steadily gaining body weight and fat for its next hibernation. When the winter months finally arrive, this mostly solitary creature will once again return to its den, its survival ensured by the great feast of the summer months.