Insomniac Russian bears finally node off

And you think the warm winter here is making life a little interesting

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian bears at Moscow Zoo have finally dropped off into their hibernation slumber despite months of insomnia caused by a record mild start to winter, zoo officials said on Tuesday.



Russia's arctic winters, which scuttled the occupation plans of both Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, came to an end this year in European Russia with no snow and temperatures so warm that bears were left pacing around and unable to sleep.



"The bears have finally fallen asleep and they have not woken up yet," Natalia Istratova, a spokeswoman for Moscow Zoo, said by telephone.



usually fall asleep when there is continuous snow cover but despite the fact that there is no snow they are still asleep," she said.



bears, which usually go into hibernation in November at the latest, finally dropped off at the end of December when a tiny amount of snow fell before swiftly melting, she said.



who discuss the weather with peculiar intensity, have had to leave their fur hats and ice-skates at home this Christmas, which Moscow's weather centre said was the warmest since records began in 1879.



have a soft spot for powerful but sometimes erratic bears -- their national symbol.



emergency ministry has warned that wild bears who are waking up early because of the mild weather could become aggressive, Interfax news agency reported.

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