This is the moment JB the “big boy” bear wakes up from his winter sleep at an Alaskan conservation centre and decides to take a stroll in the snow before later bedding down for more nap time.

The video was filmed at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) in the municipality of Anchorage in the US state of Alaska on 16th January.

The AWCC is a sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, research, and quality animal care.

The AWCC posted the video on social media with the message: “The big boy JB was out of the den today, checking things out!

“Go back to sleep JB, it’s only mid-January!”

AWCC social media and administrative manager Alex Roberto told Newsflash: “I took this video myself to share on AWCC’s social media platforms. Some of our bears were awake and out of their dens this past weekend. I captured this video on 16th January.

“Many animals once thought to hibernate, including bears, really only enter a lighter sleep-state known as torpor – an interesting fact that not everyone knows about!

“Occasionally bears may wake during the winter and stumble out of their dens for a brief period of time, before eventually going back to sleep. Our curator Sarah Howard says ‘when bears wake up, it’s not for long and the cold and snow usually signals to them to go back to bed’.”

Alex told Newsflash: “The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center’s animals are our greatest ambassadors! Most of the animals that have come to AWCC have either been orphaned or injured.

“With consent from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, animals taken in by AWCC are cared for by our animal care staff and are given a permanent home at AWCC.

“This particular video features JB, short for Joe Boxer, our male coastal brown bear.”