Estonia's warmest winter for two centuries has woken some of its 600 bears several months early from hibernation, wildlife experts said on Friday.

　　The bears' early reappearance has raised concerns for the survival of this year's cubs.

　　"It has been very warm and wet and many flooded rivers have forced bears out of their dens and out of hibernation," said Kalev Manniste, a senior official at the Baltic country's State Forest Service.

　　"Just a few days ago a hunter was telling me that he saw a she-bear with a very small cub walking across the field," he told reporters.

　　"The cub the hunter saw looked too small to survive the winter."

　　She-bears normally give birth to tiny walnut-sized cubs during their winter hibernation and suckle them for months as they grow, before the spring thaw awakens the mother and she leaves her den.

　　Local media and hunters writing on Internet sites say that across the country bears are moving about the forests at a time when they normally sleep and would not be seen for another two to three months.

　　Temperatures have stayed above freezing, compared with the average temperature of 23 degrees for January.

　　Neighboring Russia's normally ferocious winter has also been mild. Interfax news agency reported this week that a bear in a zoo awoke from hibernation two months early, while another did not go to sleep at all.

　　(Agencies)

爱沙尼亚遭遇暖冬 冬眠熊儿被迫早早醒

　　上周五（1月14日），野生动物专家们声称由于出现200年来最温暖的冬季，爱沙尼亚现有的600只熊中有些提前从冬眠中醒来。

　　熊过早从冬眠中苏醒，引起了人们对今年幼熊存活问题的关注。

　　爱沙尼亚位于波罗的海沿岸，爱沙尼亚国家森林管理局的资深官员凯利·曼尼斯特说：“今年气候一直温暖潮湿。许多河流涨水，把许多熊从洞穴中赶了出来，无法继续冬眠。”

　　他告诉记者说：“就在几天前一位猎人告诉我，他看见一只母熊带着一只非常小的幼仔从田野穿过。”

　　“那位猎人见到的幼熊太小了，很难活过这个冬天。”

　　母熊通常在冬眠期间产下胡桃大小的幼仔，哺乳几个月，小熊们渐渐长大，当春天来临大地解冻时，母熊从冬眠中醒来，离开巢穴。

　　当地媒体和猎人们在互联网上说，全国范围内，有很多熊在森林中游荡，而这本应是它们冬眠的时候，以往人们还要过两三个月才能见到它们的踪影。

　　和以往1月份华氏23度（摄氏零下5度）的平均气温相比，（今年的）气温保持在冰点水平。

　　邻国俄罗斯冬季通常非常寒冷，而今年也变的温和起来。据国际文传电讯报道，本周一家动物园中一只冬眠的熊提前2个月醒来，还有一只熊根本就没有冬眠。