Until recently, the status of black and brown bears as hibernators has been debated. The drop in metabolic rate in brown bears of around 25%, although dramatic in its own right, is far from hibernation metabolic rates down to 5% of normothermic values in small hibernators (Geiser, 2004). However, results from certain species of “non-hibernators” illustrate that hibernation and hypometabolsim are not a yes/no phenomena, but are rather a gradient. Both hibernators and non-hibernators have a variety of different strategies for hibernation, torpor and seasonal hypometabolism. The badger, for example, is reported to have cyclic periods of torpor at lower latitudes (Harlow, 1981), but a period of hibernation (October to March) at higher latitudes (Fowler and Racey, 1988). We used biologgers measuring heart rate and body temperature, both of which are tightly connected to metabolic rate. Indeed, heart rate has often been used as a proxy for metabolic rate. This comparison was done in collaboration with a number of established ecological research projects on free-ranging species including brown bears, moose, wolverine, Svalbard reindeer and the European beaver. In most cases, the loggers were retrieved or the data was downloaded 1-2 years after implantation. Brown bears of medium size (60-75kg, N=6) decreased their heart rate 75% in winter (from 75±10bpm in September, to 20±7bpm in December). Bears of this size had their highest daily mean temperature in September (37.7±0.4°C), with the lowest daily means in December (33.35±0.82°C). Smaller bears had higher summer heart rates than larger bears, but across sizes (19-233 kg, N=42) bears had similar heart rates in winter. Ibex in central Europe have a reduction in heart rate of up to 60% during winter(Signer et al., 2011), while moose in a coastal, mild climate (N=11) only exhibited a 13% drop in heart rate (from 75±19 to 64±19) and a 0.6°C drop in body temperature (from 38.6±0.4 to 38±0.2). Svalbard reindeer, living in an extreme environment, dropped the heart rate to around 40 beats per minute in winter, 33% of the summer time heart rate mean of 120 beats per minute. The mean ± SD daily body temperature (Tb) of moose in then northernmost areas (N=26) was during the month of July (38.65±0.38 °C) and lowest during February – March (37.89±0.33 °C) and the daily means ranged between 36.16 °C and 39.38 °C during the year. This is a drop of 0.76°C, slightly more than the 0.6°C mean drop in Tb of the moose in the coastal climate. Unfortunately, heart rate data was not available for the northern population. Beavers (N=2) had a reduced heart rate from summer rates of 103±3 bpm down to 79±11 bpm at the coldest ambient temperatures, a 23% reduction. Body temperature was 36.2±0.44 in mid-summer decreasing to around 35.6±0.43°C at the coldest temperatures. Wolverine (N=14) displayed constant temperatures throughout the year, with the mean ranging from 38.37±0.14 in December to 38.57±0.13 in June. Individuals displayed a wide daily variation in body temperature and high flexibility in activity patterns. The moose, in contrast to the wolverine’s undramatic shifts in body temperature and the badger’s strategy of switching from torpor to hibernation, displays a gradient of hypometabolism depending on the environment, with less dramatic shifts in the moose at the milder coast than in the northern mountains. Although primarily studied in the north, the brown bear also likely has a gradient, to some extent in its phenotypical reactions to its environment. The Svalbard reindeer represents a special case with a dramatic seasonal hypometabolism, falling in-between the moose and the bear. Space research has long been interested in hibernation because of its potential to solve some of the problems associated with space travel. Medical research is seeking possibilities to reduce metabolic rates during certain treatments. The adaptations of the species presented here, illustrate that many species, not considered classical hibernators, have adapted physiological strategies, which may give new insights relevant to space research.