This Collaborative Project Turns Bear Hibernation Into The Sweetest Competition You Might See Today (14 Pics)

March Napness helps raise awareness of the ongoing work at the Arosa Bear Sanctuary in Switzerland, Bear Sanctuary Prishtina in Kosovo, Bear Sanctuary Müritz in Germany, Bear Sanctuary Belitsa in Bulgaria, Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr in Ukraine, and Bear Sanctuary Arbesbach in Austria, where rescued bears receive expert care and species-appropriate environments. The campaign also encourages people to directly support that work: visitors can take part in the bracket challenge, follow updates throughout the month, and donate to help care for the rescued bears and support the sanctuaries directly.

Billy Murphy is an especially fitting collaborator for a project like this. The Essex-based contemporary artist uses bears, dinosaurs, rainbows, and other playful imagery to explore the absurdity and silliness of life, often combining simple visuals with dry humor and a strangely heartfelt sense of truth. His “Badly Drawn Bears” have found a large audience precisely because they feel both deliberately scruffy and unexpectedly expressive. For March Napness, that style works perfectly: Murphy takes real rescued bears with distinct personalities, habits, and rescue stories and turns them into funny, affectionate portraits that make them even more memorable. The result is a project that feels light and entertaining on the surface, but also quietly powerful underneath, because every sleepy “competitor” in this bracket is a bear who now has something many captive animals are denied: peace, safety, and the freedom to finally rest.