The Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), is a rare subspecies of the
American black bear found only in the North-west Central and North Coast
regions of British Columbia, Canada.
Roughly 1200 such bears exist, and of these most look like an ordinary black
bear. But, roughly 10% have cream or white fur, similar to a polar bear,
although they are not related to the Polar bear, nor to the "blonde" brown
bears of Alaska's "ABC Islands". On some of the islands off BC's coast, as
many as 30% can have the white fur, which means somewhere between 150 and 200
of these rare white furred, black bears exist in the wild. The colouring is
believed to be caused by a recessive gene, which both parents must carry for
the offspring to have white fur. Please note, that these are NOT albino bears.
In BC, white Kermode bears are commonly referred to as "Spirit Bears", and the
are the official animal of our province.
In 2012 an orphaned, white Spirit Bear was found, alone and injured, so it was
taken to the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops. After much rehabilitation, it was
deemed not suitable to return to the wild, as it likely would not survive, so
the Wildlife Park gave her a name and a home. She is the only Kermode Bear in
captivity, anywhere.
Today, we took our granddaughter and two of her friends to the Wildlife Park
and, naturally, I made a bee-line to it's very large and well done enclosure.
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to "Clover".
http://www.furnfeather.ca/look/SpiritBear.html
C&C welcomed, as always.
David.
--
David Young - Photographer
Logan Lake,BC, CANADA
Website: www.furnfeather.ca
Gallery: The Creative Co. Merritt, BC.
E-book: http://tinyurl.com/ABHoP
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