Marie over at A Year From Oak Cottage and her story of the elusive white squirrel at her home in Kent brought to mind an elusive white bear here in Canada. The Kermode bear is an American black bear with white fir. Because they are rarely seen, they are also called Spirit or Ghost Bears. They can be found in northern British Columbia near Prince Rupert along the Skeena River. These bears are not the result of albinism, but of a unique recessive gene that produces white hair instead of black or brown. One of out every 10 bears is white. This remarkable population of black bears live in one of the most pristine areas of British Columbia. The area is an intact temperate rainforest. The white bears are protected from hunters but the habitat that supports their survival is in no way protected from logging.
For more about the Kermode Bear and their precarious link in the ecosystem click here
