Spirit Bears

[Golfman09]

I have just come back from a week in Montana around Glacier Park and had an absolute blast down there. The fishing was so so.....probably because I'm so so as I saw a large number of fish as I floated over top of them. However, on a float near the West entrance of Glacier I say a mother Black Bear, Black Cub and a white blob following along. It was coming around a bend in the river that I had just floated around and I scrambled to the opposite side of the river to both get a view of this as well as get out of the path as it may have been heading right for me. It however scrambled up the slope and into the trees and I didn't get a chance to get a picture. It was confirmed to me though as only seconds later a guide came around the bend with some site seers and when I asked if they had seen it he told me that he had seen one in the area recently. Definitely is a White Cub in the area.

 

I have done a lot of reading on the subject and know that they are VERY rare. I was curious to know if anyone else has spotted one of these in the wild. With my brief encounter I felt really lucky to witness one.

[ÜberFly]

Very cool, but the one you saw wouldn't technically considered a "spirit bear" per se...

 

 

The kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), also known as the "spirit bear", is a subspecies of the American Black Bear living in the central and north coast of British Columbia,[1] and noted for about 1/10 of their population having white or cream-coloured coats. This colour morph is due to a recessive allele common in the population. They are not albinos[1] and not any more related to polar bears or the "blond" brown bears of Alaska's "ABC Islands" than other members of their species.

 

Because of their ghost-like appearance, "spirit bears" hold a prominent place in the mythology of the Canadian First Nations and American Indians of the area.[2]

 

The kermodei subspecies ranges from Princess Royal Island to Prince Rupert, British Columbia on the coast, and inland toward Hazelton, British Columbia. It is known to the indigenous population as Moksgm'ol. In the February 2006 Speech from the Throne by the Government of British Columbia, the Lieutenant Governor announced her government's intention to designate the Kermode or spirit bear as British Columbia's official animal. A male Kermode bear can reach 225 kg (500 lb) or more, females are much smaller with a maximum weight of 135 kg (300 lb). Straight up it stands 180 cm (6 ft) tall.

 

The Kermode bear was named after Francis Kermode, former director of the Royal B.C. Museum,[1] who researched the species and a colleague of William Hornaday, the zoologist who described it.[3][4]

 

Nonetheless, it's a cool thing to see in the wilderness. Let's hope someone doesn't blow it away for a trophy!!

 

P

[Hawgstoppah]

Saw a white bear cross in front of me in the yukon, while driving. It was somewhere around the Kluane Lake nat'l park... near destruction bay... on the alaska highway. At the time I assumed it may have been a lost polar bear? This is about 100 miles northwest from whitehorse. Might be getting pretty close to the area described by Peter, though...

[Ricinus]

I have been told if you want to see Spirit Bears just go to the Dump in Terrace. I've never gone-- somehow watching a Spirit Bear eating moldy nachos just doesn't seem right.

 

Regards Mike

[jack]

Lots at the landfill at Bella Coola, too. Ocean Falls, Kitimat, too.

j