Kermode bear

Ursus americanus kermodei

The Kermode bear /ˈkɜrˌmoʊdi/ , also known as the "spirit bear" , is a subspecies of the American black bear living in the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia, Canada. It is the official provincial mammal of British Columbia. It is noted for about 1⁄10 of their population having white or cream-colored coats. This color is due to a double recessive gene unique in the subspecies. They are not albinos and not any more related to polar bears or the "blonde" brown bears of Alaska's "ABC Islands" than other members of their species. Sometimes, a black mother can have a white cub.
Spirit Bear The Kermode bear is one of the rarest animals on earth, it is estimated there are about 400 of these beautiful bears and they live only in northern British Columbia. 5DMarkII,Canada,Kermode bear,Ursus americanus kermodei,canon,kermodebear,nature,naturephotographer,pams wild images,prince rupert photographer,spiritbear,stockphotography,wildlife,wildlifephotographer

Appearance

Spirit bears hold a prominent place in the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the area. They have also been featured in a National Geographic documentary. Scientists have found that black bears are not as effective at catching fish as white bears, as the white bears are less visible from the perspective of the fish. While at night, the two colours of bears have similar success rates at catching fish, such as salmon, during the day, the white bears are 30% more effective.

The Kermode bear was named after Francis Kermode, former director of the Royal B.C. Museum, who researched the subspecies and was a colleague of William Hornaday, the zoologist who described it. A common mispronunciation of "Kermode" as "ker-MOH-dee" differs from the actual pronunciation of the Kermode surname, which originates on the Isle of Man and is properly pronounced "KER-mode", which is the usual way to pronounce "Kermode bear".Although in the Isle of Man the name is pronounced Ker-MODE.
The Fish Finder You can feel the magic in the air when in the presence of the very rare Spirit Bear. British Columbia,Canada,Fall,Geotagged,Kermode bear,Ursus americanus kermodei,nature,rare,spiritbear,wildlife

Habitat

The ''U. a. 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 Tsimshian peoples as ''moksgm'ol''. In the February 2006 Speech from the Throne by the Government of British Columbia, the Lieutenant Governor announced the government's intention to designate the Kermode or spirit bear as British Columbia's official animal. It was adopted as such in April of that year. A male Kermode bear can reach 225 kg or more, females are much smaller with a maximum weight of 135 kg . Straight up, it stands 180 cm tall.

Fewer than 400 Kermode bears are estimated to exist in the coast area that stretches from Southeast Alaska southwards to the northern tip of Vancouver Island; about 120 inhabit the large Princess and prince Royal Island. The largest concentration of the white bears inhabits 80-square-mile Gribbell Island, in the territory of the Gitga’at.

The bear's habitat is potentially under threat from the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, whose planned route passes near the Great Bear Rainforest. Native groups including the Gitga'at have opposed the pipeline.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyUrsidae
GenusUrsus
SpeciesU. americanus
Photographed in
Canada