December 6, 2023, 1:43 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
His fur is white to cream-colored, but he is not a polar bear. His habitat is not the eternal ice, but the Canadian rainforest. The spirit bear is not only a rare predator but also endangered. PETBOOK explains what makes him so unique.
The spirit bear has an unusual coloration: Its fur is not black or brown, but white to cream-colored. These animals live on the Canadian West Coast and are a subspecies of the American black bear. They were unknown to the Western world for a long time until their namesake, Francis Kermode, former director of the British Columbia Provincial Museum, named them Kermode bears in 1905. The First Nations Kiasoo and Xai’xais, in whose territory the spirit bear lives, had long known of its existence. For them, the animal holds great cultural significance, appearing in their songs, dances, and stories. A raven, considered the creator of all beings, is said to have turned one in ten black bears white long ago to remind people of the time of glaciers and eternal ice. The Kiasoo and Xai’xais simply call the spirit bear moskgm’ol—“white bear.” PETBOOK reveals the scientific explanation behind the animal’s unusual fur color.
Overview
Spirit Bears Are Not a Separate Species
The spirit bear is not a separate species but a population of the American black bear with a light color variation. Apart from their fur color, these large predators are no different from their counterparts. They are omnivores, with Pacific salmon as their staple food. Surprisingly, the spirit bears’ light fur gives them a hunting advantage over black bears. Before the bears enter hibernation in the fall, they feast on salmon returning from the ocean to their spawning grounds. In hunting salmon, spirit bears are actually better camouflaged than black bears. The contrast of their fur against the blue sky is less than that of black bears, writes the British magazine “BBC Wildlife.”
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Native Only to the Great Bear Rainforest
American black bears are found in three North American countries: Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. In contrast, the spirit bear is only found in the Great Bear Rainforest. Its habitat is located on the West Coast of Canada, in the world’s largest remaining intact temperate coastal rainforest. With an area of 6.4 million hectares, the region is roughly the size of Ireland, according to the NGO Linking Tourism and Conservation.
Is the Spirit Bear an Albino?
Although its fur can be white as well as cream-colored, the spirit bear is not an albino. This becomes clear upon closer inspection of the bear. Its skin and eyes are pigmented—unlike albinos. Instead, a single mutated gene is responsible for the bears’ unusual fur color. Scientists led by Kermit Ritland identified this gene in a study at the University of British Columbia more than 20 years ago. According to the researchers, the gene is responsible for the production of yellow or black pigments in the hair. When a gene mutation occurs, the hair cells no longer produce pigments—the reason for the spirit bear’s light fur. It is suspected that this mutation may have arisen during the last ice age, writes the newspaper “WELT.”
Only One in Ten Black Bears Has Light Fur
Scientists are puzzled that this mutated gene has not disappeared over the millennia, as it is recessively inherited. This means that both parents must carry the gene to produce offspring with white fur. The likelihood of a cub being born as a spirit bear is therefore low—even if one of the parents is a spirit bear. As a result, only about one in ten black bears has light fur, and there are believed to be no more than 400 animals, writes the magazine “BBC Wildlife.” Also interesting: Since bears give birth to one to four cubs, the fur color of the offspring can vary. A spirit bear with light fur and a dark-furred black bear can grow up together as siblings.
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Measures to Protect the Spirit Bears
In the Great Bear Forest, both trophy hunting of grizzlies and permitted hunting of black bears have threatened the spirit bear. Without black bears, there are no spirit bears. A step toward protecting these rare animals was the ban on grizzly trophy hunting in 2017. In 2022, a hunting ban on black bears in parts of British Columbia was added, as reported by Radio-Canada (CBC) in a statement. Although black bears are not an endangered species, their protection is intended to help prevent further depletion of the extremely low population of spirit bears. The increased protective measures are also due to a study published in 2020. The scientists concluded that the genetic variation in the Great Bear Rainforest occurs up to 50 percent less frequently than previously thought.
The study also revealed that the geographic hotspots where the spirit bear’s gene mutation is particularly prevalent are not yet adequately protected. The general decline in salmon numbers is also troubling for the spirit bears. As the larger and stronger grizzlies expand their hunting grounds, they cross paths with the spirit bears. Grizzlies then compete with the smaller predator for food and can drive it away.