The
Kermode bear also known as a "
spirit bear" (particularly to the Native tribes of
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
), is a subspecies of the
American Black BearThe American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
living in the central and north coast of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is 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
albinoAlbinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
s and not any more related to
polar bearThe polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s or the "blonde"
brown bearThe brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s of Alaska's "
ABC IslandsThe ABC Islands is the colloquial name for the Alaskan islands of Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof in the northern part of the Alexander Archipelago. The islands are known for their wilderness and wildlife, which include a clade of brown bear that is more closely related to polar bears than to...
" than other members of their species.
The
Kermode bear also known as a "
spirit bear" (particularly to the Native tribes of
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
), is a subspecies of the
American Black BearThe American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
living in the central and north coast of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is 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
albinoAlbinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
s and not any more related to
polar bearThe polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s or the "blonde"
brown bearThe brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s of Alaska's "
ABC IslandsThe ABC Islands is the colloquial name for the Alaskan islands of Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof in the northern part of the Alexander Archipelago. The islands are known for their wilderness and wildlife, which include a clade of brown bear that is more closely related to polar bears than to...
" than other members of their species.
National Geographic estimates the spirit bear population at 400-1000 individuals, saying that "the spirit bear may owe its survival to the protective traditions of the First Nations, who never hunted the animals or spoke of them to fur trappers".
Description
Because of their ghost-like appearance, "spirit bears" hold a prominent place in the mythology of the Canadian
First NationsFirst Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
and
American IndiansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
of the area. 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 colors of bears have similar success rates at catching fish, such as
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, 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 a colleague of
William HornadayWilliam Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. was an American zoologist, realtor, conservationist, author, poet and songwriter...
, the zoologist who described it.
Habitat
The
kermodei subspecies ranges from
Princess Royal IslandPrincess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait on the British Columbia Coast. At , it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia...
to
Prince Rupert, British ColumbiaPrince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...
on the coast, and inland toward
Hazelton, British ColumbiaHazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...
. It is known to the Tsimshian people as
Moksgm'ol. In the February 2006
Speech from the ThroneA speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
by the Government of British Columbia, the
Lieutenant GovernorThe Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the viceregal representative in British Columbia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared with equally the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest...
announced her government's intention to designate the Kermode or spirit bear as
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
'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.
It is estimated that there are fewer than 400 Kermode bears in the coast area that stretches from the Alaska panhandle southwards to the northern tip of Vancouver Island. And approximately 120 Spirit Bears inhabit the large Princess Royal Island.
The bear's habitat is potentially under threat from the
Enbridge Northern Gateway PipelinesThe Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project is a proposal to construct two pipelines running from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Kitimat, British Columbia. The eastbound pipeline would import natural gas condensate and the westbound pipeline would export crude oil...
, whose planned route passes near the
Great Bear RainforestThe Great Bear Rainforest is the name coined by environmental groups in the mid-1990s to refer to a region of temperate rain forest in Canada, on the British Columbia Coast between Vancouver Island and Southeast Alaska...
. Native groups including the Gitga'at have opposed the pipeline.
External links