#kermode bears

[elin-moon]

So I was searching up to see if there is actually a species of yellow bear (just for the fun of it). I found a species called the Kermode bear, a species of black bear that can sometimes come out white due to some sort of recessive gene. The white bears look kind of yellow, like a pale yellow.

Look at this pretty boy.

Anywho, that ended up in me looking up these bears on pinterest, just to get more images for reference.

Look at these babies.

Freddy and Goldie much?

Enjoy<3

[bearotonin-international]

Hello fellow bear lovers! I have an oc who is a kermode bear centaur (human waist up, bear waist down)! I don’t get much practice drawing him though :/ could you give me some goofy kermode bear (or normal blackbear!) pictures i can use for practice?

so we know you didn't ask for this but the team's gonna nerd out for a couple minutes here and provide a couple fun facts about kermode bears (the team is procrastinating doing actual work). and then provide the requested photos as we always do :)

for anyone who doesn't know, kermode bears are a subspecies of black bears, and most kermode bears do not actually have white coats. kermode bears with white coats are called spirit bears (and only about 10-20% of kermode bears are spirit bears). the white of the spirit bear is a specific coat color morph that is much more genetically common in the kermode bear population. (there's a recessive mutant gene that must be present in both parents (bearants) for the cub to be a spirit bear).

(here's a funky lil graphic about spirit bear genetics)

so it's pretty common for kermode bear mixed families with cubs that are different colors from their mothers and/or each other

there is research suggesting two primary reasons the prominence of the white coat in kermode bears is because it gives the bears an advantage while fishing during the day time, because the fish are less likely to see their light coats from underwater (kermode bears are supremely skilled and successful slammers of salmon) (there's all kinds of fun facts about the dietary differences of spirit bears and kermode bears inhabiting the same reasons).

another reason for the prominence of spirit bears is because of positive assortative mating (aka white kermode bears breed more with other white kermode bears (and black kermode bears tend to breed more with other black kermode bears)) (one of the fun theories for why this occurs is that babies are more likely to imprint on their mother's coat color)

there's all kinds of other fun facts about spirit & kermode bears, but we've gone on long enough so

TLDR not all kermode bears are spirit bears but all spirit bears are kermode bears

okay now on to some silly kermode bears as actually requested

[grizzly-bear-official]

Dost thou have photographs of Kermode bears?

but soft! what bear through yonder forest breaks? it is the spirit bear...

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didst thou know that all black bears living in the central and north coast regions of the british columbia area are called 'Kermode bears'? including those with black fur. only the white-coated bears are called Spirit Bears.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Kermode bears (also known as spirit or ghost bears) have a creamy-white coat. They are not albino bears, as they usually have brown eyes and a brown nose, but are a rare subspecies of the American black bear. They live in the Great Bear Rainforest of coastal British Columbia.

Photographer: Lisa Adler

[grizzly-bear-official]

Are spirit bears albino, or is it some other mutation? Being albino can really hurt it's eyesight.

thanks for asking! i've answered a similar question before, but i think it was lost to the great grizzly bear official accidental blog deletion event, so i'll talk about it again here.

spirit bears are not albino black bears. they're black bears with a rare double-recessive gene mutation. this mutation prevents pigment from being produced in the fur, but the skin and eyes of the bear still produce pigment. below is a picture of a spirit bear (left) compared to a picture of an albino black bear (right).

as you can see, the spirit bear has a dark nose and dark eyes, while the albino black bear has a pink nose and red eyes. the difference is admittedly subtle, and it's hard to tell from far away.

an extra little factoid for you: spirit bears actually benefit from having white fur! fish have a harder time seeing spirit bears than black-furred bears, giving spirit bears a slight hunting advantage.

[calderas-and-aquifers]

The Great Bear Sea: No place for a pipeline

The Great Bear region of British Columbia’s north coast is one of Canada’s ecological treasures. Here the world’s last intact temperate rainforest meets some of the planet’s last large wild rivers.

This is an excellent resource for information regarding the proposed pipeline from Alberta to Kitmat, BC, running straight through the Great Bear Rainforest and ending at the Great Bear Sea.  This is an extremely sensitive area, as is the entire northwestern coast of Canada.  In addition, this area houses the world’s only population of Kermode Bears.  Construction and use of this pipeline could disrupt wildlife to the point of very seriously reducing the population of Kermode Bears, as well as countless other species in the area which are already endangered.  

Despite the fact that this area is protected by First Nations against clear-cutting, it seems that the area is not protected against harmful construction of something such as a pipeline, because it wouldn’t involve clear-cutting.  

I recommend doing as much research as possible and contacting as many political figures, activists, and First Nations councils as possible.

Resources:

Huge source of information on the area, including people living there and threats facing: http://bcrainforest.com/great-bear-rainforest/great-bear-rainforest-part-10-people-of-the-rainforest-since-time-immemorial/

Save The Great Bear Project, list of protected areas plus entire rescue project: http://www.savethegreatbear.org/region/protected_areas

[marvelousbearsofmoxleyselcouth]

Kermode in the forest

[marvelousbearsofmoxleyselcouth]

kermode cubs and mother bear