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British Columbia is home to Grizzly, Black and the rare Kermode, or Spirit bear, who thrive in the temperate rainforest.
British Columbia is home to 50% of Canada's grizzly population. Over half of the world's temperate rainforests have already
been destroyed. A quarter of the world's rainforest that remains is found on the west coast of British Columbia.
Here, on Canada's Pacific coast, between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the Alaska border, lies the 8-million-acre Great Bear
Rainforest. Snow-capped mountains and steep, forested slopes, which boast giant cedars, Sitka spruce, western hemlock and
balsam fir, characterize the region. Rich salmon streams weave through valley bottoms salmon filled fjords. The ecosystem of
the Great Bear Rainforest is amazingly diverse and is home to salmon, orca whales, dall porpoise, elephant seals, sea lions, bald
and golden eagles, wolves, cougars, marbled murrelets and bears. This unique forest habitat is a result of 10,000 years of
post-glacial activity.
Living in a pristine temperate rainforest, the Kermode, or Spirit bears have lived for thousands of years in this region.
The Kermode bear is a typical American black bear, except it has a white coat. The pure white bears are not albinos.
A unique double-recessive gene that produces white hair instead of black causes the color of their coat. The Kermode
bear is often called spirit bear or ghost bear. Places like Princess Royal Island are where white bears occur most
frequently within the greater black bears population. One in every ten of the black bears on this island is white.
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| British Columbia's Bears - Page 2 |
