It’s not everyday that you get to see a spirit bear… it’s believed that only 100 to 400 exist in the world, depending on who you talk to.
Now to be clear, the “spirit bear” is not an albino bear. Rather, it’s a subspecies of black bears that just so happen to have white or creamy fur. Their rare color also comes with brown eyes, white claws (not the drink), and dark nose padding. Most spirit bears live in The Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia, Canada.
The spirit bear, also called the Kermode, is the official animal of the B.C. province of Canada.
Their white fur is caused by a recessive gene that makes their typically brown fur a white or cream color. In indigenous culture, they believed that their Raven idol had made one of every 10 bears white in remembrance of the Ice Age. Other communities that have been native to the area where spirit bears are most commonly found have always viewed the animal as sacred.
It’s extremely rare to see one in person. That’s due to the estimated population of spirit bears currently living on Earth (more accurate number is probably between 50 and 150). And if a spirit bear were to have a cub that was also pale in color, the other parent of the cub must also carry the gene that would result in a cream-colored or white coat. Even if the mother herself is a spirit bear, there’s no guarantee she’d produce cubs that resemble herself.
All that to say that the existence of spirit bears is somewhat of a marvel. A lot of things have had to go right for their population to even be at or over 100. That’s why this British Columbia resident was so thrilled – and felt so incredibly grateful – when she was able to see one with her own eyes.
And it wasn’t like she went looking for it either… it was just sitting on the side of the road:
“Today I saw a once-in-a-lifetime bear sighting. The Kermode ‘Spirit Bear.’ Heading back to Prince Rupert, I was lucky enough to experience this Spirit Bear. If you’re a west coaster, you know how rare this sighting can be. It was just standing on the side of the highway, and had no problem with us taking a closer look at him from the truck. Feel very fortunate to have such incredible wildlife in British Columbia.”
What a beautiful animal that is.
You can only hope that it’s able to live a long life. Sometimes being that light of a color can be a hinderance when it comes to avoiding predators), but bears in these woods do not have too many predators. Grizzly bears and wolves are pretty much it, but hopefully, this one will be able to pass on the recessive genes and help the spirit bear population grow. If you ever wanted to see one in person, your best bet would be going up to Canada and seeing one in the British Columbia province. Even then, the odds of setting your eyes on one aren’t all that great…
And if you happened to like the song that was overlaid on the video, I went ahead and linked it here for you. It’s actually one of my personal favorites by a band called River Whyless. They released “Motel 6,” the song that’s included in the spirit bear footage, back in 2018:
