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Spirit of the rainforest

CONTRARY to appearances, this is a black bear.
It is a member of a rare subspecies of the
American black bear, called the Kermode bear,
which is found only on the coastal islands of
British Columbia in western Canada.
Around 15 per cent of this subspecies have
white fur. Also known as “spirit bears”, these
animals are revered by First Nations peoples
in the area.
White fur is a genetic trait, caused by inheriting
a recessive gene from both parents. These bears
aren’t albinos – they still have pigmented eyes
and noses, which are black.
This particular bear’s repast was photographed
in the Great Bear Rainforest, a pristine temperate
rainforest 600 kilometres to the north-west of
Vancouver. This vast area is well supplied with
energy-rich salmon that swim upstream from
the Pacific Ocean to spawn.
Although white fur makes bears more
conspicuous, it has its advantages. One study
found that spirit bears are 10 per cent more
successful at catching fish in the daytime than
Kermode bears with black fur, perhaps because
salmon can’t make them out against the bright
sky overhead.
This photo is one of more than 300 included in
Animal: Exploring the zoological world, which will
be published by Phaidon in October. Yvaine Ye

Photographer
Paul Nicklen
National Geographic Creative

27 October 2018 | NewScientist | 27