Kermode bear | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Ursidae |
Genus: | Ursus |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | U. a. kermodei
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Trinomial name | |
Ursus americanus kermodei Hornaday, 1905
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The spirit bear, sometimes called the kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), is a subspecies of the American black bear and lives in the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia, Canada.[2] It is the official provincial mammal of British Columbia and symbol of Terrace, British Columbia.[3][4] While most Kermode bears are black, between 100 and 500 fully white individuals exist.[5] The white variant is known as spirit bear, and is most common on three islands in British Columbia (Gribbell, Princess Royal, and Roderick), where they make up 10–20% of the Kermode population.[6] Spirit bears hold a prominent place in the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the area. They have also been featured in a National Geographic documentary[7] and in the BBC TV series Planet Earth III[8]