With its all-over white fur coat, the otherwise normal white-phase black bear can be a confusing sight to behold.
That’s why a lucky group of hikers were did a double-take when they spotted one of the elusive animals roaming in the mountains west of Calgary, Alta.
“Everyone was amazed,” Alex Royal recalled to CTV Calgary on Tuesday. “I’ve seen a black bear before, but nothing like that.”
Despite its apparently contradictory name, the rare white-phase black bear is just like any other black bear, except that it has an all-white coat.
Unlike the famed Kermode or “spirit” bears in British Columbia, the white-phase black bear is not a genetic anomaly or the product of a recessive gene.
Sarah Elmeligi from Alberta Parks said they’re completely normal, genetically.
“This is just like not all cats are tabbies, some are black and white and some are orange, this is the exact same phenomenon,” Elmeligi said. “This is just a colour differentiation in this particular bear.”
Despite their name, black bears can actually have black, brown, blond, cinnamon, blue-gray or white coats.
This particular white-phase black bear is known to parks and wildlife officials who have been keeping tabs on it for several years.
“Our ecology team has seen her mom and her siblings when she was a cub in previous years,” Elmeligi said.
Royal and his friends spied the seldom-seen bear in Kananaskis Country, just south of Canmore. Bear experts are unwilling to share the exact location of the sighting, for fear of tourists swarming the area to catch a glimpse of the distinctive bear.
“These bears are just trying to make it through their day,” Elmeligi said. “To eat, to find food, to meet mates, so we just need to give them the space to go about their day in peace.”
For anyone intent on seeing a white-phase black bear in person, the Calgary Zoo has one in their care.
“Her name is Minuka and she’s about six years old,” the zoo’s general curator Colleen Baird said. “She came to us as a problem bear. Unfortunately, we had people that were feeding this bear and she became problematic and hanging around and became a safety risk.”
Park officials have urged the public to not feed any bears in the wild and to always keep a safe distance.
With a report from CTV Calgary’s Kevin Green
