Category Archives: Great Bear Rainforest Part 3: The Spirit Bear

The spirit bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), of the Great Bear Rainforest, is also known as the moskgm’ol or moskam al, literally translating to “white bear” by the Tsimshian people of the Gitga’at Nation. Other terms are ghost bear, white bear,  and Kermode bear. The spirit bear holds a mystical and legendary place in the culture of the the coastal rainforest.

The spirit bear also has a unique genetic makeup. It is not a polar bear or an albino, as its appearance might suggest, but a subspecies of black bear that gets its white fur from a double-recessive gene. When both of the bear’s parents contain a recessive gene, the result is their cubs having a white or creamy fur.  Researchers, whose findings appear in the journal Current Biology, Vol 11 No 18, report that a single nucleotide replacement in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene (mc1r) is responsible for the white coat color of the Kermode bear, a color phase of the black bear found in rainforests along the north coast of British Columbia, including the islands. Their sample included 220 bears, 10% of which were white. Reports vary, but observations are that this number can go up to 20-30% depending on the region of the coast.

These bears were named after Frank Kermode, a zoologist of the Royal British Columbia Museum, who studied the bear’s origins. But the Kitasoo and Tsimishian Nations have their own legends and names for the bear. These legends date back to the ice age, over 10,000 years ago. When the world was vast and white, covered in glaciers, there was the creator: Raven.

In the Kitasoo story of Raven, he came out of the ice age and down from the sky to create “The Green”. But he missed his ancient snowy land and wanted something to remember the old world by, so he made one in ten black bears white. The sacredness of the animal to First Nations is pure, and mentioning the bear used to be nearly taboo–but now it needs to be discussed, due to logging threats and the proposed Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline by Enbridge.

According to Public Radio International and “Living on Earth,” journalist Bruce Barcott stated:

Contrary to popular belief the spirit bear is not a common figure in First Nation mythology. Rather, the bear’s existence has become a close-kept tribal secret for generations–aiding both the First Nation and the bear’s survival through colonists, fur trappers, logging companies and hopefully now the pipeline.

I think the First Nation is now interested in publicizing the spirit bear’s existence if only as a way to help protect the land and the water that both they and the spirit bear rely upon.

This new green world that Raven created contains a large habitat that spirit bears exist in, along with their black bear family. Their territory is about 7.2 million hectacres and includes the islands and parts of the mainland coast of British Columbia.

The bears share their habitat with old growth forests, marine-diet wolves, bald eagles, salmon, foxes, and other animals.

A couple years ago, BBC Earth News reported findings by a researchers who published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. The report noted that the the white color of the spirit bear may be a survival adaptation. The lighter color of the bear is less visible to fish than darker black bears, making them 30% more efficient at capturing salmon. However, black bears without the recessive allele camouflage better within forest habitats. At night, both colors of bear have similar chances of catching salmon, but the spirit bear with a lighter coat has better luck during the day. The spirit bears, research shows, are more dependent on their wild salmon diet than their black bear counterparts.

A young spirit bear weighs only half a pound when born but can grow up to 300 pounds as an adult, the males being larger; spirit bears live up to about 25 years. They grow up to a height of between four and six feet, and are omnivores, eating fish, berries, carrion, insects, nuts, fruits, mushrooms, plants, and sometimes small animals such as fawns, though usually these bears are not active predators. Their diet heavily depends on annual salmon spawns.

Because these bears have remained in isolated areas for thousands of years, they are reported to be gentle toward humans, but as with approaching any animal, it is not recommended that you disturb these bears, especially mothers with cubs. Many spirit bears are seen alone. It is recommended to make a noise such as speaking or whistling when walking in the forest, to warn them of your presence. If you do see a bear, he or she may stand on their back feet, bare their teeth, and growl. They usually do not attack unless they perceive that you are dangerous–again, mothers with cubs may attack.

I doubt you’ll be able to outrun the bear, though. They are reported to being able to run up to 55 km an hour.

Mating occurs during late spring and early summer, with gestation lasting about 220 days. When bears mate, they depend on their noses and scent to communicate. As females come into estrus, they release hormones through their urine and feces. These smells can be picked up from several kilometers away. The males will rub their mark on trees and other places. The couple eventually finds each other and may stay together for a few days or even a few weeks. Copulation can occur often, and males and females might also mate with others during this time. When estrus is over, so is all the romance, and the males and females part. Males do not make any further contribution to parenting.

Cubs are born during hibernation, usually in January or February, and are weaned at about eight months of age, long after their emergence into the big world from their cozy winter dens. Cubs usually stay with their mothers for a few months longer, until she is ready to mate again.

It is illegal to hunt spirit bears due to their rarity, but other threats, such as logging, have reduced their habitat. There are an estimated 500 to 1,200 white spirit bears, and black bears with the recessive gene, left on Earth. Fortunately, their habitat is difficult to get to, and most must get there by expensive float planes or boat.

Habitat of the black and spirit bears is found within the majestic and sacred rainforest, where old-growth trees, sandy beaches, alpine tundra, fjords, salt marshes, and kelp beds present a magical land of rain, fog, and mystery. The Sitka spruce, red cedar, Douglas fir, Pacific silver fir, and western hemlock loom hundreds of feet in the air to a green and brown canopy, and have grown for more than 1,500 years–having evolved since the Pleistocene glaciation.

First nations, scientists, environmentalists, and others have long been worried about the protection of the Great Bear Rainforest. In 2001, the government endorsed the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement to protect the coastal forests, but industrial logging continued. In 2002, environmental organizations found new evidence of clear-cutting, and in 2003 launched a campaign in China, which was, according to Forest Action Network (FAN), “the fastest-growing market for lumber clearcut from BC’s ancient forests.” In July of that year, FAN reported a new road being blasted into bear habitat on Princess Royal Island, and that companies such as Interfor, Western Forest Products, and Triumph Timber all had licenses to log in spirit bear territory. In 2004, three years after the agreement to protect the rainforest, FAN released a report that some progress had been made but that emerging threats continued to exist, including mining and industrial logging.

The protection of the area goes back earlier, too. In the early 1990s, a large-scale protection of the Great Bear was launched by environmentalist to protect the Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Nuu-chah-nulth people, including the northern Hesquiaht, the middle Ahousaht, and the southern Tla-o-Qui-Aht.

These early protests gave way to the coined name of the Great Bear Rainforest.

As early as 1984, Meares Island and Sulphur Pass had logging blockades, after the BC government decided to log most of the island. A legal application from the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation was granted, which halted the logging and imposed a legal injunction. In 1989, a sustainable development stakeholder process was set up to provide land use plans for Clayoquot, but this dissolved in 1992. In 1993, the Clayoquot Land Use Decision (CLUD) came about. According to Friends of Clayoquot Sound, this decision called for:

• 33% of land base of Clayoquot Sound protected (90,400 hectares)
  (translates into 22% of productive ancient forest protected)
• 62% of land base open for logging
  (translates into 74% of productive ancient forest open for logging)
• 5% of land base not included in decision
  (District of Tofino; First Nations reserves; Meares Island – under court injunction and treaty negotiation)

However, this decision did not sit well, and later that year came Canada’s largest civil disobedience. 12,000 citizens attended a logging road blockade in Clayoquot Sound. 850 were arrested. See IISAAK (First Nation led forest service) for a timeline of CLUD protection and activism covering 1978-2008.

Since 2000, Clayoquot Sound has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. These sites are established by countries in order to encourage ecological science and sustainable development in local communities. Biosphere reserves attempt to reconcile conservation of biological and cultural diversity, and economic and social development, through partnerships between people and and nature.

In 2006, 2007, and 2008, further agreements between coalitions of several organizations have called for continued protection and sustainable forest management. This includes implementation of an ecosystem-based management  and “keeping the promise” by Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada, and ForestEthics in 2008.

However, the Sound and the entire Great Bear Rainforest are still threatened.

A new salmon farm near Plover Point is being proposed, which would threaten wild salmon habitat, a necessary food source for animals and people of the raincoast, when wild salmon numbers are already dwindling. The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project would also lay twin pipelines across the mainland temperate raincoast and bring more large tankers up this sensitive ecosystem area to Kitimat, BC.

Some organizations promote the idea of “no-go zones” for wild salmon rivers, where forests and other ecosystems dependent on a dwindling species, such as salmon, would be unavailable for mining. East of the Great Bear Rainforest are the three major wild salmon-bearing rivers. The Skeena, Stikine, and Nass are watersheds known as the Sacred Headwaters and make up the territory for the Tahltan First Nation.

Royal Dutch Shell, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun, wants to turn the Sacred Headwaters into a fracking production that would involve “an ugly maze of coal bed methane gas wells and roads.”

No doubt the Enbridge project, too, if it comes to reality, would further destroy the environment of British Columbia, from the twin pipelines–which would be laid from Alberta to the coast–and, some say worse, the potential for an oil leak or spill from an increased 225 oil supertankers along the coast per year, which would make their way in and out of Kitimat tidewaters and inlets, home to the Haisla First Nation, or “People of the Snow.”

The waters of this coast, and the delicate rainforest around it, are home to a treasure trove of biodiversity–some of the last great natural riches on our planet abiding in one of the largest, most intact temperate rainforests left on Earth. Not only are spirit bears and wild salmon dependent on this region but so are humpback, orca, and fin whales that feed there. Each organism in this rainforest, from the tiniest, most miniscule bacteria decomposing dead organic material on the forest floor to the tall conifers providing a canopy to the animals like spirit bears, it’s crucial that this environment not be impeded by anthropogenic impacts.

The spirit bear is only one inhabitant of the great rainforest, but it’s a prominent example of why the Pacific temperate rainforest must continue to be preserved and protected. From the Sacred Headwaters to the western coast and its islands, this great forest teems with life and beauty; truly nowhere else in the world can match its unique composition and raw and ancient power.