Today my family and I were blown away by watching Clover the Kermode Bear stroll around in her large enclosure and then climb 30 feet up a tree.
Kermode or "Spirit" bears are designated as British Columbia's official animal. They are actually a sub species of black bears named after Frank Kermode , former director of the Royal B.C. Museum of Victoria, who researched them. Indigenous peoples have long known them as Spirit Bears.
Scientifically speaking, they are not albinos as they have a brown nose and brown eyes . Rather some of the sub species are born having a double recessive gene ( that is both parents have to have the gene) that causes them to be white or cream colored.
Clover was an orphan bear that had became too familiar with humans. Although there much effort to rehabilitate the bear ( he was relocated twice) there was no success. Provincial Wildlife officials decided the best course of action was to bring the bear to the Kamloops Wildlife Park. As far as is know, Clover is the only Kermode Bear in captivity in the world.
All pictures are my own.
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