The spirit bear, or Kermode bear, used to just be a legend. It has been discovered that these bears are real; yet also we learned that they are on the brink of extinction from, like many other animals, habitat loss.

Spirit bears are a genetically unique sub-species of black bear. In every ten spirit bears one is white and the rest are black. White spirit bears range from creamy-white to light silvery-blue. White spirit bears have a darker patch on their back.   A spirit bear cub can be white even if both parents are black.

Spirit bears eat basically the same things as ordinary black bears: salmon, nuts, berries, and small animals. They live in only one small corner of British Columbia, which also happens to be the world’s largest unprotected area of intact temperate rainforest. The gigantic old growth trees of the spirit bears’ home are, in part, tribute to the bears themselves. The reason is their messy eating habits; the spirit bears leave little bits of the salmon they eat near the river, and when the nutrient-rich shreds decompose they fertilize the soil.

The rainforest where the spirit bears live is now threatened by logging. If the plans go through, the pristine forests will be replaced by unsustainable monoculture plantation forests, and all hope will be lost for the creature that, in the words of Simon Jackson, is the panda bear of British Columbia.

Simon Jackson, protector of the spirit bear since age 13, has started a worldwide coalition of young people who want to save the spirit bear. Check out the website at spiritbearyouth.com.