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Spirit Bear
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Things seem a little slow, so I thought I'd post a picture of the Spirit Bear that was photographed in Juneau last year. Legislation was brought up to ban hunting of this type of black bear (though not of the Glacier Bears) in the Juneau area. Not really a Kermode (usually a blondish white) and not really a glacier bear (usually a gray or blue tinted black bear).
Rumor has it this particular bear met its fate this past late fall or early winter in a collision with an automobile.
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NitroX
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(.700 member)
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02/03/04 10:24 AM
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Re: Spirit Bear
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Very nice. Are these bears genetically these colours or is it an occaisional "throw out" in the breeding cycle?
Thanks for the photo.
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Re: Spirit Bear
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Don't quote me on this, but I believe Glacier bears are "throw out", as it has been documented that a sow can have both a black and glacier cub twins. However, the Glacier bear color phase of the black bear only occur in certain locations in Alaska. I think the Kermode is a different subspecies of the black bear, but could be wrong.
This "Spirit Bear" is neither a Glacier or Kermode "black bear". At least it doesn't appear to have the usual color markings of either. All three of these are considered to be Black bears, but I believe the Kermode or Kermodi is a different subspecie.
I'm not a biologist or taxonomist, so I may be talking out of my left ear!
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Re: Spirit Bear
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I do not believe the Kermode bear is a subspecies. It is just a color phase, same as that photo, a whitish bear but not albino. This photo shows a bear with black skin pigment so it is not albino. It looks like a Kermode bear in color, at least the photos of ones identified to be such. Some time ago I saw a documentary on TV about them.
Speaking of odd colors, here in Michigan it is illegal to kill a true albino deer. They do come piebald, like a paint horse, and those look pretty ugly. The piebald deer are legal to shoot. Some states offer no protection to pure albino game.
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mickey
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(.416 member)
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03/03/04 01:38 PM
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Re: Spirit Bear
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What would be the reason for protecting genetic inferior Deer? Wouldn't you want to get it out of the Gene Pool? 
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Re: Spirit Bear
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You never know the DNR's motivation but I would hope it would be a issue of sportsmanship. A white deer does not have a great deal of camo in his favor  I have never seen one myself. A blonde color phase Bear is high on my wanted list of trophies. I'm not sure I would be able to collect my thoughts fast enough to shoot if I saw a white deer.
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