Kermode Bears

“Kodiak bears are a unique subspecies of the brown bear, living exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago and have been isolated from other bears for about 12,000 years.” (Daele 2010)

Well there are only maybe hundred Kermode bears near The British Columbia island. I know that is a crazy low of a number. They are mostly outside of the British Colonies. But one was spotted in 1997 is was near Orr, Minneapolis. It was a Subadult male.

The Grizzly Bear is a Keystone species. A keystone species is the center block, of which an ecosystem largely relies on. The Grizzly Bear lives in places such as alpine slopes, avalanche shoots and lower elevation wetlands.

Spirit bears or Kermode bears and are found off the coast of the British Columbia in a rain forest.The kermode bear is not a Polar bear or a albino.The Kermode bear is a rare white black bear. the bear was named after Francis kermode.

This is approximately the same range of the Great Bear rainforest, which is a part of the larger North Pacific temperate rainforest (Appendix 1 Map 2). It falls within the biogeoclimatic zone of the coastal western hemlock which consists of cool and wet climate due to its proximity to both ocean and the mountain range (Klinka & Reimchen, 2009). This zone is home to a variety of distinct species such as coastal wolves and pacific salmon (Ferguson, 2006) and makes up approximately a quarter of the world’s temperate coastal forest.This region is so important due to the fact that it is basically one of the lungs for the world, storing massive quantities of carbon (Della Sala, 2013). This contributes to many factors such as regulating global climate and most importantly for the Kermode bear, supporting the world’s most productive salmon runs (Della Sala, 2013). The Spirit bear’s distribution is heavily reliant on this distribution and availability of the pacific salmon (Klinka & Reimchen, 2009). Evidence suggests that even though the Kermode bear is a subspecies of the american black bear and share the same niche, they still have different distribution of feeding areas (Sachs, 2010). The american black bear relies heavily on in-land shrubs including whitebark pine (Pinus

Beauseour and Princess island along the rain-forest coast of British Columbia most spirit bears live there.

The Spirit Bear, or actually called the Kermode bear, lives in the Great Bear Rainforest in the Northwest area of the Canadian province British Columbia. Half way up the coast is where they live. “Scientifically, the white ones, along with their closest black relatives, belong to a subspecies of black bear.”(Smithsonian) The big white bear is probably around 300 lbs. It is cold where they live, and their fur definitely helps them keep warm. They hunt for things like salmon, and just eats it up. Right now, the some estimates say there are only around 100 of the specie left. They are very rare and definitely one of the rarest type of

The Kermode bears is a rare black bear with white or creamy fur, brown eyes, dark nose pads, and nearly white claws. Most of the Spirit bears live on Princess Royal and Gribble along the rain forest coast of British Columbia and about 20% on the island are white bears but the rest is black.The white fur that is on a Kermode bear is the result of a double recessive gene equal to a subspecies. According to Tlingit tribes the ghost bear or the spirit bear is a reminder of times past. These black bears are called Kermode

Polar bears are one of the countless species who are endangered. They were one of the first animals affected by global warming and their population is heavily decreasing. Around 1980, the Arctic was as large as 8 million square kilometres. In 2011, studies show that the Arctic has reduced its size to 4.5 million square kilometers. In the future, will there be anything such as the Arctic? Scientist predict by 2040, only a fringe of ice will remain in Northeast Canada and Northern Greenland. This is known as the Last Ice Area. This matter is mostly taking part in Canada, since; Canada holds more than half the world’s polar bear population. Other affected countries include the U.S. (Alaska), Greenland,

The principal cause of all the Human-Grizzly Bear conflict is human population growth. Human population has been increasing exponentially and humans are essentially invading natural environments in which animals like Grizzly Bears thrive. Habitat space for Grizzly bears is decreasing and they are competing for food and space with humans. Habitat destruction by humans leads to urbanization of natural habitats of animals; thus, leaving Grizzly bears to fend for themselves with scarce resources (Mace & Waller, 1998). Urbanization such as road development leads to fragmentation and increasing the chances Grizzly bear interaction with a human, this is because of transport and service corridors, particularly roads, are currently the prime form of humans to access to Grizzly bear range (MacHutchon and Proctor, 2015).

The polar bear, the largest land carnivore in North America, one of the largest animals in the world and a favorite at zoos worldwide, has, over the years, adapted to its harsh Arctic environment. The appropriately named ‘ursus maritimum’ or sea bear usually lives between 15 and 18 years in the wild and spends most of its life on ice. It is the most recent of the eight bear species. The first polar bear was a brown bear subspecies, with brown bear dimensions and brown bear teeth. The polar bear evolution was rapid due to the small population and extreme pressure to survive. Even today, the polar bear continues to evolve to better adapt to the harsh realities of Arctic life.

In North America, the grizzly bear is a keystone species - not as a predator but as ecosystem engineers. They transfer nutrients from the oceanic ecosystem to the forest ecosystem. The first stage of the transfer

In 2008 the bears were listed by the U.S. Endangered Species Act due to global warming (1). This listing happened because of the ongoing loss of critical habitat for polar bears survival. The arctic sea ice sheets are the primary habitat for the bear. The bear lives, and hunts exclusively on these arctic ice sheets. Increasing global temperatures in the world’s oceans are shrinking the arctic ice for longer periods of time during the late summer months, leaving polar bears with limited hunting and breeding

The polar bear lives up in the Arctic region where global warming and climate change are melting the ice caps that the bears thrive on. They use the ice as a platform from hunting and rest. The random pocket holes in the ice, where the seals pop up at, is where the polar bear catches its prey. With this reduction of ice, “the abundance of seals, and increases the amount of energy and time needed for hunting, leaving less energy for reproduction” (Endangered Species and Habitats).

Polar bears are the most known animals for the impacts of climate change on species. Global warming has been most prominent in the Arctic, and this trend is expected to continue. Their dependence on sea ice makes them highly vulnerable to a changing climate. Polar bears greatly rely on the sea ice environment for traveling, hunting, mating, resting, and in some areas, maternal dens (WWF). Specifically, they depend heavily on sea ice-dependent prey such as seals. Additionally, their long generation time and low reproductive rate may limit their ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Every time people breathe or burn something, oxygen in the air is converted to carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is used by plants to breathe and is converted back to oxygen, creating a cycle. If there is an increase in oxygen burning, for example, burning a lot of coal or oil to generate electricity or run cars, and cut down trees, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is increased. This makes the air thicker and warms up the earth. The amount of warming is only a few degrees but it is enough to disturb the fragile balance of nature, which in turn will melt the polar ice, raise sea levels, cause violent hurricanes and endanger species such as polar bears. The polar bears are just one example of endangered animals because of the high demand of human need for energy which is acquired by burning fossil fuels.