The Spirit Bear

Polar bears in the rainforest of British Columbia? Albino bears? Good guess, but both are wrong. Haunting the ancient moss-laden forests along the Pacific coast are white-coated bears that are a subspecies of the North American black bear. Known as a Kermode or spirit bear, about one in ten is white, the rest coal-black. White ones are Canada's rarest bears. Spirit bears are found nowhere else in the world. A large part of their homeland has been logged and the rest is threatened.

In 1987, the Valhalla Wilderness Society started a science-based program to establish a large sanctuary for the spirit bear centred in the heartland of British Columbia's still-intact temperate rainforest on Princess Royal Island and adjacent areas. We have also created an anti-poaching fund for illegal hunting of grizzly bears and white-phase Kermodes in the area.

After a major international campaign, by 2005 the B.C. provincial government still had not acted on its promise to protect the spirit bear, even though well over half a million acres of our original sanctuary proposal has been endorsed for protection by First Nations, government planning tables and environmental organizations.

While more key ecological areas such as Green Inlet still need to be protected, the province needs to legislate protection of what has been endorsed to date as well as provide funding for sustainable development of First Nations communities in the area.

Please support our spirit bear conservation program. Your immediate action is urgently needed. This website will allow you to learn more about this rare and beautiful creature. When you are ready, please go to the Action Centre to learn how you can help protect it.