One of these white bears, a subadult male, lived near Orr, Minnesota, in 1997. Outside British Columbia only about one in a million black bears is white. When both parents contribute this recessive gene, the result is white fur. A single nucleotide replacement in the melanocortin-1 (Mc-1r) receptor portion of that gene causes it to produce adenine rather than guanine. The white fur of Kermode bears is the result of a double recessive gene unique to this subspecies. Kermit Rutland and Craig Newton studied the genetics of white black bears. On the mainland, the percentage of white bears drops off drastically with distance from those islands.ĭr. About 20 percent of the bears on those islands are white the rest are black. They are considered a subspecies of black bears called Kermode bears (Ursus americanus kermodeii). Most Spirit Bears live on Princess Royal and Gribbell Islands along the rainforest coast of British Columbia. Spirit bears are rare black bears with white or creamy fur, brown eyes, dark nose pads, and nearly white claws.
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