Image: Wikimedia Commons

Kermode bear

Subspecies of the American Black Bear with white fur; found in British Columbia, Canada

Species / taxontaxonQ525781

Also known as spirit bear · white bear · Kermode bear · Ursus americanus kermodei

Scientific name: Ursus americanus kermodei
2
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemRetrieved 2013-09-19
2.Stated in Mammal Species of the World (Third edition)Retrieved 2015-09-19
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Rank: subspecies
2
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemRetrieved 2013-09-19
2.Stated in Mammal Species of the World (Third edition)Retrieved 2015-09-19
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Parent taxon: American black bear
2
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemRetrieved 2013-09-19
2.Stated in Mammal Species of the World (Third edition)Retrieved 2015-09-19
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

The spirit bear, sometimes called the Kermode bear, is a subspecies of the American black bear and lives in the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia, Canada. It is the official provincial mammal of British Columbia and symbol of Terrace, British Columbia. While most Kermode bears are black, between 100 and 500 fully white individuals exist. The white variant is known as spirit bear, and is most common on three islands in British Columbia, where they make up 10–20% of the Kermode population. Spirit bears hold a prominent place in the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the area. They have also been featured in a National Geographic documentary and in the BBC TV series Planet Earth III.

Overview

All data

23 statements · 52% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: Ursus maritimus
Named after: Frank Kermode
1
Sources
1.“SPIRIT BEAR FACTS”web.archive.org/web/20130702035315/http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006AL0002-000066-Attachment3.htm
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Has characteristic: leucism applies to part: spirit bear
Has part(s) of the class: spirit bear has characteristic: minority group
Subclass of: plantigrade

On other databases

15 identifiers linking Kermode bear across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

52%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 9, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Kermode bear (Q525781). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/kermode-bear-Q525781