Spirit Bear Hunting for Salmon

January 8th, 2015 by Currents Editor

A spirit bear is hunting for salmon in a creek on Princess Royal Island. Spirit bears, known scientifically as Kermode bears, are an extremely rare subspecies of American Black Bear, only known to exist in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest. This photographed bear is locally known as a National Geographic Bear, after it was depicted in one of National Geographic magazines. The area is frequently visited by organized wildlife watching tours and individuals, and this bear is habituated to human presence. In fact, according to one of the local First Nations guides, it may even use humans to its advantage, on many occasions hunting for salmon only when humans are close by, likely shielding itself from a more dominant bear present in the area.