Genetics

 

one out of ten

Genetics

• Subspecies of the North Americas black bears are found only on Canada’s west coast

• All bears, black or white, in this corner of the world have the potential to have cubs who will form the Kermode bear subspecies

• Kermode – specific gene that produces the white bear that has never been found in any other mammal on earth, providing that the spirit bear is not just genetically unique.
• Every 1/10 Kermode bear carries a double recessive gene that produces a white cub

• 10,000years ago when a strain of coastal black bears became separate from their interior cousins
• White Kermode, these bears cannot be reproduced in captivity unless the exact right ten black Kermode bears are present to produce it – the only way to sustain the spirit bear is to protect the fine ecological balance that has allowed them to survive for centuries.