Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name       Ray
status     other
age        50s

Question - In July we were on vacation in Alaska. We
have gone there 4  times in the last 10 years. We were using an RV and spent
on night beside  the road about 30 miles south of the intersection of the
Denali Highway  and Parks Highway, not far from Denali NP. In the morning,
while  preparing to leave, we spoted a sow bear with two yearling
cubs about 3/4  of a mile across a clearing. They were all three as white
as snow over their entire bodies. We could see their entire bodies.
There was no dark hair on any of them. They were not what I would call a
blond brown bear.  We watched them work their way across the clearing for
about 30-40 min's with binoculars and a zoom video camera. I am aware of the
"Spirit Bears" of BC but they are a small group and I understand they are
a type of  black bear. The sow in this group was had the distinct
hump of a brown bear. Are there other reports of "white" brown bears? Have
there been any other sitings of white bears of any type in this area of
Alaska?


I don't know a lot about bear genetics but there are albino forms in almost
all mammals.

PF
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