Bear With Me...
Okay, not a bird but SUPER cool.These pictures were taken near Gordon, Wisconsin by Ron Rudquist. It's not every day that you come across a white black bear cub. Ron said, "I don't know how rare it is for a black bear to have a white cub but at least we can say we've seen it no matter how rare it is! Since there seems to be no sign of a pink nose or eyes, I would say that it is not an albino. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos!"
As Ron points out, the cub doesn't appear to be an albino since the nose and eyes are not pink.
Black bears are known to have several color variations including cinnamon, dark brown and blonde. There are occasional albino black bears but I know in Minnesota there was at least one white phase black bear that showed up a few years ago at the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary in Orr (which, by the way, is one of the most exciting things outside of birding that you can do in Minnesota). You can read more about white phase black bears at the Sanctuary's site.
posted by birdchick at 1:24 PM
3 Comments:
That is a remarkable photo! How phenotypes happen is still amazing to me. Thanks for posting. I would have to agree that it's not an albino but the expression of two recessive genes....or simply one of God's miracles :o) What a neat experience it must have been to see this little cub!
Have a fantastic day!
so cuteeeeee!
Hello,
What cub you see is also known as a "Kermode Bear". This happens when both parents carry a recessive gene, causing the cub's fur to be white (or, in some cases, a very light yellow, and I have heard of, but never seen, extremely rare cases where the fur is a light blue). They are most often found up in British Columbia, Canada, but have been spotted in other areas. There is one reported to be in the Adirondack region of New York state.
It is said that Raven created them to remind the world of the glaciers.
Great pictures - thanks for sharing!
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