Yesterday morning, I saw an example of polymorphism high in the south Selkirk Mountains. It took the form of different colour morphs within a family of Black Bears.
Colour morphs (also called phases or forms) are found in a number of species. Among Black Bears the colours can range through black, chocolate, cinnamon, cream and white. Furthermore, these various colours can be found within a single family.
One colour morph in British Columbia, the white to creamy Black Bear, is so famous that it has been given the designation, spirit bear. Although found throughout the Province, the proportion of these light morphs varies geographically and is highest along the north coast where it reaches about 10% among the kermode subspecies.
The takeaway message is that while the spirit bear is a visually interesting colour morph of the Black Bear, it is not a subspecies (as many sources claim); rather it is a colour morph found in various subspecies. It is also not a synonym for kermode; it is found everywhere, including here.
Did I see a spirit bear on Sunday morning? Possibly, but its colour seems somewhere between cinnamon and cream.
The first thing spotted was a large chocolate sow. She appeared to be foraging on the bulbs of glacier lilies. What may be her den is in the rocks just above.
Slightly to the east and higher on the mountainside, was a light colour morph cub also enjoying glacier lilies. At first, I thought the dark region in the lower left was the shadow of a rock; no, it is a black colour morph cub.
And below these two was a third colour morph cub. The chocolate sow has three cubs each with a different colour morph: cream, black, and chocolate.
That there were three cubs isn’t totally common and that each was a different colour is truly interesting.
Lorna, two cubs are normal, but litter sizes vary from one to five. I have no idea how often there is such a colour variation within one family.
Alistair, You were so lucky to see those three beautiful cubs of three distinct shades of momma.
Lois, agreed, But, presumably the long-gone dadda also influenced matters—and maters.
This makes me think about White Grizzly Bear (Alex Christian), a Sinixt man whose traditional name indicates that the colour variations to white did happen occasionally. Nice work, Alistair
Eileen, as I noted when I showed pictures of black grizzlies last fall, grizzly bears can range in shade from black to brown to cream.