Found in only a single forest on Earth, the spirit bear is one of the rarest bears in the world.

Wait a minute—did a polar bear lose its way and find itself in a forest? Nope! That’s a Kermode (kur-MOH-dee) bear, a type of American black bear that sometimes has white fur. That’s right: a white black bear! It has another name, too: spirit bear. It got that ghostly nickname because seeing one is like glimpsing a creature from another world.

But spotting a spirit bear isn’t as easy as you might think. Scientists believe there may be only a few hundred—or fewer—spirit bears in the wild. They all live in part of the Great Bear Rainforest along the western coast of Canada. But you don’t need to travel to discover more about them. Keep reading to experience their mysterious world.

WHY WHITE?

Only about one in ten of the Kermode bears in their small section of the Great Bear Rainforest is white. Scientists believe that, thousands of years ago, a black bear was born with a mutation (myoo-TAY-shun), or change, in one of its genes that made its fur white. (A gene is a section of DNA, the microscopic set of instructions in the cells of every living thing.) All the spirit bears today are related to that first bear, which passed the mutation down to some of its cubs, grandcubs, and so on.

WATCH SPIRIT BEARS IN ACTION!

FAMILY LIFE

A spirit bear spends its time the same way a black-furred Kermode bear does. It lives alone, except for a female with her cubs. A female, after mating, will find a cozy den to spend the cold winter months in. In December or January, she gives birth to one to four cubs there, where they stay snuggled with Mom for the rest of the winter, drinking her milk. After they leave the den, the cubs stay with their mother for another year, learning all about bear life.

Because of how genes are passed between generations, a white-furred bear can give birth to black cubs and a black-furred bear can have white cubs. But no matter what their fur color is, they all have bear-sized appetites. Read on to find out what’s on the menu!

SNACKING ON SALMON

Most of the year, spirit bears eat berries, grass-like sedges, and other plant life. But in the autumn, salmon return from the ocean to the rivers and streams where they hatched—right where hungry bears hang out.

Spirit bears are sometimes a little better at catching salmon than black-furred bears are. This is most likely because it’s harder for the salmon to see the white bears through the water—so the fish don’t swim out of reach in time.

It’s not just the bears that get fed by the salmon. The forest does, too! After a bear finishes its salmon supper, it leaves the unwanted bits behind on the ground. Soon, those leftovers break down into the soil to “feed” their nutrients to the trees and other forest plants

SAVING SPIRIT BEARS

Unfortunately, the number of spirit bears might be shrinking. This could be because there are fewer salmon in the rivers than in the past. The changing climate is making water too warm in some areas for salmon to survive, which means less food for spirit bears. Also, people sometimes cut down too many trees and catch too many salmon in the places where the bears live.

The people of the Kitasoo Xai’xais (KIT-uh-soo HYE-hye) Nation live in a part of the Great Bear Rainforest, as did their ancestors for thousands of years. One of their legends is about Raven, the creator. He made the spirit bear to remind people of the Ice Age, so they’ll be thankful for the green, fertile forest they live in today. Now all people must work to protect that forest and the bears that call it home.