Post by Woody Williams on Feb 16, 2006 18:38:28 GMT -5
Rare, white 'spirit bear' to become B.C.'s official animal
By Miro Cernetig
Vancouver Sun
February 15, 2006
VICTORIA -- The provincial government plans to designate the rare, white
bear of the central coast as B.C.'s official animal.
The bear, Ursus Americanus Kermodei, was considered by environmentalists
to be in jeopardy from logging.
But last week the provincial government announced a Central Coast and
North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan to restrict logging along
6.4 million hectares of coastal forest.
Premier Gordon Campbell trumpeted that as an unprecedented agreement
between government, industry and environmentalists. He sees the kermodei
-- which has come to be known as the spirit bear -- as a symbol of how
compromises can be struck to protect jobs and the wilderness.
"The B.C. spirit bear is such a compelling symbol and such an
inspiration, that your government will act to make it our official
provincial animal," Campbell announced in Tuesday's throne speech.
Often incorrectly described as an albino, the bear is actually a
subspecies of the black bear. Its colour results from a recessive gene
that gives the bear a white pelt that makes it look like a small cousin
of the polar bear. It was named in 1928 after Dr. Francis Kermodei,
then-director of the B.C. Provincial Museum,
Natives have a creation myth to explain the bear's origin. Shortly after
the ice age receded, they say, when the forests began to grow, the
raven, the creator, decided to turn every tenth bear white to remind
future inhabitants that the world was once covered in ice.
First nations legend tells of the bear's ability to take on the human
form. It is said that these spirits help humans in distress, point out
food supplies, and protect them from evil spirits.
By Miro Cernetig
Vancouver Sun
February 15, 2006
VICTORIA -- The provincial government plans to designate the rare, white
bear of the central coast as B.C.'s official animal.
The bear, Ursus Americanus Kermodei, was considered by environmentalists
to be in jeopardy from logging.
But last week the provincial government announced a Central Coast and
North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan to restrict logging along
6.4 million hectares of coastal forest.
Premier Gordon Campbell trumpeted that as an unprecedented agreement
between government, industry and environmentalists. He sees the kermodei
-- which has come to be known as the spirit bear -- as a symbol of how
compromises can be struck to protect jobs and the wilderness.
"The B.C. spirit bear is such a compelling symbol and such an
inspiration, that your government will act to make it our official
provincial animal," Campbell announced in Tuesday's throne speech.
Often incorrectly described as an albino, the bear is actually a
subspecies of the black bear. Its colour results from a recessive gene
that gives the bear a white pelt that makes it look like a small cousin
of the polar bear. It was named in 1928 after Dr. Francis Kermodei,
then-director of the B.C. Provincial Museum,
Natives have a creation myth to explain the bear's origin. Shortly after
the ice age receded, they say, when the forests began to grow, the
raven, the creator, decided to turn every tenth bear white to remind
future inhabitants that the world was once covered in ice.
First nations legend tells of the bear's ability to take on the human
form. It is said that these spirits help humans in distress, point out
food supplies, and protect them from evil spirits.
