Cara Clarkson and her family were driving down a remote highway in Canada’s Rocky Mountains when a figure glimpsed against the dark evergreen forest left them in disbelief. Nuzzling through the snow for food was a white grizzly bear (no it wasn’t a polar bear), which Clarkson managed to capture on video.
Grizzly bears normally range in coloration from dark brown to blond, but a white bear is incredibly rare. Experts say the coloring is the result of a recessive gene in the cub – not albinism. Nor is the young bear a member of another Canadian subspecies, the Kermode “spirit” bear, which is found in the temperate rainforests of the country’s west coast.
Those elusive animals also have white fur but are a subspecies of the black bear – not the grizzly. Local wildlife officials have known about the white grizzly since 2017, but Clarkson’s mobile phone video of the bear, which went viral, marked the first time the public could catch a glimpse of the ghostly predator.
Want to see a video of this extremely rare white grizzly bear? Look no further.
