We in Elkford BC, also had a spirit bear come to our town this fall. It does fill you with awe and the driven need to protect it.

Thanks for the email Ron.

Kathy

Thank you very much for writing such a detail comment - having your local perspective is really helpful. You confirmed what I believed. I couldn’t agree more with what you have written.

Thanks again,

Ron

The bear was just in his second year on this earth heading towards his third. This bear came by my place at least once a week the year before when it was just a wee cub. They are given birth during the winter months of hibernation. When black mama bear brought spirit bear and its brother cinnamon bear they were both taking turns nursing on mama in my yard in early spring. The bears would roam thru the mountain side homes near AB mountain trail on the west side of the river then go to Jewels Gardens still west side of the river to check out her compost pile some times or head up to Liarsville where they probably had salmon scraps on a compost pile or at least the smell of salmon and whatever they gave their tourists during that season.. Most likely it crossed the river somewhere there abouts. It was also seen on the train side of the mountains where there was berries or other vegetational tidbits to its liking. It also took off the other direction going thru Brodersons place which is next to mine on its way to Long Bay being the south end of town and the far west side of the river. It must have covered a 20 - 40 mile hike every few days to a week possibly much more. They have an enormous range they cover while grazing and feeding. It loved the cranberries and horsetail on my mountain side and the clover and wild strawberries as well.

I seriously doubt that bear was the least bit aggressive as I had seen it that very day and it was always very shy and well behaved. It was not a trouble maker and if people think of bears as killers and label them as such then they have not taken the time to get to know these creatures. I am wary of bears because I know their potential for harm just like I know the potential for harm from a big pit bull but that does not mean I am going to shoot it. and they too are wary of me because I too like the bears have my potentials to harm as we all do. A black bear is more herbivorous than caniverous. We too are considered carnivors but like the bear we also live on both plants and meat. If you watch a black bear you will see him spending more time grazing on vegetation than eating any meat.

FYI Irene’s letter is biased to say the least. She is Thor Hendricksens’ mother. Of course, she will have the opinion that he had his reasons. But she is forgetting the reason he said in his interview. He said he had seen it the year before passing thru his yard and had made his mind up then if it came thru again the next year he was going to shoot it. And HE DID. Those are the fact from his words. So Irene’s story is from a mother’s point of view and not entirely to what Thor had told the people and media.

And that bear was a Spirit Bear. We are not far from British Colombia over the Glaciers. In fact, I do believe the road passes a small part of it when on the way to White horse which is 110 miles from Skagway. Bears cover a lot of terrain and we too are a Rain Forest just like British Colombia so it stands to reason that one of the male or female…(but most likely male as both mamas have been black bears..) Kermode/spirit bears roamed down our way and mated with some of the black bear here. Again we have another mama…not the same one as that Spirit Bears mama, but with another light colored bear cub this year. It is a little more grayish so probably will be classified a glacier bear but there was no mistaking the bear Thor Shot to be anything other than the Spirit Bear. Pictures were taken the same day on the way to his house and was not seen since anywhere with the whole town looking for him. So I will not believe it wasn’t the spirit bear especially when neither Thor nor the Dept. Of Fish & Game (who incidentally did not protect the bear as they had promised) would show anyone of us interested friends of the Spirit Bear it’s pelt or even pictures of it which they also promised to share. That is too much like refusing to take the breathalizer test when stopped for drunk driving. I mean what are we to think and how stupid can we be? I think Thor made a horrible decision and in my eyes it was wrong. The Fish & Game lied to the people of Skagway and changed the wording from White-phased to WHITE BEAR. Were they just covering their asses because both work for the state and they were not there to prevent it? Or was he a friend of Thor’s? I don’t know. I guess only they will ever know the answer to their change to their promises. So you can say, according to them, legally he commited no crime. Regardless, he was wrong to shoot that bear as it is still an endangered species whether our Fish & Game ended up allowing it or not. They took the easy way out and covered their mistake and own powerlessness….so they wouldn’t have to punish at least that someone. Thank God British Columbia finally came to their senses and regardless of money and power finally because of one young person caring enough to stir that hornets nest till he got some stings in a few places..to stop the lumber industry from destroying the rain forest on their Islands where the Spirit Bear supposedly only existed. Well not any more. The Kermode/Spirit Bear by the mysterious ways of nature and Skagways luck (if we don’t continue to shoot to kill instead of to ward off what we fear) has brought the Spirit Bear to our home town. Skagway was overcome with joy to see one here. It was RARE to be here. POssibly a once in a life time thing….or it may happen again. I do hope so. But not often does mankind get a second chance to make right a terrible wrong against nature and its glorious wonders. It is a miracle how it ever got here. I just pray that our people will not be trophy inclined to want to kill any more of the white phased black bear or any bear for that matter, using the excuses of our law to kill for a rare pelt or macho man egos. or out of fear when there is nothing to fear but their own imaginations. Especially when they don’t even go hunting. There is no sport in that. Just open your back door and pull the trigger….that is not hunting. If truly afraid, yell at it to go, or fire a warning shot and then the bear comes forward…then there is something to fear but not till that happens. Clap or yell at a bear and they run. This bear was a treasure. A miracle to be here, to have traveled so far over the glaciers from British Columbia but somehow its parents did. It came to us. The local Indians knew right away just how precious this bear was. He held captive every man, woman or child who saw it. He was shy, coy and I looked forward to every time he passed thru my yard as most others did. Not once did he make any advances to me, infact, he would run up a tree if I came towards him. Now tell me that is an aggressive bear. I don’t think so. I have dozens of visits and stories about that bear and there was nothing menacing about him. Only our own fears make us think they could be dangerous. Anything CAN BE dangerous….but can’t we walk in moderation and tell the difference between danger and just plain splendor of life and its phenomenons of nature and the sharing and harmony with both creatures great and small? Only our lack of communication in proper ways make any bear a nuinsance. I know from fact and experience with lots of bear and other wild creatures.
Someone has to speak up for this bear because look how hard and how long of a fight it took for that young lad in British Columbia to finally get the government to see these bears for the rare breeds they are and to save them from extinction. We need to get busy with our pens and papers and write our legislation, governors, mayors, fish & game, park services and any other entity which could help in this matter. God Bless the Beasts and the Children. We don’t need to kill. We need to learn to appreciate that which is awesome and has something of such beauty and goodness to give to us, that we haven’t even figured it out yet. All we know is it raises a joy in our hearts and something inside us knows that miracles are still around us. I felt joy and love around that cub. He reeked of it. His very demeaner was one of love, harmony and respect.

There have been some Grizzly in Anchorage hurt someone but We have never had a bear in the Skagway area hurt anyone ever. This can go clear back to the Tlingkets who lived here before Irene ever got to Skagway. I have talked to many who were raised here, much older than she and their ancestors and never has a bear hurt anyone. We learn to deal with the bears as we do people, dogs, coyotes, and any other animal that goes thru our property. Of course, if it was killing something on our property there would be a reason to shoot it, but this bear did not kill anything but fish. Sorry to disagree with Irene but I see it entirely different. I can speak of this bear because I knew him well. I am so tired of hearing that people should shoot a creature that Might hurt us. Do we really want to teach our children to be so afraid of every creature that they have to kill it first and use good sense later????? Killing should only be for necessity not out of fear. I would hope that as Americans we have evolved enough to be able to tell the difference and not be so afraid of great creatures. Their body language isn’t much different than ours. So surely we should be able to see when they mean no harm. I like Thor live on the mountain side in the woods….. It is a privilege to see a bear passing thru and if I don’t want it there I shoo it away. If I don’t want it to come back, I shoot in the air and yell at it. They stay away…….however I enjoy their passings and eagerly look about during the days and sometimes nights to see if one of the creatures of Gods good earth have honored me with their presence. I am charmed by them. Alice

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Ron

White black bears are being seen in Alaska, NWT, Alberta, Manitoba, and the mainland of BC. Who can say whether they are or aren’t genetically a Kermode Bear, same as the spirit bear on the Northwest coast of BC. Because white black bears are rarely seen outside of that area there have been no tests done or data compiled. Something I would greatly like to see changed.

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed response. It was not only a detailed response, but a mature, unemotional response, and not an angry, name calling one that I would have expected from most people given what I had written, and the follow up comments.

It is unfortunate to hear that your neighbors were possibly feeding the bear. There is certainly plenty of truth to the phrase “A fed bear is a dead bear” Clearly once a bear learns to expect food from humans, their behavior can change, and it is very possible that if it wasn’t Thor, someone else may have had to result to the same response. It is nice to hear it wasn’t taken as a trophy.

No question bears can be very dangerous. But I should point out, the girl mauled in Anchorage was riding a bike, by herself, along a salmon stream in the middle of the night, and was attacked by a Grizzly that authorities believed may have had a cub. I really don’t equate that to a seeing 3 or 4 year old black bear at 4:00 in the afternoon, while evidently being armed, and with the possible safety of a home nearby.

As far as the type of bear goes, I’m really not qualified to to say. I’m trying to remember where I originally heard it identified as a Spirit or Kermode bear - I know I didn’t make that up, I am fairly certain that identification was from the Skagway newspaper. I have always associated Sprite Bears with the central coast area of British Columbia, but I didn’t realize this was the full extent of their range. The white colored bear in Skagway definitely wasn’t an albino. It would be interesting to learn if it’s DNA matches that on it’s southern counterparts, or if it was just some kind of abnormality.

I know you are saying it wasn’t a Spirit Bear, but was the bear Thor killed the white colored bear that had been seen around Skagway the last few years? There seems to be a lot of speculation about this, but not a clear answer.

You must understand, seeing that bear was one of the highlights of my trip down to Southeast last summer, and even if the situation was justified, and unavoidable, it is still unfortunate.

Thanks again Irene,

Ron

The Kermode Bear is known as a “Spirit Bear” and lives hundreds of miles from where Thor shot the “Bear”. Kermode, a black bear subspecies, ranges from Prince Royal Islands to Prince Rupert Island on the coast of central British Columbia and inland toward Hazelton, British Columbia. Canada. That the bear Thor shot reached national news, with misinformation from the beginning is ridiculous. I believe neighbors were feeding that bear so it would come back and made a “nuisance bear” out of it, which lead to its demise.

While it is interesting to view bears, they are neither safe or cute, they are a preditor. A bear just mauled and seriously injured a girl riding her bike in a park in Anchorage, Alaska. I know from personal experience that even a cub bear is no adversary for a person. Having a bear greeting you when you open your door or having them invade your home is not a pleasant experience. I have no children, but my neighbors do and the children cannot play outside when bears are roaming the country unless you want to use them for bear bait.

Trophy? Isn’t it always the case?

Why someone would kill ANY bear is absolutely beyond me, Ron. I hope life gets very interesting for this particular “hunter”.

Hi Della,

I have a feeling a lot of people aren’t real happy with this guy right now, and not just environmental activists. Even some fellow black bear hunters won’t be pleased because it prefects poorly on the sport.

Thanks,

Ron

You are really fortunate to have captured a photo of this bear. It could become a very valuable photo, since they are rare and now there are even fewer of them!

Sherri