Spirit Bears are extremely rare, white-phased forms of the American Black Bear (Ursus americana) – it is thought that between 200 and 300 exist on the planet. The white coat colour is controlled by a recessive gene which, for some unknown reason, occurs in higher frequency on a remote and tough to access roadless portion of the northern coast of British Columbia. On a few islands in this region between 10 and 20 percent of the bears are white Spirit Bears. During our Great Bear Rainforest Explorer tour we work very hard to find Spirit Bears and have a very high success rate.