Steven Rose/CatersA photographer captured an incredibly rare sight while fishing in British Columbia, Canada.
Steven Rose came across a stunning spirit bear while exploring the Great Bear Rainforest last October.
The white bears are so rare there’s believed to be an estimated 400 or less of its kind still left in the world.
Steven Rose/CatersRose successfully captured the creature in its natual habitat as it caught hold of fish and moved through the shallow river.
Speaking to the MailOnline, Rose said:
The bears can be seen cleverly digging up the eggs laid by the salmon by clawing away the sand on the riverbed to expose the eggs, then gulping them up.
Discover Wildlife reports that spirit bears, or Kermode bears as they’re also known, are a subspecies of the North American black bear. The rare bears are not albino – instead they have a rare gene variation causing them to be white or cream in colour.
They are usually found on the Canadian islands of Gribbell, Princess Royal and Roderick, where one in 10 bears fall into the category of this rare species.
Steven Rose/CatersSpirit bears are classed as sacred by the indigenous Tsimshian people, who have called the spirit bear ‘moskgm’ol’, meaning white bear.
The British Columbian government has outlawed the hunting of these glorious creatures, while the hunting of their black counterparts is still allowed.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.