Recently, in Michigan, a trail camera caught a rare image of a white-colored black bear. The photos, posted by Yooper Outdoors #906, showed the bear scavenging through a bait trap area placed in the woods by a hunter. According to the North American Bear Center, there are only about 100 white colored black bears in the world – also referred to as “spirit bears.”
The bear had been spotted in the Upper Peninsula where bears are commonly found in Michigan. Although the Department of Natural Resources did not confirm the white bear’s existence, the photos were pretty convincing. Some bears have sported cinnamon color coats as well as blonde and chocolate colors, but white is very rare. The white fur does not, however mean the bear is a polar bear. In fact, the rare chance that both male and female bear parents who have a recessive gene for white fur, would be the reason for an offspring to have this white coat.
And then according to the Yooper Outdoors #906 at a later time, the Michigan guide service stated the white colored black bear had been found dead just a few days after the initial sighting on September 6, 2022.
According to Fox News, who reported the death of the bear, the wolf population has devastated the game population in the entire area. The bear was about two years of age and weighed between 100 to 120 pounds. Only up to 20 percent of the bear population have white fur.
Cody Norton, a bear expert with the Michigan DNR, disputes the claim the bear is dead. According to the Detroit Free Press, Norton stated it is unlikely wolves attacked the bear, and it is more likely the bear wandered off searching for food.
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