Spirit bear captured on camera

A wildlife photographer has described how he came face to face with a kermode, or spirit bear, an animal so rare it was once thought to be mythical.

Steve Kozlowski found himself was confronted by one of the blond bears while travelling along Canada's wild Pacific coast.

The spirit bear is an off-shoot of the American black bear population that lives in the lush coastal forests of British Columbia and is revered by native tribes.



"I set out to travel to the last area where a small population of spirit bears is known to exist near Princess Royal Island on the British Columbia coastline," said Mr Kozlowski, 39, who has been photographing wildlife for the past 18 years.

"I emerged from my tent and was confronted with a spirit bear," he said. "The bear was startled and it charged at me over a log, its hair up, ears back, snapping its jaws. I slowly backed away from the bear and it eventually left."

Explaining that the spirit bear is not albino as many people would first think, Steve says that it is as near to blond as a bear will ever get.

There are more photos here.