The Great Bear Rainforest takes its name for the grizzly bears, black bears and Kermode bears that live there.

At one time, grizzlies roamed as far south as California. Today, they don't travel further south than Washington State.

The Great Bear Rainforest is home to one of the highest concentrations of coastal grizzly bear populations on North America's westcoast.

Males travel across vast distances in search of food, den sites and mates, making the health of a grizzly population a good indicator of the health of the forest.

However, logging has radically degraded much of the bears' best habitat, while grizzly bears have the lowest reproductive rate of any North American mammal. Once their population begins to decline, it takes many years to recover. Canada does not have effective endangered species legislation to protect grizzly bears. Adding further threat, in 2001, the BC government lifted the moratorium of the sport and trophy hunting of grizzly bears.

Along with grizzlies are the Kermode bears, also known as Spirit Bears, a white variant of the black bear.  A genetic rarity, Kermode bears are known to exist in the Great Bear Rainforest region, one of the few places in the world where these elusive creatures are found. Its close relative, the black bear, is genetically different from European, Asian and Siberian black bears.

The black bear survives on mostly on leaves, nuts, roots, fruits, berries and spawning salmon. By late fall, salmon make up most of their diet, providing the necessary fat the bears need to get through the winter.

photos: Adrian Dorst (banner), Marni Grossman (centre)