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Black bears grow to weigh 300 pounds.


	Three distinct bear species live in North America. The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) lives in Arctic regions; the brown bear (Ursus arctos), which includes the grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis) and the Kodiak (Ursus arctos middendorffi), is native to the Northwest. The third, the black bear (Ursus americanus), is the most common bear in the United States and Canada, of which the star of GHOST BEAR is a subspecies, the Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei).

Based on variations in fur and skeletal structure, bear experts recognize as many as nine subspecies of brown bears and 18 subspecies of black bears.

While they enter the world weighing under 24 ounces, adult polar and brown bears can grow to well over 1,000 pounds. The smaller black bear typically weighs about a half pound at birth and tips the scales at a modest 300 pounds when full grown, but it is still a bear to be reckoned with.


	The adolescent bear featured in GHOST BEAR was one of two or three cubs born in the early spring, as are all bears. Females give birth every two to three years, spending the interim teaching their young all there is to know about survival -- from gathering food to fleeing aggressive older bears by climbing trees. A bear cub on Princess Royal Island watches his mother to learn where to forage for the food that will supplement his diet until salmon season begins in late summer.

Bears learn to fish from their mothers.

In August, the island teems with salmon swimming upstream from the Pacific to mate. A cub studies his mother's fishing techniques to master the art of landing a fish, an essential survival skill once he is living on his own.

At about 18 months, a bear cub becomes independent and begins to live alone. The bears on Princess Royal Island live on huckleberries, skunk cabbage, and other plants until the protein-packed salmon begin to fill the streams. Mainly solitary, these bears spend most of the year staying clear of each other until mating season.

Bears compete for fishing spots.

A bear may learn from his mother how to spot a prime fishing hole, but he learns other important lessons from experience. A younger bear must sometimes jockey for position with older, larger bears that have claimed favorite fishing spots as their own.

As you see in GHOST BEAR, the juvenile bear quickly learns that survival means more than just finding food. Sometimes it means relinquishing a favorite fishing ground, backing down in an argument over territory, or handing over a just-caught fish to a bigger bear. Young bears have few chances of beating a more experienced bear in a fight, and a bear that has not learned to defer to a stronger opponent may not survive long.

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