Check out the mother and her albino bear cub.

[buddysmellgood]

This black bear and her cub are from Gordon, Wisconsin. Way up in the NorthWest part of the state, Douglas county(I believe Douglas County went for Kerry), on HWY 53. North of Minong and south of Solon Springs. Northwest of Rice Lake. I don't know who the photographer is.

[knowbody0]

1. ah thanks

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

2. The little one looks like a polar bear cub

and I absolutely adore polar bears!!!

[Floogeldy]

6. I am so afraid of bears . . .

. . . and I am so in love with them. Bear hunting is horribly immoral.

Perhaps a well known answer to a trivia question: Polar bears are the only animal on the planet that actually hunt humans for food.

[Cadence]

31. I'm surprisingly not afraid of bears

I feel like I need to remind myself they aren't this cute and cuddly. I fear that if I ever came across one my brain wouldn't register danger...it would just think oh a bear.

[alittlelark]

3. Cutie Albino!!!

are they rare in the sub-species?

[buddysmellgood]

4. I'm not sure.

[alittlelark]

8. Peroxide?

[Pepper32]

11. I seriously doubt that...

Here is another interesting pic...


Blonde hair is common among Blacks in Australia and the South Pacific. Australian Aborigines of pure type are Black-skinned and are born with blonde hair that is straight or curly.

http://community-2.webtv.net/BARNUBIANEMPIRE/BLACKPEOPLEBLACK/page8.html

[Pepper32]

14. I found this really interesting article on another bear, it may answer

...your question


Believe it or not, this white bear is really a black bear. These bears are known as white spirit bears and there are fewer than 100 of them all on Princess Royal Island off the west coast of Canada.


"A spirit bear is actually almost an oxymoron, it's a white- colored black bear. It's not an albino, its a very rare double-recessive gene that allows this unique adaptation to occur," said Matt Reid with The Great Bear Foundation.

MORE...
http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9511/spirit_bears/

UPDATE: According to this article that says, YES it is rare.

It's an animal so rare no expert in Manitoba has ever seen one -- an albino black bear cub. Yet there it is wandering the woods and fields near Chemawawin Cree Nation about 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

"Something like this doesn't come around often," said Keith Klyne, a resident of the reserve who has seen the bear in the flesh. "It was really interesting to see."

MORE...
http://www.mts.net/~dushanek/Albino.htm

[fortyfeetunder]

16. Rare double recessive gene, eh?

Guess the question I'd have to ask that bear (from a comfortable distance is)"Who's your daddy?"

[Pepper32]

22. Another black bear?? n/t

[burrowowl]

25. Looking at the pix

It couldn't be albino, oterwise its nose and eyes would be pink.
Good thing it is only double recessive genes.

[Pepper32]

36. lol, something happened to this cub.

Recessive genes or albino? Maybe both? I guess further research on the subject will tell. Maybe it was bleached. :tinfoilhat:

Albinism appears in different forms and may be inherited by one of several modes: autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, or X-linked inheritance. ...

Definition:
Albinism refers to a group of related conditions. These conditions are the result of altered genes that cause a defect of melanin production. This defect results in the partial or full absence of pigment from the skin, hair, and eyes.
http://www.shands.org/health/information/article/001479.htm

Thus, albino does not mean absent of all color/pigmentation. This cub could very well be albino and have dark eyes (although you really can't tell with this pic) and nose.

[burrowowl]

38. Thanks for link

Knew 2 albino twins in Mexico City, they were so albino they were pink (blood vessels showed through skin) and had to wear very dark sunglasses even on cloudy days.
I understand polar bear fur is clear not white, other animals and bird have non-color and show color because of the angles at the cellular level.

[NYC]

5. That's adorable.

Thanks.

[Pepper32]

7. Just right click on the picture and select properties to get the url....

and then post the url and it was show as a picture





Here is another interesting pic...

Blonde hair is common among Blacks in Australia and the South Pacific. Australian Aborigines of pure type are Black-skinned and are born with blonde hair that is straight or curly.


http://community-2.webtv.net/BARNUBIANEMPIRE/BLACKPEOPLEBLACK/page8.html

[buddysmellgood]

9. I posted the urls in my message, but they appear as links. Am I missing

a bit of code?

[yardwork]

12. Sometimes I have to type "img" and "/img" in brackets on either end

[Pepper32]

13. Those particular url's had to be edited

Before editing...

https mywebspace.wisc.edu/jcbeal/web/100_1.jpg?unq=-wn4ukh

After editing...

https mywebspace.wisc.edu/jcbeal/web/100_1.jpg

I took off the colon and forward slashes so they would not change into a url or pic.

[RevolutionaryActs]

10. Cuteness! Yay for cuteness!

:7

[cliss]

15. Cute!!

Thanks for the cuteness factor for the day!

[donheld]

17. What a beauty

thanks

[alittlelark]

18. I assume you edited to say 'albino'

I know it was not in the OP. The Babe MUST be albino though...

[Pepper32]

19. Actually "albino" was in the original post... OP edited to add pics

ON EDIT: Here is an article on the "albino" bear.

Albino cub spawns sensation

Amazing rarity

By CHRIS KITCHING, STAFF REPORTER

It's an animal so rare no expert in Manitoba has ever seen one -- an albino black bear cub. Yet there it is wandering the woods and fields near Chemawawin Cree Nation about 400 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

"Something like this doesn't come around often," said Keith Klyne, a resident of the reserve who has seen the bear in the flesh. "It was really interesting to see."

Klyne said he saw the snow-white cub walking in a ditch along Highway 60 with its mother -- an adult black bear.

"The mother was eating and the little cub was playing around," he said.

MORE...
http://www.mts.net/~dushanek/Albino.htm

[alittlelark]

20. WOW... I'm goin' to bed now.

[Pepper32]

21. Nighty nite ..

:)

[WindRavenX]

23. I'm not convinced the cub is an albino

The eyes look like they have normal pigmentation...

[Pepper32]

26. lol... ok n/t

[WindRavenX]

27. not that it matters

Coz it's still wicked cute! :hi:

[Pepper32]

32. Totally agree....

They are both very cute and adorable, of course. :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. Awwwwwwwwwww!

Great pics! Thanks!

[Acryliccalico]

30. real cute

thanks

:hi: night

[alphafemale]

28. Adorable. But that's NOT an Albino.

Dark skin showing through fur.
Dark Eyes.
Black Nose.

That's a White-Furred Black Bear.

[Pepper32]

33. You're right. They faked an albino bear just because. I'm convinced.

[alphafemale]

34. An Albino would have a pink nose and eyes.

That's a beautiful white-furred bear.

But that's not an Albino.

Albino is NO pigment.
That cub's got pigment.

[Pepper32]

35. Not so...

ON EDIT: I'm convinced it is possible for this cub to have a black nose and dark eyes and still be an albino.

Here is why...

Definition:
Albinism appears in different forms and may be inherited by one of several modes: autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, or X-linked inheritance

Albinism refers to a group of related conditions. These conditions are the result of altered genes that cause a defect of melanin production. This defect results in the partial or full absence of pigment from the skin, hair, and eyes.
http://www.shands.org/health/information/article/001479.htm


Albinism is a set of inherited disorders that result from the inability of the body to produce melanin pigment. Melanin is dark pigment that protects our tissues from ultraviolet radiation. The process of forming melanin in the body takes many steps and may be affected by genes on six different chromosomes. Due to the many genetic variations causing this condition, many different forms of albinism may occur. The most severe form of albinism presents with little or no pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes. These individuals present with white/platinum hair, pink skin and often a pinkish eye color. Other forms of albinism may affect only the eyes. These individuals will present with many of the eye and vision problems related to albinism, but have normal skin and hair pigmentation.

http://www.visionww.org/drswindsor-albinism.htm

Although people with albinism may experience a variety of eye problems, one of the myths about albinism is that it causes people to have pink or red eyes. In fact, people with albinism can have irises varying from light gray or blue to brown. (The iris is the colored portion of the eye that controls the size of the pupil, the opening that lets light into the eye.)
http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00036580.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. Really wonderful pics

[American Tragedy]

37. How beautiful, thanks for posting

I sure hope that the photographer was using a good optical zoom, cause these are very close.

My college campus is crawling in albino squirrels - I see them literally almost every day. They're beautiful snow-white, like the little bear, and when they come up to beg for food you can see their tiny red eyes.

[FizzFuzz]

39. how cute I love squirrels!

and the bears too...I love baby animals.

I wanna beep their noses, those are very squishable looking noses!!. Beep! Beep! Well, I will in my dreams. Bedtime...................

[American Tragedy]

40. You might not want to do that to a bear

Slightly dangerous.

[FizzFuzz]

41. kill joy!

:P

[mark414]

42. bears are so cool

that's all

[Fleurs du Mal]

43. Beautiful!