This bear is the smallest member of ther North American bear family. It generally sports a straight facial profile and tapered nose with long nostrils.
Feet are flat-soled with short curved claws.
Though smaller than the Grizzly , it has a higher head carriage and straighter shoulder-rump line. The Black Bear is an agile climber. These bears are not a result of albinism, but of a unique recessive gene that produces white hair instead of black. The Canadian government has long recognized these bears, and they are protected from hunting. The Grizzly bear is one of the largest North American land mammals, with its Alaskan relatrive, the Kodiak brown bear, being the largest.