Wed, June 2, 2004

 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.

 ROAMING

 Conservation officials say several people have reported seeing the cub roaming with a pack of black bears near the First Nations community.

 The only way to verify it's albino is to capture it, something wildlife agents don't want to do, said Hank Hristienko, the province's black bear expert. It's possible the cub is going through a phase that will turn its white coat black as it gets older, he said.

 "Our position is there's nothing to be gained by handling the bear," Hristienko said.

 Albinism occurs when a person or animal lacks the pigment melanin, said Assiniboine Park Zoo curator Dr. Bob Wrigley, who has never been up close and personal with an albino black bear.

 "Its something I would love to see but I don't expect to because it's that rare," he said.

 People hoping to catch a glimpse of the little white bear are flocking to Oscar's Point -- the northern-most point on Lake Winnipegosis -- where the bears have been seen.

 Stephanie Thomas, 32, made the trip there from Chemawawin with her six-year-old son, Caillou.

 "He was sort of scared of the mother bear but he found the little bear to be really cute," Thomas said. "I thought that momma bear must have been fooling around with a polar bear," she added with a laugh.

 Because it's such a rare find, residents of the community fear someone will harm the cub, which has become a quasi-celebrity, Thomas said.

 "We don't want anyone to shoot the bear," she said. "They should pull out a camera instead."

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