Great Bear Rainforest

Located between the Northern tip of Vancouver Island and Alaska is an immense 19 million acre stretch of land called the Great Bear Rainforest. Formal protection has been given to 5 million acres encompassing 20 rainforest valleys and 250 miles of coastline untouched by logging. Representing one quarter of the earth’s remaining undeveloped, unspoiled temperate rainforests, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest.

Trips in Great Bear Rainforest

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WHERE THE GRIZZLIES ROAM

GRIZZLY MOMENTS - Great Bear Rainforest

The Khutzeymateen Valley is a 44,000 hectare expanse of rugged mountains, watersheds and towering Sitka spruce and is home to about 50 protected grizzly bears.

It is a land of unique coastal wildlife, ancient forests, beautiful lakes and magnificent falls. One thousand year old cedar trees and 90m (295 ft) Sitka Spruce grace the forests with their stature. It is home to salmon, sea lions, eagles, cougars, wolves, black bears and the rare bear with a coat of white, called the Kermode.

Princess Royal Island

Located in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest is Princess Royal Island. Tucked among the isolated inlets and islands of Canada’s west coast, this extremely remote island is accessible only by boat and floatplane. Apart from the Tsimshian people of long ago, very few people have entered the inland forest of Princess Royal Island. The island and its surrounding shores are teaming with diverse wildlife including black and grizzly bears, deer, wolves, foxes and seals. The island’s long shoreline has significant marshes and kelp beds, an oasis for an abundance of aquatic life. It is an area where the greatest concentration of Kermode bears in the Great Bear Rainforest live protected from hunters and in relative isolation from human activity. Long treasured and revered by the First Nations people, the Spirit Bear is a unique subspecies of the black bear. A double recessive gene is required by both parents of a cub to produce a white bear. One in ten cubs will display this white coat. The Great Bear Rainforest is the only place on earth where the Kermode bear can be found. The beauty and spirit of this amazing place are as unique as the white bears who call Princess Royal Island home.

Khutzeymateen Inlet

Grizzly Bear moments in the Khutzeymateen Valley, a rugged expanse of watersheds, mountains, and towering Sitka spruce

First established in 1994, the Khutzeymateen , became Canada’s first and only designated area to be set aside for the specific protection of the majestic grizzly bear and their habitat. This 44,300 hectare sanctuary is located 45 km (28 M) NE of Prince Rupert and expands into the Western Kitimat range of the Coast Mountains. The topography of the land is diverse, from rugged peaks towering above wetlands to old growth temperate rainforests and a large estuary.

The area is a highly sensitive ecosystem and has strict conservation measures in place. Visitor use is not encouraged and limited amount of controlled viewing is allowed.

The approximately 40-60 resident grizzlies, some weighing as much as 400 kg (850 lbs), share the inland part of the park with moose, wolves, black bears and mountain goats. The coast is a vantage point for shore birds, harbour seals, humpbacks and orcas. The dense rainforests, river mouth estuary and ocean fjord provide the grizzly with its diet of grass and roots, wild berries, insects and other animals. The salmon is the mainstay of the bear’s diet, therefore a critical food source. The grizzly bear requires a home range of up to several 100 sq km. Females do not bear young until the approximate age of 5 with litters averaging one to two cubs every three years; however litters with three cubs are not uncommon. Their protection is vital and the creation of this refuge is of immeasurable importance.