Letter to Francis Kermode

“If we don’t get that cub I shall perish of disappointment.” Dr. William Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society wrote in 1924 to Francis Kermode, the BC Provincial Museum’s curator. Notice the language of the day in the letter. In 1905, Hornaday had named the white bear Ursus kermodei in Kermode’s honour. He believed it to be a new species of bear. More research proved that the white bear is simply a colour variation of the American Black Bear, and not even a subspecies. For more about Francis Kermode and bears, look at the photos and their captions in the Wolves to Whales Pathway.