Biologists in the Northwest Territories have confirmed that an unusual-looking bear shot on April 8th near Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., was a rare, second-generation grizzly-polar bear hybrid.
The bear had thick white fur like a polar bear, but a broad head, brown legs, and brown paws like a grizzly. DNA test results show that the bear was the result of a female grizzly-polar hybrid mating with a male grizzly bear.
Interestingly, both bears were shot in the same general area of the southeastern Beaufort Sea, the Amundsen Gulf near Banks Island.