Glacier bear

The glacier bear (Ursus americanus emmonsii), sometimes referred to as the "blue bear", is a subspecies of American black bear with silver-blue or gray hair endemic from Southeast Alaska, to the extreme northwestern tip of British Columbia, and to the extreme southwest of the Yukon. The Tlingit name for the glacier bear is a reference to their size, elusiveness, and ability to visually blend into snowfields: "sik noon", which means "a bear that disappears". Little scientific knowledge exists of their total extent and the cause of their unique coloration. Most other black bears in southeast Alaska are listed under the subspecies Ursus americanus pugnax. The USDA Forest Service lists U. a. emmonsii as one of several subspecies of black bears, although no evidence supports the subspecies designation other than hair coloration.