To many, the word “rainforest” conjures images of jaguars, toucans and other exotic animals living under the Amazon’s mist-shrouded tropical canopy.
But the Pacific coast of Canada is home to an untouched temperate forest sprawl that’s just as wet and possibly colder than the Amazon and is home to one of the world’s rarest mammals, the spirit bear.
Also known as a Kermode Bear, this white-furred bear is not albino but rather a variant of the Black Bear.
Its cream-to-white hair is the result of a recessive gene so rare the species’ total population is estimated to be just 50-150 individuals.
Spirit bears are found only in a remote corner of Canada’s vast Great Bear Rainforest, which is sometimes referred to as The Amazon of the North.
Beginning Memorial Day weekend, audiences can view never-before-seen footage of its rare-bear residents when “Great Bear Rainforest 3D” begins screening at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater.
“Very few people have seen a spirit bear. Even people in British Columbia are surprised to hear we have this globally rare bear,” says director Ian McAllister. “To see a spirit bear for the first time is a remarkable experience, and to be able to film them as they went about their lives was a delight.”
Narrated by Ryan Reynolds, the film is the result of three years of work on the part of McAllister and his team in the Canadian rainforest.
Producer Jeff Turner, who was the first person to film spirit bears, says the ability of the IMAX screen to bring the rainforest to life is unmatchable.
“The hardest thing to explain to people is what it’s like to stand under towering, 1,000-year-old trees or a few feet from a slumbering bear, but on the big screen, you get the full force of these feelings.”
Thanks to their remote location and limited numbers, spirit bears are relatively unknown to most of the world, but the First Nations communities of Western Canada have revered these rare animals for millennia.
In “Great Bear Rainforest 3D,” audiences will be introduced to First Nations youth who are learning more about the ecological underpinnings of the rainforest in order to safeguard it and its unique residents for future generations.
“Great Bear Rainforest 3D” will premiere Friday, May 28, at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater.
Through Memorial Day (Monday, May 31), screenings will be available at 11 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 3:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Beginning Tuesday, June 1, the film will be screened at noon, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
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Source: Tennessee Aquarium