If your camping partner returns from gathering firewood in a hysterical panic, gibbering about having seen a “ghost moose,” don’t necessarily initiate an emergency evacuation on the grounds of failing mental health.
Sightings of white-coloured moose have been reported in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland, Alaska and Idaho. Last fall, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) joined Newfoundland and Labrador in officially recognizing their existence and putting them off limits to hunters in some areas.
As far as MNR biologists know, white-coloured moose are neither a separate species nor albinos. Mike Bernier of the MNR’s Chapleau District says the white coat occurs naturally but is extremely rare—the result of a recessive gene controlling hair colour. If two carriers of the gene reproduce, there is a 25 per cent chance the calf will be white (and a 50 per cent chance the calf will be a carrier of the gene). Of the roughly 4,200 moose in the area surrounding Foleyet in northeastern Ontario, Bernier estimates that only six are white.
Ontario’s new regulations outlaw the hunting of “predominantly white-coloured moose” in a parcel of Crown land between Chapleau and Timmins. Newfoundland and Labrador passed similar legislation for a small portion of southwestern Newfoundland in 2002. But for the bulk of both provinces—and the rest of North America—white-coloured moose are fair game and a prized trophy.
Joel Theriault, a bush pilot from Foleyet, lobbied for the protection of white-coloured moose in Ontario. Theriault hopes that the new regulations will pave the way for moose-watching tourism in his area. He compares white moose to the famous white-coated kermode “spirit bear” of British Columbia, and pre- dicts similar success for local guides.
“White moose are worth a lot more alive than mounted above someone’s fireplace,” said Theriault.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’ print and digital editions here.
