MacFarlane's bear lies directly on the barrier between cryptozoology and modern biology. Some believe it is a new species, some believe it is a new subspecies, some believe it is a hybrid bear, and some believe that it doesn't even exist.
In 1864, Inuit hunters shot an enormous, yellow-furred bear in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The hunters gave the bear's skin and skull to naturalist Roderick MacFarlane. Mr. MacFarlane sent the remains to the Smithsonian Institute, where they were soon stowed away and forgotten. After a while, Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam discovered the skull and skin. Merriam deduced that the bear had been shot outside the brown bear's range, and concluded that it couldn't have been a grizzly. In 1918, he described that the bear was an entirely new species, as well as a new genus.
Although there have been unconfirmed sightings, most people believe that MacFarlane's bear may have gone extinct in the past 150 years. Even if it is extinct, there is still much controversy on the classification of the bear. One of the most popular theories is that the skin and skull belonged to a Grolar bear, a hybrid between a grizzly bear and a polar bear. These hybrids have been documented in the wild, so they're a possible candidate. It is also a possibility that MacFarlane's bear was a representative of a Pleistocene species.
Modern science may soon reveal the true identity of the bear, but until then, scientists will be divided on their beliefs, whether a grizzly bear, a hybrid bear, or an entirely new species.
