Calgary resident Julia Turner Butterwick told Narcity she and her family were on their way home from Banff National Park when they spotted the strange bear. It was Sunday, June 14. "We've seen quite a few bears on our drive, we saw probably three or four grizzlies and three black bears that day," she said. "We came across this mama grizzly she was just right on the side of the highway." When she noticed the mama had cubs with her, Turner Butterwick took out her phone and snapped a quick picture. It wasn't until later that she discovered one cub's strange appearance.

"We didn't stop, we just kept going, we didn't want to disturb them," she continued. "When I zoomed in on the photo I said yeah, he's got a fully white head I've never seen anything like that." Turner Butterwick later reported the sighting to Parks Canada. They thanked her for sharing the picture and said it was "really unique." "They said that they were going to put some measures in place to help protect the family and just asked that I not release the exact location," she said, to stop photographers from searching for the bear. Narcity has reached out to Parks Canada for comment and we will update this story when we receive a response.

Several wildlife experts told Global News that they'd never seen anything like the cub's specific colour pattern. However, all-white grizzlies have been reported before, and very recently, one had been spotted in Banff. "I love seeing wildlife, I love animals, and so anytime I see animals in the wild, it's exciting. It's especially exciting for me to see it through my four-year-old's eyes," said Turner Butterwick. "I just wish I took more than one picture."

It looks like a panda. Butterwick was travelling with her husband and two young children. "My four year old was really excited," she said. "As we drove by we said to him 'Look there's a momma bear and she has cubs," she said. "As we got closer … my son said, 'It looks like a panda!'"Butterwick says she'll make sure to keep the location quiet. "They asked me for some more information on where we saw it, and what side of the road and that kind of thing, and they said that they were going to go out and put some measures in place to protect the bears," she said. "They don't want a whole bunch of photographers going out looking for the bears … so I agreed to do that." Butterwick hopes people will just enjoy the photo she is sharing, and not try to seek out their own. "I feel very privileged to have seen this unique sighting and I wanted to share the picture because I think people will only respect wildlife if they love it and appreciate it," she said. "But I hope it doesn't encourage people to go out searching for it and disturbing it."