Orphaned Bear Cub With Burned Paws Rescued From Wildfire
The 6-month-old bear cub's four paws were burned in a wildfire.
— -- Steve Love knew something was wrong when his dog was barking and his horse was prancing and snorting. That's when he spotted a bear cub hobbling on its knees along his driveway.
The six-month-old bear cub was severely injured in the Carlton Complex Fire, and all her pawns were burned. When Love tried to approach her, she made menacing sounds, ABC affiliate KOMO reported.
Love was eventually able to toss the cub apricots from a tree and got her some water, KOMO reported.
"Later in the evening, she was lying down making pitiful whimpering noises,” Love told KOMO. “I got about six feet away, sat down and talked to it in a soothing way, telling it things would be okay. It seemed to make it feel better. It stopped making the noises.”
The cub -- lovingly named Cinder -- was transferred to Wenatchee, Washington, where state biologist Rich Beausoleil picked up her care.
"They're severe," Beausoleil said of the cub's wounds. "All four paws were 3rd degree burns. She has some burns to her face and arms and chest. Those were relatively minor and I think that will grow back. It's the four feet we're worried about."
Beausoleil fed Cinder a concoction of yogurt and dog food and eventually found the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a place that helps burned bear cubs rehabilitate.
Cinder even got an airlift from a group called Pilots for Paws, a non-profit organization that specializes in transporting injured animals to Tahoe.
"She was in good spirits, not crying and eating and drinking very normally and that's a great sign so we're optimistic that she'll make a recovery," Beausoleil said.
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