Cinder (January 2013 – October 2017) was a bear found badly burned as a cub after the Carlton Complex fire in Washington state, United States. She was rehabilitated and released and became an emblem of the region's will to recover. She appears to have been killed by a hunter.

As a cub about one and a half years old, Cinder was discovered by Steve Love on his property on French Creek in the Methow Valley on July 31, 2014, two weeks after the wildfires. With third-degree burns on her paws, she was dragging herself on her elbows. She accepted apricots, dog food, and water from Love, who also spent time with her that night after he heard her crying. The next day, an officer with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife captured her with a catch pole; at about 39 pounds (18 kg) she was too small to tranquilize. (Normal weight for her age would have been about 80 pounds (36 kg).) She was hiding under a horse trailer and was unable to run away fast because of her injuries.[1][2][3] She was treated by a veterinarian for extensive burns and sores on her elbows; he described her burns as the worst he had ever seen,[4] and Rich Beausoleil, the departmental bear and cougar specialist who took charge of her (and fed her yogurt and dog food),[5] also later said, "That was the worse case I’ve ever seen".[6] Two days later she was transported by Pilots N Paws, a volunteer pilot organization, to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Inc. in South Lake Tahoe, California,[2][7][8] where because of her burned paws she was initially provided with a ramp to reach her sleeping loft. Her medication was administered in muffins coated in syrup.[1]

In November 2014, after her paws healed and her weight rose to 83 pounds (38 kg), she was transferred for the winter to Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation in Garden City,[9] where she became friends with Kaulana (Hawaiian for "quiet"),[10] a male cub who was a year younger.[4][11] They were released together in a forest north of Leavenworth, Washington, in June 2015, at which time Cinder weighed 124.3 pounds (56.4 kg),[6] about 40 pounds (18 kg) over normal to provide a cushion while she accustomed herself to finding food.[12] She was ear-tagged and tattooed for identification[6] and fitted with a radio transmitter collar to track her movements,[13] and the release was witnessed by the pilot who had flown her to Lake Tahoe[14] and press including a CBS crew from Los Angeles.[3] Researchers examined her and changed her collar during hibernation in February 2017.[3][12]

Kaulana, who had roamed less widely than Cinder,[15] was killed by a hunter during bear hunting season around October 2015.[4][13][16] Cinder's collar stopped transmitting in October 2017, and in September 2018 workers with Fish and Game retrieving cameras that had been set up in December to record her found her skeletonized body with the collar cut off and lying nearby; she is presumed to have also been killed by a hunter.[4][17][18]

Cinder became an inspiration for the area affected by the Carlton Complex fires.[4][13] A camp for child burn victims, Camp Eyabsut in North Bend, Washington, adopted her as a mascot[3] and an interactive online children's book, Cinder the Bear, by Barbara deRubertis, benefited Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation.[4][11][14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Badly burned bear cub has Cinder-ella story". Methow Valley News. August 14, 2014.
  2. 1 2 K.C. Mehaffey (August 5, 2014). "Cub burned in wildfire flown to care center". The Wenatchee World – via The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington).
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Living a bear's life". Methow Valley News. September 28, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (December 18, 2018). "Cinder the bear cub survived a wildfire and inspired a region. Then a hunter killed her". Washington Post. Reprinted: "Bear cub who survived Washington state wildfire, inspired region is killed by hunter". San Francisco Chronicle. December 18, 2018.
  5. ↑ Stephanie Klein (August 5, 2014). "Badly burned bear cub rescued from Washington wildfire". My Northwest. Associated Press.
  6. 1 2 3 "Cinder The Bear Returns To The Wild After Recovery From Burns". KUOW-FM. June 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Tom Lotshaw (August 11, 2014). "Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care treating bear burned in Washington wildfire". Tahoe Daily Tribune.
  8. ↑ Susan Wyatt (August 17, 2014). "Bear cub has 'attitude' healing from wildfire burns". KING-TV – via USA Today.
  9. ↑ Coral Garnick (November 22, 2014). "Cinder's paws healed; bear cub will spend winter in Idaho". Seattle Times (The Today File blog).
  10. ↑ Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation (October 13, 2009). Fit for the future: bear cub rehab in action!. YouTube. World Animal Protection Australia.
  11. 1 2 "Cinder, bear burned in fire and treated at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, killed by hunter". Tahoe Daily Tribune. December 19, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Travis Pittman (September 19, 2017). "Bear badly burned in 2014 wildfire doing well today". KING-TV.
  13. 1 2 3 "Cinder still in her den, but bear buddy shot by hunter". Methow Valley News. March 30, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Alison Morrow (June 3, 2015). "Cinder the bear returns to wild with new friend". KING-TV.
  15. ↑ Susan Wyatt (July 1, 2015). "Cinder the bear in no danger from Central Wash. wildfires". KING-TV.
  16. ↑ Alison Morrow (March 16, 2016). "Cub released with Cinder, bear who survived wildfire, killed by hunter". KING-TV – via USA Today.
  17. ↑ Michael Katz (December 12, 2018). "Cinder, the black bear who rehabbed in Garden City after suffering major burns, killed by hunter". Idaho Statesman.
  18. ↑ Alison Morrow (December 13, 2018). "Bear that survived fire, known as 'Cinder,' shot and killed by hunter". KIRO-TV. Associated Press.
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