Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Takes in Bear Cub that Burned Paws, Face in Washington Wildfire
By Riya Bhattacharjee ••
Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care received its 10th bear cub of the season Monday – a badly burned black bear cub rescued from a wildfire in Washington state.
According to Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the bear cub, now named “Cinder,” was found at a house destroyed in a fire in Methow Valley, which is near Wenatchee, Washington. Homeowner Steve Love told KOMO News his “dog was barking and horse was prancing and snorting” to sound an alarm. That’s when he first saw Cinder.
“She was basically walking on her elbows because her paws had been burned from hot coals -- there are abrasions on her paws and a lot of other burns on her body that are healing already,” said Tom Millham, who runs Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care along with his wife, Cheryl.
According to the wildlife center’s vet, Cinder suffered the burns a week ago.
When Love first approached the cub, she made “menacing sounds” and backed away, but he was able to give her some apricots and water.
"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."
Love alerted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, who captured and transported her to Wenatchee. State biologist Rich Beausoleil cared for the cub, dressing her 3rd degree burns and feeding her yogurt and dog food.
Millham said Cinder’s story reminds him about a cub named “Lil Smokey” the center rehabilitated in 2008 after he suffered burns in a California wildfire.
Pilots for Paws – a volunteer group of pilots – flew Cinder from Wenatchee to Tahoe Monday morning.
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Bieber 1 (seen in picture) greets his visitors inside the bear cage at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. Bieber 1 and Bieber 2 hail from Bieber, California, population 312 as of the 2010 census. The cubs saw their mother get hit by a car and killed. California Fish and Wildlife brought them to LTWC on June 29.
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Tucked away inside a tree-lined residential street in South Lake Tahoe, LTWC is a haven for sick animals, which includes bears, bobcats, fawns, porcupines and birds. Tom and Cheryl Millham have been running the organization for over 30 years now and are getting ready to move to a bigger 27-acre space nearby. The center runs entirely on donations.
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Brockway, the newest arrival, is in a cage by himself until he puts on some weight. At 11 lbs, Millham says he's still too small to socialize with the other bear cubs. He was found next to the body of his dead mother near Lake Tahoe's north shore.
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Paradise 2 is in a bear cage by herself, recovering from a gum surgery. "Our volunteers have named her 'Toothless" because she's missing a tooth," Millham says, adding that they are hopeful it will grow back.
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Paradise 1 likes her cubby hole.
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Bieber 1 plays with his jolly ball and doesn't want to go let of it.
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Bieber 1 was spotted spending most of his time near the jolly ball.
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Bieber 1 guards the jolly ball from his brother.
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Bieber 1, left, seen with his brother, Bieber 2, right, and one of the Conway cubs. The Conway cubs arrived from Conway Summit near Mono Lake.
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The bear enclosure and garden at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.
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The Bieber brothers pose for a picture.
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The Conway cubs, who arrived on June 21, like staying together.
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The bear cubs play soccer.
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The bear enclosure where seven of the nine bear cubs are currently living. It takes more then $20,000 to build a bear cage that meets all the proper requirements.
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Bieber 2 has an emergency while playing with the jolly ball.
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Bieber 1 lets his brother play with the ball.
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The brothers play together for a bit.
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They even come close to hugging.
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The Conway cubs watch the Bieber brothers from afar.
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The Conway cubs pose for a picture.
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Bieber 2 stretches on a branch.
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The "mother duck" Tahoe drank milk from when she first came to LTWC. The stuffed toy was used to limit any direct human contact.
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Tom Millham explains how the bear cams work. "Sometimes I get calls from people in the middle of the night saying I forgot to put the lights off," he says. The bear cams can be viewed online at LTWC's website.
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The medical clinic is right above Tom and Cheryl Millham's garage. This is where local veterinarian Kevin Willets takes care of sick bear cubs and other animals. This is also where Cheryl takes care of sick birds.
“Burn victims suffer a lot of pain,” Millham said. “In addition, she’s not as heavy as she should be – she came in at 39 lbs, but our vet says that since she’s a year and a half, she should be at least 80 lbs. Our job is to get some weight on her so she can be released back to Washington.”
Millham said the center would care for her until her paws and other burns are healed so she can go back to climbing and digging and doing other “bear things.” Right now, Cinder is on a diet of watermelons, peaches, apples and nectarines.
“She ate everything in a heartbeat – she has a great appetite, so that’s a good sign,” Millham said.
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