Cinder still in her den, bear buddy shot by hunter
By Ann McCreary, Methow Valley News
Cinder, the young black bear that was badly burned in the Carlton Complex Fire in 2014 and rehabbed at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, is still denned at a high elevation site, but the bear that was released into the wild with her last summer was killed by a hunter in the fall.
Cinder was released in a heavily forested area about 30 miles north of Leavenworth on June 3, 2015. A younger male bear was released along with Cinder. The two bears had been together at the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation center and seemed to have developed a bond, so wildlife officials decided to release them together.
Cinder was discovered — emaciated and unable to walk on severely burned paws — in the French Creek area in August 2014, about two weeks after wildfire swept through the area. The bear cub drew international attention after she was rescued by state wildlife officials and underwent months of treatment at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, followed by rehabilitation at Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation near Boise.
Isn’t it great that time, money, sentiment and other resources are spent saving and rehabbing our wild animals, just so a stinking hunter can shoot them ? How screwed up is this ! And it makes it all ok because the hunter “did everything legal and was great to work with” . What a crock of sh…..!