An Update About Cinder

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to all who posted and sent good thoughts. It is such sad news for so many who worked to help and support Cinder. So many came together to help her - Steve Love who found her & was determined to get her help; Jason Day the officer who responded to Steve’s call for help; Bear & Cougar specialist Rich Beausoleil who cared for her initially & made arrangements to get her into rehab; Bill Inman from Pilots N Paws who flew her to Lake Tahoe Wildlife; Lake Tahoe Wildlife who did most of the hard work in the beginning as did their vet. They brought her back to a point where IBBR could take her for hibernation, try to regrow some missing claws, and eventually release her with Rich and the WA DFW.

Not many of us can know the pain and suffering that accompanies burns of that magnitude, the pain of recovery, bandage changes, and all that goes along with it. Yet Cinder was a definite inspiration to humans who also knew that pain & suffering and to the many supporters around the world who followed her story. I think most of us felt if she could do it, if she could fight to recover, if she could regain her freedom, then we humans could also face our own traumas and survive to live again.

As wildlife rehabilitators, we all face the goal of recovery & release. However, we also face the inevitable knowledge that once released the animals are in charge of their own lives and there is little we can do to impact that. We can be there should they need help again, but after release their lives belong to them. Having worked with coyotes for many years before starting IBBR, I had to learn to harden against the pain of release. Coyotes faced continual annihilation, death, and suffering. I knew even a day after release they could be dead. How does any compassionate person live with that? We can’t live with it, but we can survive it.

Sometimes people will comment about sending them to a sanctuary or a zoo where they can live out their lives in safety. While that may be true, I would ask if they felt living their lives out in a room they never left was really living. IBBR has been blessed to help over 200 bears in our 29 years. I can honestly say I never met a bear who would consider living in captivity as really living. They all have individual personalities and there comes a time in rehab where thoughts of freedom are overwhelming. Their behavior, their attitudes, their understanding that they no longer need help is all consuming. I have been convinced since the first year that a bear would rather have 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, or 5 years of freedom than a life safe in captivity.

We will remember Cinder for the gentle, calm bear she was and for the pain and suffering and inspiration she became to so many humans. She touched our hearts, filled our souls with compassion and the undeniable desire to help her heal. She did heal, bringing us humans along with her - those who suffer in fire and lose so much. Our tribute to Cinder is to never forget her, to thank her for showing us how to heal in the worst of times, and for her courage and fight to survive to live free again.

We thank all those involved with Cinder's recovery. Special thanks to Rich Beausoleil & WA DFW for keeping us updated on rehab bears. While some may want to live in believing "no news is good news" (and that is okay), those of us doing the rehab need the feedback so we can ask the questions - did we do something wrong - did we miss something - is there anything we could or should have done differently? Bears are pretty resilient - whether bottle fed, dish fed, whether their rehab is in the middle of the forest or between now developed land, they go through their stages of development and become the bear they were born to be. Their habitat & their personality can always play a part in what happens after release so that's why we ask the questions when things go wrong.

Speaking personally, when my time comes to cross over, I hope to see her again. In fact, I hope to see my beloved horse & Cinder walking side by side to greet me, along with the cats, dogs, birds, coyotes, wildlife, and bears that we couldn’t save.

Thank you to all for your compassion & love for this remarkable bear. Keep Cinder in your thoughts when times are difficult. Her bear medicine will show you the way to survive.

Sally Maughan - IBBR

- Idaho Black Bear Rehab, Inc. (IBBR)