Famous bear takes a tour of her new habitat
By Ann McCreary
Cinder the bear has been exploring her new home in the wild, and biologists are able to follow her travels via the GPS radio collar placed on her before she was released in early June.
The bear’s paws, which were badly burned in the Carlton Complex Fire last summer, have clearly recovered enough to allow Cinder to roam widely through forests north of Leavenworth, where she was released on June 3.
“Cinder has made a huge loop,” said Rich Beausoleil, cougar and bear specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
“She left the release site after about one day, went north about 7 miles, then cut off to the northeast and traveled for 6 miles, then due east for 5 miles,” Beausoleil said last week.
“Then I think she realized she was in a pretty good spot [where she was released] and traveled 9 miles southwest right towards the release site,” Beausoleil said.
Cinder, now 2 ½ years old, was emaciated and unable to walk on her charred paws when WDFW wildlife officials rescued her last July. She was treated for her injuries at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care in California and, when her paws had healed enough and she had gained weight, she was transferred to Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation (IBBR) near Boise for the winter.
She was released north of Leavenworth along with a 1½-year-old cub, nicknamed Kaulana. The cub spent the winter at IBBR with Cinder after he was found orphaned near Leavenworth.
Kaulana wasn’t quite as adventurous as Cinder, and never wandered far from the release site. “He traveled about one-half mile in every direction and stayed put,” Beausoleil said.
The radio collars transmit signals five times a day, allowing wildlife biologists to monitor the bears’ movements. They are designed to fall off the bears in about two years, although Beausoleil said biologists hope to be able to capture the bears and replace the collars to continue tracking them.
Cinder will be able to reproduce in two years, and Beausoleil said he hopes to “visit Cinder in her den” at that time.
Cinder’s rescue and recovery was followed by people all over the world on news reports and social media. As a survivor of the Carlton Complex Fire, Cinder became a symbol of hope to residents of the Methow Valley and surrounding areas after the fire.
