Animal
17:19, 19-Feb-2018
Two bears burned in California wildfire spotted in the wild
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Recent photos and GPS tracking data appear to show that two female bears badly burned in the largest wildfire in California history are in good health.
Officials tracking the adult bears, one of which was pregnant, say the animals are settling back into their home in the wild after receiving unusual treatment for their injured paws, news station KABC-TV reported.
The bears were released into Los Padres National Forest northwest of Los Angeles last month after getting care for third-degree burns they suffered in December’s Thomas fire.
Officials said last week that they weren’t sure if the baby of the pregnant bear was born yet.
A mountain lion cub also was treated for singed paws during the fire but was too young to be able to survive in the wild. Officials planned to turn him over to a care facility for lifelong confinement, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in January.
This Jan. 2018, file photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shows the badly burned paw of a bear, injured in a wildfire, wrapped in fish skin - tilapia - during treatment at the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Davis, Californiaq /California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP
This Jan. 2018, file photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shows the badly burned paw of a bear, injured in a wildfire, wrapped in fish skin - tilapia - during treatment at the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Davis, Californiaq /California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP
Veterinarians treating the animals had stitched fish skins to their burned paws, then wrapped them with bandages of rice paper and corn husks. Officials decided on the treatment after reading about trials on human burn victims in Brazil that placed treated skins from tilapia, a ubiquitous species of fish, on the injuries to soothe pain and promote healing.
Doctors routinely graft skin from humans and pigs to burns, but fish skins have the advantage of being more readily available.
In this Jan. 2018, 2018, file photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, veterinarian Dr Laura Peyton, chief of integrated medicine at the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, works on the badly burned paw of a bear. /California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP
In this Jan. 2018, 2018, file photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, veterinarian Dr Laura Peyton, chief of integrated medicine at the University of California, Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, works on the badly burned paw of a bear. /California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP
One of the bears initially would lie down continuously to spare her burned paws, said Jamie Peyton, chief of the integrative medicine service at the University of California, Davis’ veterinarian school. After the fish-skin treatment, the bear stood up and was walking around with its companion, Peyton said last month.
The results argue for more trials of fish skins for burns, the vets said.
Source(s): AP