Dry, hot, and windy weather conditions have fed a dozen wildfires across Colorado forcing the safe evacuation of thousands of homes in the West and South, but one furry resident ‘bearly’ made it out.
Firefighters spotted a bear cub wandering alone in a burned-out area north of Durango with no sign of her mother.
The cub suffered severe burns to its feet, according to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff who have been treating the animal, estimated to be 4-5 month-old, at their Frisco Creek wildlife facility near Del Norte.
“When the bear was brought in I wasn’t sure if it was going to make it,” said Michael Sirochman, manager of the facility. “But she’s responding very well to treatment and by winter we believe we’ll be able to return her to the wild.”
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Firefighters working on the massive 416 fire, which burned 47,000-acres of national forest, but is 37 percent contained as of Saturday morning, kept an eye on the bear for a couple of days but didn’t see a mother bear nearby.
Matt Thorpe, area wildlife manager in Durango, then made the decision to send the bear to Frisco Creek to determine if it could be treated.
“We weren’t optimistic at first,” Thorpe said. “It probably hadn’t eaten in a couple of days,…
