The U.S. Forest Service said a wildlife official found a bear cub burned and, most likely, orphaned by the Antelope Fire clinging to a tree in Klamath National Forest on Monday. The cub was discovered 77 years to the day after Smokey Bear's first appearance in a Forest Service campaign.
Sarah Bullock, a resource advisor and wildlife biologist, noticed the male cub at the base of a tree near Antelope Creek. A day later, Bullock and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Axel Hunnicutt found and tranquilized the cub, whom they discovered had second- and third-degree burns on his paws and nose.
The cub, which weighed 16 pounds on Tuesday, was then transported to veterinarians at UC Davis. The Forest Service said the veterinarians began treating the bear’s burns and he was "eating well and taking fluids on his own."
Smokey Bear first appeared in a Forest Service campaign poster on Aug. 9, 1944, depicted pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. Since 2001, the anthropomorphized bear has implored Americans to remember that "only you can prevent wildfires" in a number of public service announcements across a variety of media formats.
In 1950, Forest Service officials found a badly burned bear cup atop a charred tree in New Mexico's Capitan Mountains. Officials named the bear "Smokey," who then became the living embodiment of their fire prevention campaigns. Smokey died in 1976.
"Tamarack," a male cub burned by the Tamarack Fire near South Lake Tahoe and who escaped a wildlife center after being rescued earlier this month, is still missing. Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a nonprofit wildlife rescue service, implored hikers and bikers in the region to contact them if they see the cub.
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