A bear cub found badly burned in a massive 2014 Washington state wildfire has been killed by a hunter.
Rich Beausoleil, a bear expert with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said a team in September set out to find the den of the bear nicknamed Cinder because her radio-transmitting collar stopped working.
Officials hoped the collar stopped transmitting in October 2017 because she was holed up for the winter. Instead, the team found her remains close to where she was set free back in 2015. A hunter shot her and cut the collar, Beausoleil said.
Cinder was last seen alive and healthy by researchers in February 2017 when they checked on her in her den high in the Cascade mountains. As she was nearing 5 years old, the time when black bears begin reproducing, there was great hope that Cinder would soon have cubs of her own.
She was originally found under a horse trailer after a wildfire set off in July 2014 in north-central Washington state's Methow Valley. It burned about 400 square miles, destroyed 300 homes and was the largest fire in recorded state history.
Cinder at the time weighed just 37 pounds and had third-degree burns on all four paws — so scorched that she was walking on her elbows. She was discovered in the yard of a house two weeks after the fire swept past it.
Her rescue captured global attention as she healed in centers in California and Idaho, doubling her weight within months.
Cinder became a symbol of hope, especially for those who lost nearly everything in the wildfires that nearly claimed her life.
"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 loose so much,” the rehabilitation facility where Cinder finished her recovery wrote. “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."
An interactive children's e-book called "Cinder the Bear" was released on the Apple Book Store, with proceeds benefiting Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation where she was treated.
Cinder at 2 years old was then released in June 2015 alongside an orphaned cub named Kaulana, a younger male cub also injured by wildfires who wouldn't leave Cinder's side.
Kaulana was also found killed by a hunter in 2015, which was within bear hunting season and a legal kill.