Miracle bear who survived devastating wildfire found dead

In 2014, a bear cub which was nicknamed Cinder touched many hearts across Northwest after she survived the Carlton Complex fire. The black bear managed to survive severe burns.

However, in a tragic turn of events, Cinder was found shot dead after all she overcame.

After the Carlton Complex fire, Cinder underwent nearly a year of treatment and rehabilitation at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. The lucky bear had been rescued by a Methow Valley rancher.

At the time, the cub was found with third-degree burns to her paws. She was eventually taken to Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation, where she relearned how to be a wild bear.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. In the summer of 2015, she was released with a GPS radio collar in the mountains about 30 miles north of Leavenworth.

The much-loved bear even had an interactive children's e-book released which was called “Cinder the Bear.” It was released on the Apple Book Store and the proceeds from it benefited Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation.

Rich Beausoleil of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said he and a team of researchers checked on Cinder in February last year. They found her in her den at the 5,000-foot elevation of the Cascades.

The team was happy to find the bear thriving with a normal weight. The researchers replaced her radio collar with a new one.

However, in October 2017, Cinder's radio collar stopped transmitting. Officials hoped it was because she was hibernating in a den for the winter.

But unfortunately, the next month, when a team set out to find her den, they found her skeletal remains instead not far from where she was set free. Beausoleil shared that her collar stopped working because a hunter had shot her then and cut the collar, leaving it deactivated.

It appears the bear was killed because of how unique and iconic she was.

Another unique animal was the beloved wild wolf known to scientists as Lamar Canyon Wolf Pack member 926F, 7-years-old. It’s believed that the Lamar, who was much loved by wolf watchers and biologists who visit Yellowstone National Park, was shot dead by a hunter.

The animal had wandered just outside Yellowstone at the beginning of December and was legally killed by a trophy hunter.