Manitoba bear cub that sustained burns from forest fire dies from injuries

The operator of a bear rescue organization in Manitoba delivered sad news on Saturday about a tiny, seven-pound black bear cub that had been rescued with burns to her paws, nose and lips from a forest fire.

Judy Stearns of Black Bear Rescue Manitoba said the female cub, whose progress was being followed by many supporters on the group’s Facebook page, hadn’t survived the night.

“She was such a little fighter and she had overcome so much with this ordeal she went through,” Stearns said in a phone interview.

“It must have been just terrifying because to have lost her mother is one thing, but then the trauma of the smoke and then the pain from her burns, so it’s really sad she didn’t make it.”

Earlier this week the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet, northeast of Winnipeg, was hit by a fire that destroyed 28 homes and cottages and left two people dead.

Nearly 20 other fires are burning in the province and the Manitoba government has closed some provincial parks.

Stearns said the cub was found hobbling back and forth on a road in the Lac du Bonnet area by someone involved in the fire battle. There was no mother bear in sight, and so she was brought to the bear rescue by the province’s natural resources staff.

She was coughing and wheezing from smoke inhalation and had singed fur along her back, Stearns said, indicating she may have gone underneath something that was burning.

The cub was being called “Sayen,” which Stearns said was of Indigenous origin and means “lovely” or “sweet.” Stearns said she was on the thin side, which isn’t unusual for a very young bear and indicated she may have had siblings.

“Despite it all, she was alert and she did have some energy, because she wanted some milk … But mainly she wanted to sleep. She was exhausted. She slept most of the time for her first 24 hours,” said Stearns.

“But the prognosis from the vet was it’s going to be hit or miss.”

Stearns said Sayen was the first cub the rescue received that was a fire victim. She said animals typically either outrun fires or succumb to them, but Sayen made it out because she’d made it to a road and was found by a person.

She said the cub’s death highlights the dangers that wildlife face from fires.

“You get the slower animals like porcupines, they can’t flee the fire. And this time of year it’s especially devastating because all the little young ones are born. You get squirrels in their nests and little rabbits’ nests on the ground, you get cubs like this and they’re just decimated,” Stearns said.

The rescue posted a picture on Facebook after Sayen’s death, showing Stearns’ husband, Roger, with the baby bear in his arms.

The post explained he was taking the dead cub outside “to let the wind carry her spirit away.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2025.

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press