The Daily Populous Thursday December 25th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by cbc.ca and submitted by guanaco55

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The survival of a black bear cub, believed to have been burned earlier this week, is being described as a Christmas miracle by rescuers.

On Dec. 20, the Northern Lights Wildlife Society said it was alerted to a bear cub in "dire need" near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C., and said a volunteer rushed to the site to find the animal buried in snow at the base of a tree.

Northern Lights said the clock was ticking on whether the cub would even survive the night, given it was at least a nine-hour drive away to the society's headquarters in Smithers amid bitterly cold conditions that were enveloping the province throughout the week.

But the cub successfully made her way to Northern Lights, thanks to volunteers who drove her first to Prince George and then to Smithers, after she was warmed up in a box.

Northern Lights volunteer Renata Debolt found the bear buried in snow at the base of a tree near Dawson Creek, B.C., on Dec. 20, 2025. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society/Facebook)

Angelika Langen, manager and co-founder of the organization, said in a Christmas Eve update that the bear "endured so much" and her survival was "truly a Christmas miracle."

"We thought that there might be frostbite and so on ... we have confirmed that she, actually, was burned," Langen said in the video update.

"We're assuming that she was hibernating. And that the slash pile that she was hibernating in was put on fire," she added. "It burned part of her fur off, it burned her face, it burned her feet, front feet, quite severely."

Angelika Langen with Northern Lights Wildlife Society is seen providing a video update on the bear on Christmas Eve. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society/Facebook)

However, Langen said the bear will survive, and thanked community members for sending well-wishes.

In an interview with CBC News, Langen said the bear was first spotted sleeping in the middle of a Dawson Creek road.

WATCH | Rescuers say survival of cub a miracle: Rescuers say this northern B.C. bear cub's survival was a Christmas miracle | Duration 1:11 A black bear cub sustained severe burns near Dawson Creek, B.C., earlier this week. It was taken all the way across the province by volunteers to the Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, where rescuers say, miraculously, it will recover.

"[Residents] figured that wasn't a good place for her and kind of shooed her off the street and underneath the tree. That was on Saturday night," the rescuer said.

"They realized that the bear was not OK and called us."

The bear sustained severe burn damage to its front paws, according to rescuers. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society)

Langen says she suspects the fire that burned the bear wasn't deliberately set, and it's quite common for hibernating bears to make their den within slash piles in the forest that are destined to be burned.

She said the cub was likely born in January, and was lean for her size, weighing in at 44 pounds (19.9 kilograms).

"It would have been a difficult hibernation for her at that weight to come out in the spring in good shape," the rescuer said.

Langen says it's unclear if the cub's mother was with her or not at the time of the fire, though it's likely she was, given that mother bears and cubs usually den together.

"There's all kinds of possibilities that we can speculate on," she said.

"But what we do know is that she burned, she froze, and now it's just a long stretch of healing ahead of her."

Northern Lights is based in Smithers, B.C., around 450 kilometres west of Dawson Creek as the crow flies.

It’s one of three organizations in the province permitted to raise orphaned bear cubs, and the only one allowed to rehabilitate and release grizzly bear cubs.

The forest industry is required by the province to dispose of slash piles and leftover residues to “reduce fire hazards.”

But Lesley Fox, executive director at Fur-Bearers, a B.C.-based wildlife advocacy charity, says it’s important to understand that those mounds of branches and brush are used by wildlife.

“Animals like bear cubs use it as an artificial den,” she added. “Smaller mammals like squirrels try to find safety and warmth in brush piles.”

She said burning those piles without checking for wildlife can have devastating consequences.

“It’s rare, but it does happen,” Fox said.

Langen says the black bear cub was not grouchy at all, given the circumstances, and was gratefully accepting treatment. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society)

According to B.C.'s wildlife regulation, anyone planning on lighting a category 3 open fire, which includes “slash” burning to remove wood debris left behind after timber harvesting, is required to register their burn with the B.C. Wildfire Service and check with local authorities.

It also states that the person responsible for lighting up the fire must only do so “if conditions are safe and will continue to be safe.”

Fox says her organization is calling for an investigation into the matter.

“Did this person exercise care or were they simply negligent in setting their slash pile ablaze and didn't check for any animals,” she said. “We definitely need more information.”

TemporaryThink9300 on December 25th, 2025 at 04:28 UTC »

What a beautiful bear cub! 🥰

Nellasofdoriath on December 25th, 2025 at 03:09 UTC »

> Langen says she suspects the fire that burned the bear wasn't deliberately set, and it's quite common for hibernating bears to make their den within slash piles in the forest that are destined to be burned.

This seems like a communication issue

giocondasmiles on December 24th, 2025 at 23:46 UTC »

Wow poor little thing. And no mama.

Glad she’s being taken care of.