Cinder, the burned bear, heads back home after rehabilitation in South Lake Tahoe

It didn't look good for a 39 pound bear cub after being caught in a 400 square mile fire in the state of Washington. Suffering from 3rd degree burns, the cub was found under a horse trailer in Methow Valley, WA.

A state Department of Fish and Wildlife officer captured her, and a volunteer pilot flew Cinder to California. When she arrived at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) on Aug. 4.

Tom and Cheryl Millham took Cinder into LTWC where she was under the care of Dr. Kevin Willetts. He took care of the wounds and removed the cub's bandages on September 30. Since then, Cinder has been rehabilitating and is now ready for transport to Idaho where she'll spend the winter.

She now weighs in at 83 pounds.

Dr. Willetts has released Cinder from his care and on Sunday, November 23, Cinder will be transported by car to the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation Center to hibernate for the winter.

In Spring, Cinder will be returned to a suitable habitat near where she came from and will again be free in the wild.

It isn't cheap to rehabilitate a bear, and LTWC has seen many of them this summer. The non-profit needs donations to continue to provide care to the bears and other animals that are at the center. To donate, visit their website.

When shopping this holiday season, you can donate to LTWC every time you shop at Amazon by using Amazon Smile. Use this link when shopping and Amazon will donate .5% of your purchase.