A black bear cub was rescued in Canada after a fire disrupted its winter sleep, reports CBC News.
The bear was spotted in distress on December 20 in Dawson Creek. It was sleeping on the road and looked like it needed help. Concerned people reported it to the Northern Lights Wildlife Society (NLWS), an organization that rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife.
Volunteers arrived and found the bear buried under snow near a tree. It was a particularly cold day in Canada, and they were hesitant to leave it alone overnight, fearing that frostbite would kill it. They warmed it up and took it to the NLWS office. Workers examined the cub and found it had suffered severe burns. They realized it had survived the fire and was female.
NLWS co-founder Angelika Langen suggested that the cub was preparing to hibernate with its mother and had hidden with her in a pile of branches left over from logging. Workers often destroy such piles with fire. According to Langen, someone most likely set fire to the pile where the cub was hiding. The whereabouts of its mother are unknown.
The woman assumed that the cub was born in January. However, she said that it was very weak for its age, weighing only 20 kilograms, so it probably would not have survived the hibernation. Langen called his rescue a true Christmas miracle.