Smokey Bear, a national ambassador of fire prevention, visited the cub burned in the 416 Fire on Tuesday at the Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center near Del Norte.

A video documenting the female cub’s recovery and the visit by Smokey Bear was posted on YouTube by the Southwest Colorado Wildfire Coalition.

The video shows the young bear’s paws, badly burned in the 416 Fire, are healing well.

“She is just making excellent progress,” said Michael Sirochman, manager of the Frisco Creek facility.

The original Smokey Bear was rescued from a wildfire in 1950 in New Mexico and suffered burned paws and hind legs.

Unlike Smokey, who lived out his life at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the female bear cub is expected to be returned to the wild in the fall along with other abandoned bear cubs at the rehabilitation center.

Herald Staff