Cinder, a block of granite, on her way to the wild

Tom Millham of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Inc. announced Monday an injured bear, Cinder, is on her way back to the wild.

“I am very pleased to inform you that Dr. Kevin Willitts, the official volunteer veterinarian for Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, has released Cinder, the bear from Washington (state) — with burns on all four paws — from his medical care and will allow her to return to the area from where she came to complete her rehabilitation and to hibernate for the winter,” Millham said.

On Sunday morning Willitts immobilized Cinder one last time to give her a final exam, weigh her and witness her being placed into a transportation cage for an eight-hour car ride to Garden City, Idaho. She will spend the rest of the winter at Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation (IBBR) Center, just outside Boise, in a cage next to a first year bear cub for at least a short time until they get to know each other, Millham said.

In the spring, Cinder will be released at a suitable habitat and she’ll again be free in the wild. Cinder will be at IBBR for the next four months to allow her now healed burned paws a chance to toughen up so she can be as natural as possible when she will be released.

On Aug. 4, Cinder was flown from Washington State to South Lake Tahoe for Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) to treat her wounds, as LTWC did six years ago with Li’l Smokey, according to Millham.