These bears burnt during California wildfires were healed using fish skin
The pair have been released back into the wild.
Two bears who were badly injured in the California wildfires last year have been returned to the wild after vets used fish skin to heal third-degree burns on their paws.
A team of researchers, which included experts from the Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, stitched the skin of tilapia fish – which are widely available and inhabit shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes – on to their injured paws.
The bears had oozing wounds and some of their paw pads were completely burned off when they were brought in.
Dr Jamie Peyton, of the UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said: “We expected the outer wrapping to eventually come off, but we hoped the tilapia would keep steady pressure on the wounds and serve as an artificial skin long enough to speed healing of the wounds underneath.”
Deana Clifford, also of the UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital, said: “That was a game changer for us, because we knew it wouldn’t be ideal for her to give birth in confinement.
They also had another patient – a mountain lion – but his injuries were not as severe and because of his young age, the lion has been earmarked for placement in a wildlife rescue facility.
Clifford said: “We’re really hopeful that these novel treatments accelerated the healing for these bears and provided them the best odds of survival.
“We don’t know exactly when it will be born, but hopefully we’ll be able to monitor the movements of the mother via satellite, and that will give us an indication of how things are going.”
