'Truly a Christmas miracle': Black bear cub survives being burned in northern B.C.

The survival of a black bear cub, believed to have been burned earlier this week, is being described as a Christmas miracle by rescuers.

On Dec. 20, the Northern Lights Wildlife Society said it was alerted to a bear cub in "dire need" near Dawson Creek in northeast B.C., and said a volunteer rushed to the site to find the animal buried in snow at the base of a tree.

Northern Lights said the clock was ticking on whether the cub would even survive the night, given it was at least a nine-hour drive away to the society's headquarters in Smithers amid bitterly cold conditions that were enveloping the province throughout the week.

But the cub successfully made her way to Northern Lights, thanks to volunteers who drove her first to Prince George and then to Smithers, after she was warmed up in a box.

Angelika Langen, manager and co-founder of the organization, said in a Christmas Eve update that the bear "endured so much" and her survival was "truly a Christmas miracle."

"We thought that there might be frostbite and so on ... we have confirmed that she, actually, was burned," Langen said in the video update.

"We're assuming that she was hibernating. And that the slash pile that she was hibernating in was put on fire," she added. "It burned part of her fur off, it burned her face, it burned her feet, front feet, quite severely."

However, Langen said the bear will survive, and thanked community members for sending well-wishes.

Northern Lights is based in Smithers, B.C., around 450 kilometres west of Dawson Creek as the crow flies.

It’s one of three organizations in the province permitted to raise orphaned bear cubs, and the only one allowed to rehabilitate and release grizzly bear cubs.