SANTA FE, N.M. – Firefighters have rescued an abandoned newborn moose calf found in the ashes of the nation's largest wildfire as calving season nears its peak in New Mexico and fires rage across the western United States.

Missoula, Montana firefighter Nate Sink said Tuesday he came across the moose calf motionless on the floor of a fire-blackened forest in New Mexico while patrolling and putting out the persistent hot spots.

“The whole area is surrounded by a thick layer of ash and burnt trees. I didn't think he was alive," said Sink, who was sent to the state to help contain a wildfire that as of Wednesday had spread to 486 square miles (1,260 square kilometers). and destroyed hundreds of structures.It is one of five major uncontained fires burning in New Mexico in extremely dry and windy conditions.

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Wildlife officials generally discourage interactions with moose calves that are briefly left alone in the first weeks of life while their mothers feed from a distance. Silver says he searched diligently for traces of the calf's mother and found none.

The charred 32-pound (14.5-kilogram) calf, nicknamed "Cinder", was taken to a nearby ranch and is now regaining strength at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Española, north of Santa Fe.

Cottonwood Rehab veterinarian Kathleen Ramsay says she paired Cinder with an adult surrogate moose to raise her with as little human contact as possible.

As the California wildfire nears, a family rushes to save their animals
NATIONAL.


As the California wildfire nears, a family rushes to save their animals
"They do things to moose, they don't do things to people," Ramsay said, noting that Cinder arrived at the tender age of a few days with her umbilical cord still attached.

Ramsay said he hopes the calf can be released into the wild in December after moose hunting season. The strategy worked on several occasions with elk being tracked by tags when they joined wild herds.

The cub's rescue recalled events 70 years ago in New Mexico involving a scalded black bear cub and the fire prevention mascot "Smokey Bear."

Eva the heroine dog defeats a mountain lion who attacked its owner while hiking
ANIMALS.


Eva the heroine dog defeats a mountain lion who attacked its owner while hiking
The American fire safety campaign took on new urgency in 1950 with the rescue by firefighters of a badly burned black bear cub from a wildfire in southern New Mexico. The cub, named Smokey Bear after the mascot, recovered and lived at the National Zoo until his death in 1976.

Wildfires broke out this spring in several western states, where climate change and a long-lasting drought are increasing the frequency and intensity of fires and wildfires.