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Bears Burned in California Wildfires Healed With Fish Skins, Released to Wild

Unique Treatment Could Translate to Companion Animals, Humans

Quick Summary

  • Veterinarians are first in the nation to use tilapia skins to heal burn wounds on wild animals
  • Fish skins supply collagen, hasten healing, act as 鈥榖iological bandage鈥
  • Possibility of use on dogs, cats, and humans in countries without access to skin banks

Two adult female black bears that were burned during the Thomas Fire in Southern California have recuperated and are now back in the wild thanks to the help of University of California, Davis, veterinarians and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The bears, along with a 5-month-old mountain lion, were all brought to the CDFW Investigations Lab in Rancho Cordova for treatment in December after being found with severe burns from the fires that swept through Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

bear with burned feet
Bear brought to CDFW  Wildlife Investigations Lab has severe third-degree burns on its paw. (Karin Higgins / 嘿嘿视频)

Deana Clifford, senior wildlife veterinarian with the CDFW and an assistant clinical professor at the 嘿嘿视频 School of Veterinary Medicine worked to treat the burns, and enlisted Jamie Peyton, chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at 嘿嘿视频 Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to help with pain management.

Both bears had severe burns on their paws. The younger bear, which was brought to the lab on Dec. 9, had severe third-degree burns on all four paws.  

Dr. Jamie Peyton
Jamie Peyton, chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at 嘿嘿视频 Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital examines burned bear paws.  (Karin Higgins / 嘿嘿视频)

鈥淲hen I saw the degree of injury that she had and how much pain she was in, as a veterinarian, it just tugs at your heart,鈥 said Peyton, who also serves as associate director for the 嘿嘿视频 Center for Advancing Pain Relief. 鈥淵ou want to do everything possible to get these animals feeling better. It鈥檚 not their fault they were in this horrible fire and they鈥檙e in a strange environment and they don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on and they hurt.鈥

Peyton initially estimated it would take four to six months for the bears鈥 wounds to heal. Giving them a long time to recover wasn鈥檛 an option. The team didn鈥檛 want to risk having the bears acclimate to people or captivity. Standard care, which would require frequent bandage changes, would also be difficult with a wild animal. The team also had trouble getting the bears to eat pain medication. Complicating the situation even more, they soon found out that the older bear was pregnant.

鈥淭hat was a game changer for us, because we knew it wouldn鈥檛 be ideal for her to give birth in confinement,鈥 Clifford said. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 really set up to have a birth at the lab holding facilities, and we knew there was a high probability that she could reject the cub, due to all the stress she was under.鈥

An innovative solution: Fish skins

Peyton remembered reading about a group in Brazil that had used sterilized tilapia skins to successfully treat burns on humans. While the treatment had never been performed in the United States and never on animals, Peyton decided it was worth trying.

鈥淭he high collagen level in the fish skins helps with healing and acts like a matrix,鈥 said Peyton. 鈥淚t would act as protection and it was pretty inexpensive and available.鈥

fish skin sutured onto bear paw
嘿嘿视频 and CDFW veterinarians carefully suture tilapia fish skin bandages to bear paws. (Karin Higgins / 嘿嘿视频)

It took Peyton and her team several days to obtain the fish skins and sterilize them in the lab, but the payoff was worth it. Before the fish skins were sutured to the bears, the bears could only sit with their paws off the ground.

鈥淥ne of the first things that the bear did was stand up after we applied them,鈥 said Peyton. 鈥淪he was more mobile, which in my mind is a huge success for pain control.鈥

The bears also received acupuncture, chiropractic care, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, and cold laser therapy. All of the integrative therapies help with pain control and enhance wound healing by increasing blood and lymphatic flow. The team also worked with 嘿嘿视频 veterinary pharmacists to create a new burn salve designed to ease the bears鈥 pain.

Peyton believes all of these therapies played a role in the bears鈥 healing, but it wasn鈥檛 until the tilapia skins were applied that the biggest change occurred. In a matter of weeks, new skin had grown back on the bears鈥 paw pads.

Bear rests in holding pen
The younger bear rests in her holding enclosure after her treatment is finished. The outer wrapping on her feet (made of corn husks) will delay her efforts to chew off the tilapia skin bandages underneath. (Photo / California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

鈥淚n our view, there was no downside,鈥 said Peyton. The fish skins are even edible, and no reactions to the skins were observed. The mountain lion, which received the same treatment as the bears, ended up eating his.

Fish skins for domestic animals, humans

Peyton is excited about the possibility of using the treatment in the future on companion animals and is hoping donors can help make more research possible. She also sees potential in using the treatment on humans in countries which, unlike the United States, may not have access to skin banks.

鈥淥ne animal can change the face of medicine,鈥 said Peyton. 鈥淚 think these bears and the mountain lion are inspiring us to think outside the box. These individual animals have contributed to promoting how we鈥檙e going to treat burns in the future.鈥

While the bears鈥 wounds are not healed 100 percent, Peyton says she鈥檚 praying that they do great in the wild. Both bears鈥 original habitat had been destroyed by fire, so CDFW officers moved dirt and logs to create separate winter dens for the bears in the Los Padres National Forest. They were released on Jan. 18. Each is wearing a satellite collar so CDFW can monitor their movements and survival.

bear in den
A view into one of the bear dens created by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Los Padres National Forest. This younger bear wears her satellite collar so she can be monitored. (Photo / California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

 

Media Resources

Amy Quinton, 嘿嘿视频 News and Media Relations, 530-752-9843, amquinton@ucdavis.edu

Kirsten Macintyre, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 916-322-8988, kirsten.macintyre@wildlife.ca.gov

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