Dubbed “Cinder,” the baby elk was taken for care to a nearby ranch and is regaining strength at a wildlife rehabilitation center.
In this photo provided by Nate Sink, the Missoula, Montana-based firefighter, cradles a newborn elk calf that he encountered in a remote, fire-scarred area of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Mora, N.M., on Saturday, May 21, 2022. SANTA FE, N.M. — Firefighters have rescued an abandoned newborn elk calf found amid the ashes of the nation’s largest wildfire as calving season approaches its peak in New Mexico and fires rage across the American West.
Wildlife officials in general discourage interactions with elk calves that are briefly left alone in the first weeks of life as their mothers forage at a distance. Sink says he searched diligently for traces of the calf’s mother and found none. “They do elk things, they don’t do people things,” said Ramsay, noting Cinder arrived at a tender days-old age with his umbilical cord still attached.