Vets used tilapia fish skins and corn husks to cover burns on the paws of two bears and a mountain lion rescued during the Thomas Fire. One bear had third-degree burns so severe the animal was unable to stand. So California Department of Fish and Wildlife brought all three animals to the state wildlife lab in Sacramento and sought help from Jaime Peyton, chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
Peyton says that treating wild animals burned this severely hasn’t been done (or is undocumented) because it wasn’t thought possible. But even though California’s native animals have always lived in fire-dependent landscapes, now fire conditions are far different. Fires quickly expand across vast areas, and the fire season is longer. The pioneering work done by Peyton on the bears and mountain lion will help other wildlife fire victims, as well as human burn patients.
"What was so profound was how severe her wounds were. On all four feet, she had third-degree burns and all the skin was basically dead on top," Peyton said. "We had to get rid of that and clean up those wounds. When we put her back in her pen and woke her up, she was still very uncomfortable." [...]
"I couldn't put bandages on because they would eat them and it wasn't really a good idea when we can't access them on a regular basis," Peyton said.
That's when she remembered a Brazilian medical group using tilapia skin to treat burn victims.
"And I thought this would be a perfect solution for these animals. The skin itself is really strong and so it can really protect those areas," Peyton said. [...]
Peyton and her team bought some tilapia from a local fish market, harvested the skin and sutured it to the bear's paws.
Acupuncture was used for pain and laser light treatments were given to reduce bacteria on the burned paws and to promote healing. One reason why wildlife burns are difficult to treat is the long recovery time. Peyton’s techniques helped the burns heal in weeks instead of months.
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In preparation for releasing the healed bears, a CDFW crew built two artificial dens.
Last week the bears were released to their wild lives in Los Padres National Forest. They still wore fish skins and corn husk booties.
The five-month-old mountain lion patient is expected to go home this week. All three animals were fitted with satellite collars so their health can be monitored.
Fish skin has been used in Brazil on humans because it protects burns and has a high concentration of collagen that aids in healing, but this was the first time it was used in the United States. Peyton noted that her fish skin treatment of these animals has opened a new area for burn treatment in the U.S.
Wildfires are a normal event in California’s Mediterranean climate, but recent fires have exceeded what once was normal. The 281,893 acre Thomas Fire north of Los Angeles was the largest wildfire in state history and the only fire of the top 20 to occur in December. Six of the top 20 occurred prior to 2000.
2017 was the most destructive and deadly fire year ever documented in California. Nearly 9,000 wildfires burned 1.2 million acres, destroyed over 10,800 structures, and killed at least 46 people. More deaths resulted from the Montecito mudslide caused by unusually heavy rain on the Thomas Fire burn scar. These scars need the landscape equivalent of fish skin and corn husks, plus time post-fire to apply before the rains trigger erosion. Rainy season generally begins in November. Fire season used to end in late fall when the rainy season began. Of the top 20 largest fires, only two others were in fall (October 2003 and 2007).
Now, in Southern California there is no “fire season.” Wildfire threats are year-round.
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SoCal is dry and windy but near me is wet. Snow fell at higher elevations in the Trinity Mountains and the Sierras.