Photo credit: via Christine Leiser/Flickr and Wikimedia Commons – A tiger at the Endangered Animal Rescue Sanctuary and a mugshot of Joe Exotic from Santa Rosa County Jail.
Netflix’s “Tiger King” will go down in history as the collective distraction that helped America get through the dark, depressing days of early COVID-19 lockdowns. The show followed the true story of the feud between private zoo owner Joe Exotic, the self-described “gay, gun-carrying, redneck with a mullet,” and Carole Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue.
Exotic is currently serving out a 21-year prison sentence for animal rights abuses and hiring someone to kill Baskin.
The show was a raucous look inside the world of big cat owners and brought a lot of attention to the animal abuse that runs rampant in the industry. The light it shed on the industry was so bright it led Congress to take action. The Senate unanimously passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act on December 6. The House had already passed the bill in July.
The White House has signaled that President Biden will sign the bill into law.
VICTORY! The Big Cat Public Safety Act—championed by Carole & Howard Baskin & backed by PETA—passed the Senate!
Our lawsuits against the biggest #TigerKing villains nearly annihilated the cub-petting industry.
The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets and bans public contact with these animals, including paid interactive experiences like cub petting. Those who currently own big cats will be able to keep their animals so long as they register them with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and do not allow them to have direct contact with the public.
There are an estimated 7,000 captive tigers in America living either in zoos or with private owners.
“I am harder to intimidate and kill than some thought!” Carole Baskin joked in a video celebrating her legislative victory. “The passage of the bill is the successful culmination of many years of battling against narcissistic, abusive, dangerous men who dominated the cruel trade and did everything they could to stop its passage, including wanting to intimidate, discredit and even kill me,” Baskin added.
“Within a decade, most of the thousands of big cats living this way will have passed away, and in 20 years, no big cats will be living in this kind of misery,” she continued.
The passage of the legislation was also applauded by The Humane Society.
“An extraordinarily cruel era for big cats in the U.S. finally comes to an end with the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act. We’ve been fighting for this moment for years because so many so-called ‘Tiger Kings’ have been breeding tigers and other big cats to use them for profit,” Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.
The legislation is a big win for the animals and people as well. The Humane Society reports that since 1990, there have been more than 400 incidents involving captive big cats, and five children and 19 adults have been killed and hundreds of others injured.
Many objected to how Joe Exotic was celebrated for the few weeks that “Tiger King” ruled popular culture because he was, in the end, a man who profited from animals’ misery. Now, we can look back at the show’s popularity and see that it’s played a positive role in protecting these majestic animals from abuse for the foreseeable future.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
On March 8, 2023, a keeper at World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis County, Missouri, noticed something odd. A male bald eagle named Murphy was guarding what appeared to be a large depression in the ground. “The spot was sparsely but carefully decorated with leaves and branches, and featured a simple rock right in the center,” the nature preserve shared on its Facebook page.
Murphy began sitting on the rock, nudging it and becoming fiercely protective of it, as if it were an egg. People visiting the sanctuary would inquire about the bald eagle just sitting there, wondering if he was okay. The keepers finally put up a sign that read:
“If you see an eagle lying down in the back left corner under a perch, that’s Murphy! Murphy is not hurt, sick, or otherwise in distress. He has built a nest on the ground, and is very carefully incubating a rock! We wish him the best of luck!”
Murphy took his rock duties very seriously
In case you’re wondering if this is unusual behavior for a 31-year-old male bald eagle, the answer is “not really, but….” Male bald eagles do share equally in nesting and baby-raising, so the paternal instinct part is normal. Murphy’s channeling of that instinct onto a rock…maybe not so much. And at 31, he’s more like a great-granddad than dad, as bald eagles usually live 20 to 30 years in the wild (though they do live longer in captivity).
Murphy takes fatherhood seriously, though. Soon he began screaming and charging at the four other eagles in the aviary if they came anywhere near RockBaby. (That’s the official name the keepers gave Murphy’s…well, rock baby.) Naturally, the screaming and charging caused a fair amount of stress for all involved, so Murphy and RockBaby were moved to their own enclosure for everyone’s protection.
People who saw this unfold started suggesting sanctuary staff replace Murphy’s rock with a real egg or get him a mate, but 1) Eagle eggs aren’t just lying around waiting to be given to wanna-be dads, 2) hatching a different kind of bird’s egg would be potentially dangerous for it, and 3) Murphy had two females right there in the aviary, and none of them were interested in each other. Alas, the heart cannot be forced.
Then a real eaglet needed a dad
However, a different opportunity presented itself in late March when an aerie with two chicks in it was blown down by high winds. One chick didn’t survive the fall, but the other was brought to World Bird Sanctuary’s Wildlife Hospital.
A bit bruised, but otherwise healthy, the chick was given a good prognosis. Staff began feeding it while wearing a camouflage suit and holding an eagle stuffy to prevent the eaglet from imprinting on humans. What the baby really needed was a foster parent: an adult eagle who would feed and care for it.
“Murphy’s dad instincts were already in high gear,” the sanctuary wrote on April 11, “but at 31 years old, he had never raised a chick before. It’s definitely a gamble, but also the chick’s best chance.”
Introducing an eaglet to an adult eagle isn’t as simple as dropping it in the enclosure. First, the eaglet is put into what the sanctuary refers to as a “baby jail,” which is a heated, comfy cage made of wood and wire that protects the eaglet but still allows some interaction between the birds so they can get used to one another. Once the desired bonding behavior is observed, then they try out some direct one-on-one interaction without the cage.
On April 12, World Bird Sanctuary announced, “IT’S HAPPENING!!!!”
The eaglet (referred to as Bald Eaglet 23-126, they don’t name foster babies at the sanctuary for superstitious reasons) was released from baby jail, and after an hour or so Murphy approached it with curiosity. Was he wondering if his RockBaby had hatched? Maybe. Would he be the nurturing dad everyone hoped he would be? It appears so.
As the sanctuary shared:
“This morning, Murphy got his chance to be a full parent as 23-126 left the nest to go be closer to Murphy. The food is being dropped through a blind drop tube into the nest and baby appears unable to be able to get over the lip to get back into the nest to get the chopped food. When we checked back, we found that baby was still out of the nest and all the chopped food was still in the nest. However, Murphy’s whole fish had been removed from the nest and baby had a full crop. 23-126 is not yet old enough to tear food which means MURPHY FED THE BABY!!!!”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
The comments on the update, of course, were pure gold as people became fully invested in this story and even gave the eaglet a real name—Dwayne, as in The Rock:
“I can’t believe I’m crying over eagles!”
“Murphy’s going to be giving a TedTalk: Manifest The Eaglet You Need In Your Life.”
“So happy for Murphy & eaglet Dwayne (the rock Johnson).”
“‘Rock, I am your Father.’”
“Omg I’m crying! Murphy never gave up on his rock and now has a baby of his very ownThe wonders of nature never cease. Ty, WBS, for making this possible. These two are saving each other.”
Many people lamented that there is not a live cam at the facility so people could watch this pair as their relationship developed, but staff reminded everyone that the sanctuary is out in the middle of the woods and they don’t have a strong enough signal for a live stream. But WBS staff posted regular updates on social media on how Papa Murphy and “Dwayne” were doing.
Murphy was honored on Father’s Day for his stellar fostering skills as he returned to the aviary:
“We’d like to thank Murphy for his service and applaud his outstanding job in raising 23-126,” the sanctuary wrote. “Murphy may have had a few moments in his parenting duties where he regretted choosing to sit on that rock, but we believe that the overall experience has been very enriching for him. We know that Murphy has enriched 126’s life. Thanks to Murphy, 23-126 has grown up knowing that he is a Bald Eagle! 126 has learned so much from Murphy and, thanks to his efforts, will have a much greater chance of thriving in the wild after he is released. Happy Father’s Day Murphy, and thank you, we couldn’t have done this without you.”
“His resilience, spirit, and dedication as a foster dad touched the hearts of millions of people throughout the world, leaving an especially profound impact on those fortunate enough to have worked with him. While Murphy has delighted guests along Avian Avenue for years with his distinct vocalizations and charismatic personality, it wasn’t until 2023 when he decided to incubate a rock that he gained an international following. Murphy’s transition from rock incubating to rockstar foster dad of an injured eaglet brought daily joy to thousands as we watched their journey together. As Murphy’s eaglet grew so did our love of him. Their journey together taught thousands about eagle growth and development, the bonds between eagle parents and their young, and the critical work that goes into wildlife rehabilitation. Murphy’s eaglet continued to grow strong under his watchful gaze and went on to be released back to the wild. The following year, Murphy fostered a second eaglet in need with the same dedication he gave the first. His second eaglet is still in our care, but is making good progress toward release and we expect he will be ready by mid summer.
We could not have asked for a better ambassador and role model. We are incredibly grateful for the community that came together as a result of his heartwarming story. We are devastated by this loss and know that the community mourns with us. Murphy’s foster eaglets were the first ones our hospital received in over a decade and we learned a lot about their care and space needs from observing Murphy with them. With what we learned from this, we’ve designed a series of special aviaries to serve the specific needs of injured and orphaned raptors, including an aviary specialized for eaglets. In honor of Murphy’s legacy, we plan to name the eventual eagle fostering aviary Murphy’s Manor, so that we can continue to remember him for decades to come. Murphy will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on in the memories of those who loved him.”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
When it comes to keeping birds as pets, people usually think about parrots or canaries. Nobody ever considers having a crow. But research has shown that crows are incredibly clever, curious, and self-aware. They recognize the faces of people they like or don’t like, have the ability to use tools, and can even mimic human speech. Looking to experience the magic of crows yourself? A YouTube user named Alexandra from Germany made a video on how you can befriend the crows in your neighborhood in four easy steps. All it takes is “some food and some patience.”
Over a decade ago, Alexandra made friends with a crow named Krari. Krari and her friends visit her regularly and are considered part of the family. They also bring their “little ones” to Alexandra’s house to chill as well. “They come here to get food, to play, or just hang out with me and relax,” Alexandra says in an introductory video on her YouTube page.
How to make friends with a crow in four steps
1. Find a pair of crows
Crows tend to live in areas populated by humans, so chances are there are crows in your neighborhood. The best place to start is to find a pair with a fixed territory that you see on a regular basis. That way, you’re cultivating a relationship with the same animal day after day, and you can “slowly get to know each other.”
2. Offer food
Crows will eat just about anything, from insects to invertebrates to meat. They also enjoy nuts, worms, and vegetables. If you offer the food in the same place at the same time of day, you’ll establish a routine. Then, the crow may come by regularly to see if you have anything tasty to eat.
3. Be mindful
When interacting with the crow, make sure they aren’t anxious or displaying signs that they are prepared to fly away at any moment. Approach the birds with an open, indirect gaze so as not to cause alarm. Sit quietly while you wait for the bird to approach and avoid quick movements.
4. Let the birds come to you
This requires patience. The crow will be shy at first, but they know you better than you think. They will remember your face and your kindness. Give them a chance to observe you and earn your trust.
One important reminder before you start
At the end of the video, Alexandra reminds everyone that while we should make friends with crows, they are supposed to live free in the skies and not be stuck in a cage. “I hope this helps you build a relationship with these fascinating birds,” Alexandra concludes her video. “They are loyal friends and have brought much joy into my life. Please let birds have their freedom. They do not belong in homes or other forms of captivity. Thank you.”
If you succeeded in befriending a feathered genius, tell your new crow friend we say hi!
This article originally appeared five years ago. It has been updated.
There are several stories written about music taming the savage beast, but this is no fairy tale. A video shows a small pride of lions in an enclosure hear the acoustic guitar and soothing singing of a French singer-songwriter covering Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain.” One would think that the animals would be annoyed or ignore the music period. Instead, something heartwarming happened.
One by one, the lions approached the musician known as Plumes as he performed. They calmly laid down and started yawn-singing to the tunes while nuzzling one another, with two lions cuddling less than a yard from where Plumes sat and played. The lions were relaxing and enjoying the concert along with their afternoon nap, showing off the gentler side of the predatory wild cats.
People remarked upon the lion’s reaction to Plumes’ tunes:
“Wow! That is truly an incredible interaction with them. They really enjoyed your singing to them.”
“Omg, the way they cuddle.”
“What a beautiful interaction to witness.”
“Music is the universal language!”
“That was so magical! Music speaks to the soul. Human, animal, all relate to the feelings music evokes.”
This isn’t the only time Plumes has performed for an animal audience. In fact, his social media and YouTube channel show videos of multiple concerts for humans and creatures alike. He not only has played his guitar and sang for lions, but for tigers and bears (oh my!) among many other animals at wildlife refuges, enclosures, and zoos.
While Plumes performs his music for a wide variety of animals today, he started at home, playing for a herd of cows in the French countryside while living with his grandmother.
“I read somewhere that cows like music, that it’s soothing to them,” Plumes shared with AMFM Magazine. “They were super receptive. They gathered around, some even rubbed against me. It was magical.”
Since then, Plumes had been taking the opportunity to warm up his vocal chords and provide various animals a free mini-concert throughout his tours and travels, recording video of their reactions to his music.
“Animals inspire me to be kinder, more patient,” he added. “They remind us to reconnect with nature. Maybe we’ve lost touch with nature, and these videos help people feel that connection again.”
Understandably, most people believe music and music appreciation are uniquely human traits, but there are studies that music isn’t exclusively for homosapiens’ enjoyment. Some studies show different species reacting positively to music in different ways. Chimpanzees sway to music, dogs tend to show calmer behaviors when listening to classical music, and sea lions synchronize their head movements to a song’s beat, just to name a few. There are veterinarians that suggest creating a music playlist for your dog to play when leaving the house so it helps reduce their separation anxiety.
It’s interesting to see how music impacts different animals in different ways, especially if music helps them. Over time, who knows how much music will bring man and animal closer together. If a lion can enjoy Guns N’ Roses, the possibilities are nearly endless.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
Nadia Dubceac is known to many in social media circles as a fitness guru with an edgy twist. Her dark hair, Gothic eye makeup, black fingernails, and often dark attire (even while working out) exemplify a traditional “goth chick,” with extra impressive muscles.
But don’t let her tough-looking exterior fool you. On a recent social media post, she shared a clip of herself with a tiny bee resting gently on her finger. “If you’ve been following my stories, you know I have a pet bee. Her name is Beebee. I call her Bee Bug.”
She explains how they met. “I found her almost exactly two months ago, lying on her back outside, probably dying. And I’ve seen a lot of videos of people reviving bees by giving them sugar and water. And I was like, ‘ya know what? Maybe she just needs a little sugar.’” She then adds, perhaps referring to a slight buzzing from the bee, “She’s getting zoomies.”
Dubceac then shares the story of how the two become fast friends. “So, long story short, I bring her inside. I had a bouquet of flowers that I put her in. I kind of just gave her sugar and water, thinking I’ll help replenish her, and she can go about her day and live a long, happy life.”
This whole time, the bee has been walking around her hand. We then see Beebee crawling into the circle made between her fingers and her thumb. “She’s doing her favorite activity right now,” Dubceac explains. “I make a little cave for her to burrow in and she loves it in here. She can be in here all day.”
Dubceac’s love of creatures made it feel impossible to leave Beebee to fend for herself. “Obviously, as an empath, there was no way I could put her back outside, knowing she’s unable to fly. So here we are. It’s been two months and she has been spoiled rotten.” We then get a shot of Beebee prancing through white flowers with bright yellow pollen at their centers. “She gets everything she wants. It has been really fun getting to know her little personality. I know it’s crazy, but I swear she has one!”
As for the logistics, they have a firm routine. “I feed her around 12 and then again once I come home from the gym. And then again while I’m having dinner. So she does have an internal clock. She knows.”
We then see her buzzing around a small habitat, not unlike a playpen. “She is a carpenter bee, so she obviously loves wood. I bought her a little wood house. She has a bonsai tree. She has this little mushroom that her godmother has given to her. And yes, she has a godmother.”
In a scary moment, Beebee jumps off Dubceac’s hand, but she finds her safely on the ground. “Please,” she says directly to her. “You’re so little and fragile. Stop doing that!” The video cuts to Dubceac’s cat, so she adds, “I obviously do buy her flowers, as long as they’re cat safe. And yes, I do have a cat. He knows not to mess with her and obviously they’re separated.”
She then addresses a thought many viewers might have, saying, “Now you may be wondering, what do I feed her?” She pulls out a square of pollen. “She eats a big, fat block of pollen. All of this just for her. I just wet a little piece so it can be nice and soft for her. And bees also need water, so that’s my way of keeping her hydrated.”
Having spent the last couple of months with Beebee, she notes, “I think bees are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. They recognize faces. She will reach for me when she wants to be held. Oftentimes, I’ll find her running around in panic until I pick her up. And she finds a nice, little cozy spot on my hand to take a little nap. And it’s the cutest thing ever. I think she’s actually pretty cozy right now.
My favorite thing she does? When she naps, she will put her little antennas go down. And it’s the cutest f—ing thing ever. She also loves a good nap on this window sill, especially when I lay the blanket down for her. Watching her groom is so fascinating. I have studied her entire routine. So yeah, that’s my little Beebee. She’s sending you the best energy ever.”
There were tens of thousands of supporters in the comment section on Instagram. One person writes, “Dear universe, when I die, please let me come back as an alt girl’s pet bee.”
Another shares their personal experience, writing, “During Covid lockdown, there was a carpenter bee that visited me every day for months. He would hang outside with me for hours! And when I went inside, he would hover in the windows, following me around the house. One day, he came by with a girlfriend and I hope they lived happily ever after!”
A few had understandable questions. One asked, “They have a four-week lifespan. How is it 2 months?” Dubceac answered, “Female carpenter bees live up to 3 years.” To this, another commenter answers, in part: “Thank you for taking such care of her!”
In a ThoughtCo “profile” piece on carpenter bees, entomology expert Debbie Hadley writes that they are “quite harmless and excellent pollinators.” She also adds this tidbit: “Carpenter bees practice buzz pollination, an active method of collecting pollen grains. When it lands on a flower, the bee uses its thoracic muscles to produce sound waves that shake the pollen loose.”
As to whether sugar, water, or sugar water is safe to give to bees, some experts claim it depends on the situation. Beevive.com suggests first checking to see if the bee can fly, as Dubceac did. Then, if possible, offer a flower solution first. “If the flower method fails, sugar water is needed. The RSPB (a conservation charity) suggests getting a small container or spoon and offering two tablespoons of granulated white sugar to one tablespoon of water.”
She wouldn’t be the first to keep a bee as a pet. According to Apis Cera, a company that makes beeswax candles, a woman from the United Kingdom once had a special bee friendship. On their website, they shared, “Fiona Presly, a library assistant from Inverness, rescued a buff-tailed, or large earth, bumblebee queen that had been born without wings and was struggling to survive.
Over the next few months, the two appeared to develop a special bond. Bee, as Presly named the insect, would even ‘cuddle’ and seemed to be ‘house-trained.’ Indeed, caring for the bumblebee has had a profound impact on how Presly thinks of insects.”
Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem. It probably goes without saying that we shouldn’t just capture them or remove them from their natural habitat. But should a bee get hurt, as Beebee did, providing them a safe place to live out their time can be a wonderfully kind and rewarding thing to do for the bee and their human.
Something was clearly wrong. Isaacs, an avid diver, looked closer and saw deep red gashes in the dolphin’s skin. Then she and her companion spotted the cause: two remoras, also called suckerfish, had latched directly into the dolphin’s flesh and were feeding on it. Remoras typically hitchhike harmlessly on larger marine animals, but in this case they had attached to wounds and the dolphin was convulsing from the pain.
Isaacs was pregnant at the time. She looked at the other woman. “Should I get in with him?”
the most insane day of my life on the ocean. I trusted my instincts and did what I thought was right, and I’m glad I did. I don’t advocate to touch wild animals but I do think some circumstances are necessary and ok. It was very clear this dolphin was struggling and in a lot of pain, and based on her reaction afterwards as well as the entire pod, I know I made the right decision. Dolphins are incredible animals and so intelligent—the fact that this also happened while pregnant was once in a lifetime 🩵🙏🏽✨🥹🐬 #dolphins#wilddolphins#wildliferescue#dolphin#fyp
What followed over the next several minutes was equal parts chaotic, heartbreaking, and extraordinary, all of it captured on video and posted to her TikTok account @nicoleisaacsofficial on January 28, 2026, where it has since been viewed 13 million times.
The dolphin, to Isaacs’s astonishment, seemed to understand what was happening. When the women entered the water and approached, she rolled over and held still. “She began to fully cooperate and turn over for us to make it easy to grab the remoras,” Isaacs wrote in the video overlay. The rest of the pod circled at a distance while they worked.
A woman swims with two dolphins. Photo credit: Canva
Getting the remoras off was harder than expected. They moved quickly and reattached easily. At one point Isaacs caught one and swam it back toward the boat to hand off to the captain — and it slipped out of his hands and latched onto her instead. “I was pregnant and freaking out,” she says in the video. It eventually released her, swam back, and reattached to the same dolphin. It took multiple attempts before both were finally removed for good.
The dolphin’s response was immediate. She leapt out of the water. Then the rest of the pod, which had been circling at a distance throughout, suddenly reappeared all at once and began swimming in loops around the boat.
“All of the dolphins reappeared out of nowhere and swam around us to celebrate,” Isaacs wrote.
In her caption she was careful to note that she doesn’t generally advocate touching wild animals, but that the circumstances made intervention feel necessary and that the pod’s response confirmed for her that it was the right call. “The most insane day of my life on the ocean,” she wrote. “I trusted my instincts and did what I thought was right.”
One viewer put it simply: “A totally untrained dolphin cooperating and letting you tend to her just out of sheer trust and desperation — I’m just shook.”
Nuns at the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua in Central Spain are on a mission beyond their spiritual calling: to save a rare breed of giant rabbit from extinction. The eleven Franciscan sisters are currently caring for 35 giant rabbits at the convent, which weigh up to 20 pounds each.
Sister Consuelo Peset Laudeña told Global Sisters Report that the rabbits hold historical significance in Spain. During the Spanish War, the rabbits were a crucial source of food for families and orphanages during food shortages.
“Many families have managed to get by thanks to this animal, and now it seems we are forgetting that part of our history,” she told the publication.
The journey to save giant rabbits
The sisters at the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua have worked to preserve the rabbits for over 30 years. But ten years ago, they learned the rabbits were going extinct.
“We contacted an association, I sent some photos, and they told me, ‘You have a spectacular animal, and it’s endangered,’” Peset explained.
Their focus shifted into helping the rabbits breed, so the sisters worked with local Spanish authorities to establish a farm. They raised $5,700 to initially invest in the farm.
Caring for the rabbits
The sisters are tasked with feeding, cleaning, and maintaining the rabbits and their quarters. The rabbits are fed a combination of barley, hay, and corn. At the end of March 2026, a total of 90 births were recorded.
“I do a visual check. I take a walk around and see which animals are listless or lethargic, and if any have died in the nests, they must be removed immediately,” Peset said.
The rabbits live in temperature-controlled cages with proper ventilation.
“Rabbits start to suffer at 26 degrees [Celsius; which is about 79 degrees Fahrenheit]; they tolerate the cold well, but not the heat,” Peset also added.
The nuns feel called to protect the rabbits thanks to a encyclical given by Pope Francis titled Laudato Si’ in 2015. In that message, he called Catholics to care for nature and the environment.
“We have to protect creation,” she said. “We are Franciscans. St. Francis is the patron saint of veterinarians, and that is the source of the love and admiration we feel for the Spanish giant rabbit.”
What are Spanish giant rabbits?
Spanish Giant Rabbits are a cross between the Flemish Giant and Spanish brown-type female rabbits. The rabbits weight up to 20 pounds, and each female rabbit can give birth to 22 pups each month.
According to Farm Show Magazine in 2014, the rabbits are comparable in size to a small lamb. They were first bred in the early 1900s.
The giant rabbits are not for sale. To further conservation efforts, the sisters have chosen to donate the rabbits to local schools, a nearby theme park, and to registered private rabbit breeders.
There are many reasons people love giving their pets goofy names. A big one is that, unlike humans, they’ll never have to put it on top of a résumé, so we’re free to call them whatever we desire. Humans also give their pets adorable names because of anthropomorphism. When we give our pets human traits, they become more relatable.
Giving our pets a truly unique name also makes us feel more attached to them. Research shows that when we give them a name we won’t hear anywhere else, they feel more personal to us, strengthening the bond. It’s the same reason why we give our loved ones nicknames.
Every year, the Nationwide pet insurance team recognizes the boldest and most unforgettable names among its roster of newly enrolled pets. This year, after over 200,000 votes were counted, the team recognized 10 cats with the wackiest names, and the winner was Cheddar Big Booty Cheeseburger from Benton, Arkansas. Cheddar Big Booty Cheeseburger is hard to beat, but the nine runner-ups have pretty amazing names, too.
2026 winner: Cheddar Big Booty Cheeseburger
“He was one of two orange kittens in a litter of a stray I took in,” said cat mom Chantalece C. “This tiny little kitten grew into a sturdy unit of a cat, so when I would grab him, it was like picking up a triple-stacked cheeseburger.”
Cheddar Cheeseburger is a wacky name in its own right, but she decided to add another quirky twist. “He really loves booty spankings too, so he deserved a big booty title,” she added. Thus, Cheddar Big Booty Cheeseburger.
Small kitties often have the biggest purr-sonalities. Sometimes, that means snuggling, funny sounds, or smiley faces. Sometimes, that means, well, destruction. “If you met this lil’ monster, you would understand,” said cat dad D. D., on naming his frisky feline Bad Kitty 5000.
“We rescued him from inside a car engine,” said cat mom Carly M. “He was small and so scared, we just kept trying to encourage him to be brave and kept telling him he was ‘such a brave little toaster.’ And it stuck. We call him B.L.T. for short!”
Looking for the right recipe for their new wacky pet, cat mom Yan L. and her boyfriend took inspiration from a rat—specifically the furry little chef from an animated classic. The result? A Michelin-star-quality pet name that’s also a little wacky. “I love the movie ‘Ratatouille,’” she said. “My cat is a grey tabby, which is a little like the rat in the movie. And he is a cat, so voila, Catatouille.”
“My girlfriend is a fan of American Dad,” said cat dad Nick R. “There’s a very niche character present in season 13—he’s only mentioned by name and never appears on screen.” Later, when a small orange kitten was discovered falling out of an engine bay, the couple knew they’d found the “embodiment of Goofus McDoof Business Horse.”
“Cats are kind of demonic, but in a fun, charming way,” said cat mom Margot. “We love a good pun and were originally planning to name one cat ‘Lucipurr’ and the other ‘Meowzebub.’ Once we brought our kittens home, it became immediately clear that this orange menace needed both names. Thus, Lucipurr Meowzebub, Lord of Cats.”
Lucipurr Meowzebub, Lord of Cats. Photo credit: Nationwide (used with permission)
Miso Tunacanopolis The First
“Miso is his original name,” said cat mom Phuong N. “The ‘Tunacanopolis’ part is just a funny name I’ve always wanted to use. ‘The First’ alludes to the fact that Miso is my first cat, but also because Miso is the best cat in my admittedly very biased eyes.”
“She was such a cute little munchkin when I got her at 3 months old, but ‘Munchkin’ was too much of a mouthful, so it quickly got reduced to Munchie,” said cat mom Morgan S. “From the moment I got her, she purred like an engine every time she snuggles up—and she does love snuggling very, very much—so, to capture her loud, reliable purr, I added McPurryToes as her last name.”
“We have always liked weird pet names,” said cat dad Steven S. “When we first got Jules, I would call him ‘Orange.’ I thought of names I could keep Orange in—it started off as Orange Julius, then evolved to Orange Julius Ceasar Salad.”
“I’m a biologist, so the term ‘significantly significant’ is used a lot, and I always thought it would be cute for a cat name,” cat mom Renee G. said. “So, when I adopted her, it was the first option on my list.”
Somewhere in southern New Jersey, in a water-filled zoo habitat, two small animals you’ve probably never thought much about are about to take their first wobbly steps into the world.
Born in mid-April 2026, they came into the world with their eyes open and alert; they were standing within hours. By their first week, they were nibbling grass alongside the adults, their tiny muzzles buried in clover as if they’d been doing it forever.
Cape May County Commissioner Vice-Director Andrew Bulakowski put it simply:
“What a wonderful joy to be blessed with additional capybara pups. Families love this exhibit, and their love will only grow with the sights of these new additions.”
They will not grow up alone. Their extended family—Budette, Marigold, and a group of older siblings from Buttercup’s October litter and Marigold’s November litter—hovers around them like a serene, fuzzy welcoming committee. They are serious about the job, too: someone always stands watch. Someone always seems ready with a nudge or a nuzzle.
Zookeepers and veterinary staff are monitoring Buttercup and her newborns closely, offering the young family regular breaks from the attention of visitors. Visitors who want a glimpse can watch from afar, on a bridge that overlooks the habitat. Patience is the price of admission to one of the sweetest scenes in the zoo.
The new capybara pups are incredibly cute. It’s difficult to look at them and not feel something inside you scream with delight. That feeling is important. In a way, it’s the entire point.
The world’s chillest giant rodent is stranger (and more important) than it looks
Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are the largest rodents on Earth. An adult can weigh up to about 146 pounds and stretch more than four feet long. That can seem intimidating on paper, but in person, capybaras carry their size with a slow, steady ease.
Their bodies are built for life between land and water, and every anatomical detail tells that story: their eyes, ears, and nostrils are positioned near the tops of their heads, so capybaras can survey their surroundings while almost entirely submerged. Their feet are partially webbed, making them powerful swimmers who can hold their breath for up to five minutes—a crucial feature when a jaguar is watching from the riverbank and the safest move is to slide under the surface and wait it out.
Capybaras eat plants. They graze on grasses and aquatic vegetation with an almost comical level of focus. It’s a pretty strict diet, though they will add fruits and tree bark when the mood strikes or the season dictates. And they don’t just look calm; they talk. Capybaras communicate with an arsenal of barks, whistles, clicks, and soft purrs that help keep their tight-knit groups coordinated and close.
How a capybara family does childcare
In the capybara world, Buttercup’s new pups don’t “belong” to her and Goomba, the father. Rather, the entire group claims them.
In the wild, capybaras don’t raise their young alone. The babies don’t rely on a single caregiver; they inherit a whole network of protection. Capybaras are profoundly social animals and live in stable groups where group bonds are maintained through constant tactile contact, mutual grooming, and scent marking. Females nurse each other’s pups. Older animals act as lookouts and babysitters, regardless of whether they share direct DNA. Scientists call this alloparenting: shared childcare built into the species’ survival.
That shared responsibility is crucial. It gives capybara pups stronger odds of survival in those first fragile months. In some field studies, more than 70% of pups raised in stable groups survive their first year, a high rate for animals so low in the food chain.
In New Jersey, Buttercup’s family follows the ancient capybara way, too. While the zoo’s visitors see a cute capybara cuddle pile, this mammalian cluster represents a finely tuned system designed to keep vulnerable animals alive.
Why wetlands depend on capybaras
In the wild, capybaras roam across much of South America and function as quiet ecosystem architects. You’ll find them in the vast Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Bolivia; they graze in the seasonally flooded savannas of Venezuela and Colombia. Capybaras even venture into the rewilding landscapes of Argentina’s Iberá region. Basically, wherever freshwater meets grassland, capybaras tend to appear sooner or later.
As professional grazers, capybaras help maintain diverse, open wetland vegetation. When they disappear, tall grasses quickly crowd out shorter plants, and overall plant richness drops by 25% or more. Simply put, when capybaras aren’t around, plants suffer. That change is drastic and can be felt through the insects, birds, and every other creature reliant on those important plants.
Within the circle of life, as prey, capybaras also anchor South America’s food chains: they’re hunted by jaguars, anacondas, caimans, and large raptors (such as harpy eagles). They’re a major food source; a jaguar can devour dozens of capybaras in a single year. That stat sounds brutal, but if you remove capybaras from that system, the entire food chain begins to wobble.
They’re also essential, given the way capybaras move seeds as they travel and graze. Constantly nibbling and wandering, capybaras have shaped how nutrients move through the wetlands. In conservation science, animals that hold this many threads together often receive a specific label: keystone species. Pull out a keystone, and the entire system starts to crack.
Not endangered, but not untouchable
Right now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists capybaras as a species of “Least Concern.” But that broad label can hide a lot of trouble.
For example, the capybara’s habitat is disappearing rapidly as people drain or convert wetlands into farmland at alarming rates. Hunters target capybaras for their meat and skins, which are used to make leather. Climate change creates more intense droughts and wildfires in places like the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland. In 2020, fires burned an estimated 30% of the Pantanal biome in a single season, scorching millions of acres, as jaguars and charred caimans fled their home.
So yes, there’s real danger here, despite the capybara’s “Least Concern” conservation label. But there’s also hope.
In early 2026, Brazil expanded its Pantanal national park, adding more than 116,000 protected acres to a landscape that badly needs institutional buffers. In Argentina, a long-term rewilding effort brought jaguars back to Iberá after roughly 70 years. Those jaguars now hunt capybaras again—for the first time in living memory—restoring a predator‑prey relationship that’s essential for local ecosystems.
The picture is complicated and is always evolving, but crucially, there’s still a window for change.
What a small New Jersey zoo has to do with all of this
On a map, Cape May County Park & Zoo looks like a sweet coastal stop between beach towns. In practice, it’s part of a much larger conservation network.
The zoo is free to visit and cares for more than 550 animals across over 200 species. Cape May County Park & Zoo holds accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which isn’t an easy feat: it signals that a zoo meets strict standards for animal care, conservation work, and education. Fewer than 10% of licensed animal facilities in the United States achieve accreditation, for context.
Buttercup and Goomba’s family exists, in part, because those in charge decided that capybaras deserve space, resources, and long‑term planning.
Picture an excited four-year-old, hands sticky from Dippin’ Dots. She presses her face against the enclosure as Buttercup nudges her new pups towards the water’s edge. This child doesn’t know what the Pantanal is. She’s never heard of the term “keystone species.” There is no word for “alloparenting” in kindergarten. But she does know this: there’s a mother, and those little animals matter to her. They also seem to matter to the zookeepers who clean, feed, and check in on them every day.
That simple realization—that another creature’s life is important, has value—is often where the seeds of conservation are planted.
Two pups, one bigger story
Right now, Buttercup’s newest pups are exploring their habitat one cautious step at a time. They nose at the water and trail behind older siblings as they wander through the grass. When something inevitably startles them, they retreat back into their capybara family—a pile of warm bodies and damp fur—where they’ll find safety, tucked beneath the chins of adults and between their sturdy shoulders.
These tiny capybara pups are unaware of the fact that, very far away, others just like them graze the floodplains of the Pantanal and Iberá. They have no idea of their importance, no way to know that their species is the key to holding the entire wetland ecosystem together, one blade of grass at a time.
But they don’t need to know that. Humans can own that knowledge—and do something about it. That’s the power of a story like this. Two baby capybaras in a New Jersey zoo aren’t a trivial subject; it’s a doorway. You start with Buttercup and Goomba’s adorable little family, and suddenly, context floods in. “Wetlands” are no longer a concept or a word in a textbook. They’re real, faraway places where animals like the capybara live, graze, and contribute to the ecosystem.
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