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An old male bald eagle who adopted a rock as an egg has just been given a real foster baby

People are totally invested in Murphy becoming a real dad after he spent weeks nurturing his "RockBaby."

World Bird Sanctuary/Facebook

Murphy meets a rescued eaglet—his new foster baby.

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 it if 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!”

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.

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!!!!"

The comments on the update, of course, are pure gold as people have become fully invested in this story:

"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 own❤️The wonders of nature never cease. Ty, WBS, for making this possible. These two are saving each other❤️🦅❤️🦅🪨🐣."

Many people have lamented that there is not a live cam so we can all watch this pair as their relationship develops, 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 has been posting updates on social media and will share the story as it continues to unfold. Follow World Bird Sanctuary on Facebook here. And if you feel compelled to donate to help feed little Dwayne or 23-126 or whatever you'd like to call Murphy's new baby—who apparently eats a ridiculous amount—you can donate here or check out their Amazon baby registry (yes, seriously!) here.

Congratulations, Papa Murphy!


This article originally appeared on 4.14.23

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Chatty animals get 'interviewed' with a teeny tiny microphone, and boy is it entertaining

Here to answer all your burning questions, such as "may I touch your snoot?"

YouTube

Freya from Maya Higa's YouTube video.

Ever wonder what an ideal date for a lemur would be? Or a lizard’s favorite Disney princess?

Thanks to one YouTube poster with a passion for animals and an endearing sense of humor, all questions shall be answered. Well, maybe not all questions. But at the very least, you’ll have eight minutes of insanely cute footage.

In a series titled “Tiny Mic Interviews,” Maya Higa approaches little beasties with a microphone so small she has to hold it with just her thumb and forefinger. And yes, 99% of the animals try to eat it.

There’s Ginger, the pig with a lot of stored up resentment toward the big bad wolf. She ain’t afraid to talk about it, either. Or so her passionate snorts would indicate.

Then there’s Brazilian porcupine Boris (at least, I think that’s what Boris is after Googling, I’m no zoologist), who is asked to name his favorite food. For the record, it’s corn. And no, you may not touch his snoot.

Godzilla, the itsy bitsy turtle that fits into one hand, gets asked, ironically, “what’s it like being land’s fastest animal?” Though Godzilla remains stoically silent, an image of super cool speedster sunglasses gets superimposed onto his face, along with the words “I am speed.”

The best part to me is a bird, aptly named Giggles, gloriously laughing at a cheesy joke. In fact, here’s a nod to all the birds with impeccable names in this video.

Mordecai, Costello, Bartholomew (these include stars from Higa's first interview) … I’m looking at you.

Though these critters provide some top notch entertainment, there’s plenty of valuable information being thrown into the mix as well.

All the exotic “interviewees” are part of Zoo To You Conservation Ambassadors, a permitted facility in California, Higa informs her viewers. Rescued or surrendered from the illegal pet trade, or permanently injured, these animals receive permanent care and become a part of Zoo To You’s education program. Pretty sweet gig, right?

Higa herself is a wildlife rehabilitator, falconer and streamer who focuses a lot of her content on conservation. Though her online persona veers toward the upbeat and positive, she isn’t afraid to shed light on some darker facts around certain threats many species face.

"The natural world that these animals come from is being absolutely decimated,” Higa states in another video. “The UN estimates that over one million plant and animal species face extinction today. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, the wildlife trade, exploitation, general human intervention…is causing us to lose species at rates unprecedented in human history. We’re experiencing a mass extinction.”

Wanting to be part of the solution, Higa has founded her own nonprofit organization called Alveus, which, like Zoo To You, acts as an exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center.

If you’d like to support Higa’s sanctuary, you can do so by donating to donate@alveussanctuary.org via PayPal.

And if you’re already jonesing for more adorable “Tiny Mic Interviews,” you’re in luck! You can find even more on Maya’s YouTube channel here.


This article originally appeared on 09.02.22

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A lesson in sustainability from a single trail at the end of the world

A stunning Patagonia trail is getting a major makeover so hikers can enjoy the landscape without harming it.

Photos by Annie Reneau

The Base Torres trail offers gorgeous views through Torres Del Paine National Park.

Shortly after leaving the Punta Arenas airport, our van driver points out the window and says in a distinct Chilean accent, "That's where the Pacific meets the Atlantic." Gazing out at the Strait of Magellan, which I'd only ever seen on a map, it hits home that we are farther south than 99.9% of the Earth's population—quite literally at the end of the inhabited world. Five hours later, after passing herds of emus, flamingoes and guanacos (a relative of llamas), we reach Torres Del Paine National Park, the crown jewel of Chilean Patagonia.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and am no stranger to beautiful places, but Patagonia is on another level. One person here called it "savage beauty," which is a perfect description—raw and rugged mountains, glaciers, lakes, forests, and prairieland on all sides at all times, with barely a sign of civilization. Torres Del Paine offers up close views of Grey Glacier, part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, the third largest freshwater reserve on Earth.

jagged blue glacierGrey Glacier, part of the Southern Patagonia Ice FieldsPhotos by Annie Reneau

If there's any place that'll make you fall head over heels for our gorgeous planet, it's Patagonia.


I've come to Torres Del Paine National Park to witness this beauty and to see how Las Torres Patagonia's "10 Volunteers for 10 Days" ecotourism contest played out. Las Torres is a privately owned reserve nestled inside the national park, and as part of their ongoing sustainability efforts, they are rebuilding a hiking trail that leads to the park's iconic granite towers. Las Torres offered 10 voluntourists the opportunity to visit the reserve and help work on the trail. I accompanied the winners during the second week of April—peak autumn color time—to see firsthand why sustainable trail-building matters.

hotel sitting in front of a mountain

The Las Torres Hotel sit s just inside Torres Del Paine National Park.

Las Torres

First, I got to experience the old trail, a 12.5 miles (20 km) round-trip hike to and from Base Torres, the base of the towers. It's not easy, requiring a trek up and down 3,000 feet in elevation, but it is absolutely stunning. Imagine being surrounded by scenery like this with the occasional majestic Andean condor soaring overhead:

mountain views with fall colors

The fall colors in Patagonia were striking against the gray rock.

Photos by Annie Reneau

The hike takes you up mountainsides, through forests, across rivers, past waterfalls and finally up a steep boulder climb.

a river running along a forest

Every lake and river is a different shade of blue, green or gray.

Photos by Annie Reneau

The trek ends at three huge granite towers flanked by a glacier with a bright turquoise lake greeting you like a scene from another planet. This is Base Torres.

large granite towers over a turquoise lake

Base of the towers—Base Torres—at the top of the hike

Photos by Annie Reneau

The Base Torres trail is one of the most popular hikes in the park, and it sees a good percentage of the 250,000 visitors who visit Torres Del Paine each year. The problem is, it was never meant to be a hiking trail in the first place. Carved decades ago by cattle ranchers on horseback, the trail was created before the national park without any real thought to sustainability. Both human use and natural erosion have badly damaged the trail, making it incompatible with the protection and preservation of the natural landscape.

The goal is to make the trail both sustainable and accessible, minimizing human impact on the land while still allowing people to enjoy the park. I had no idea what went into creating a sustainable trail, but there's a lot, from slope to drainage to impact on natural vegetation. Patagonia's weather plays a big role in erosion as well, with strong winds and snowy winters that have to be taken into consideration. The new trail takes a different path than the old one, with a more gradual ascent and more up-close views of the Ascencio Valley and river, and offers a wider and more comfortable climb.

a rocky trail

The old horse trail is eroded and treacherous in places.

Photo by Annie Reneau

The trail rebuild is a huge, collaborative project between Las Torres, the park, international conservation and trail experts (such as Shuswap Trail Alliance and Conservation VIP) and others. For the past two years, both professional crews and volunteers have done the slow, manual labor required to build a trail in the wilderness, and there's still a ways to go.

"It's a colossal job. We need all the help we can get," Las Torres CEO Josian Yaksic tells me. The Las Torres Reserve has belonged to Yaksic's family for several generations, starting as a small, independent farm and growing into a multi-faceted business tied to the national park. Yaksic emphasizes that Las Torres takes responsible stewardship of the land seriously, protecting Patagonia while helping people enjoy it. That commitment becomes more and more apparent the more time I spend talking with the people who live and work on the reserve.

As I learn about the trail project and other sustainability efforts of Las Torres, I'm struck by how their conservation work is driven by two key elements of success: caring and collaboration. Conservation isn't a political talking point here; it's a way of life inspired by caring for such a beautiful place. And that genuine love for the land fuels a shared vision that invites collective action. Back home, we tend to place responsibility largely on the backs of individuals and their individual choices. Here, it's clear that collaborative efforts aren't seen as just nice to have, but rather must-haves in creating a unified system of sustainability.

people using hoes and other tools to build a trail

Volunteers working on the new Base Torres trail (left) and walking the new trail (right)

Photos by Annie Reneau

The volunteers who worked on the trail noted that as well.

"It was eye opening to see how Las Torres along with the other organizations involved took something that is a big task and most hikers don’t blink an eye at, and said this is unacceptable and that they are going to change it," shares Amanda Bjorge, a contest winner from Minnesota. "Seeing the trail that Las Torres and AMA [a non-profit NGO helping with the trail rebuild] are working on, the difference is astonishing. While the old trail is clearly a horse path, the new trail is made with so much careful thought and calculation into not just who will be traveling on it, but the effect that the elements may have on it."

Patricia McGuire says her experience working on the trail showed her how passionate the Las Torres staff are about conservation. "This is the kind of work that requires sharing knowledge and building community," she says. "It’s necessary to spread awareness of why sustainable trails are important in order for the work to continue happening."

"The people of Las Torres know so much about the land and its history, and they’re passionate about it too, which really invites you to immerse yourself in the knowledge," shares Angela Hrari from New York. "A majority of the food eaten at the hotel is grown on the premise to cut down on all the excess waste needed to transport food to remote areas. Every person I met had such deep reverence for the land, ensuring that we were leaving no trace and respecting the wildlife." She adds that the new trail "ensures not only that differently abled bodies are going to have an easier time accessing hikes, but also many people for many generations to come can enjoy this land without the fear of turning it into an at-risk destination."

Jon Moser, from Boulder, Colorado, says it was "amazing" to see the commitment to sustainability in Las Torres's partnerships with conversation groups. "The entire hotel is a sustainability machine, harvesting from their gardens to create their menus, eliminating their use of plastic, and even using glacial runoff to distill their own gin," Moser says. "Because I build trails for a living, this opportunity was obviously an immediate attraction, but getting the chance to be a part of trail construction that has been happening for the past two years was truly special."

Some might wonder: Couldn't people just not go to Patagonia at all and save the tourism impact rather than just trying to mitigate it? Sure. But it's in our nature to explore nature, and we're never going to be able to stop people from traveling to see naturally beautiful places. Sustainability is about balance, which includes balancing human activity with the needs of nature. When done responsibly, visiting and enjoying Earth's wonders can not only nurture a love for our planet, which inspires greater conservation efforts to protect it, but also help us collaborate and learn from one another to improve those efforts as well.


The author was invited to Torres Del Paine as a guest of Las Torres Reserve. Las Torres did not review this article prior to publication.

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Texas family takes a $40 million hit to turn their massive ranch into a public park

They chose conservation and the public good over a lucrative private development deal.

Photo by Erich Schlegal for RGK Ranch

RGK Ranch will become a 1500-acre public park outside of Austin, Texas.

Most people will never see a million dollars in their lifetime, much less tens of millions of dollars. Even fewer would pass up an easy opportunity to become $40 million richer, regardless of how wealthy they already are.

That's what a family in Central Texas did when private real estate developers from around the world offered upwards of $130 for their sprawling 1507-acre ranch. Instead of taking one of those huge real estate deals, they chose to sell RGK Ranch to Travis County, Texas, for a reduced purchase price of $90 million—$30 million below its appraised value—so the land could be preserved as a public park.

Nadya Scott and her brother Gregory Kozmetsky inherited the ranch from their parents, George and Ronya Kozmetsky, who purchased the land in 1970. The elder Kozmetsky was a technology innovator and co-founder of Teledyne Inc. who passed away in 2003. He was also an educator and philanthropist who gave away millions of dollars through the RGK Foundation. Now his descendants are donating tens of millions of dollars worth of their family's land rights for the public good.

The ranch sits outside of Austin, which has seen record growth over the past decade as America's fastest-growing metro area. The family credits Nadya Scott, Kozmetsky's daughter, with the vision to make the ranch into a public park.

“I want to preserve the land for future generations because I have seen what happens when the land around a city becomes so valuable that it is sold, and little wild area is preserved,” said Nadya Scott in a press release. “I believe in protecting unique land for the future and I am glad that people before me also wanted to protect land so that I can explore beautiful areas in my travels. The RGK Ranch is a beautiful and unique part of Texas.”

Scott's son, Jordan, told Texas Monthly that she had been inspired by picnicking and hiking at Will Rogers State Historic Park in Los Angeles, on land that had once belonged to the film star’s ranch, when they lived in California. “Those experiences truly planted a seed for [my mother] to see she could create a similar experience for people in Austin,” he said.

Jordan Scott also said in a press release, “Austin and Central Texas are beloved by the Scott and Kozmetsky families. The cherished memories our family created on this land will now be shared with our community. I am honored by my mother’s decision to preserve and protect this land.”

In the U.S. around 40% of land is publicly owned, while 60% is private. But state by state, the percentages vary widely. In Alaska, for instance, nearly 90% of land is public and the rest privately owned. In Texas, less than 5% of land is public while over 95% is privately owned. Public land is a big part of conservation efforts as it can be protected by law. Natural areas that are preserved for the public, such as our National and State Parks, serve to absorb harmful carbon in our atmosphere as well as keep ecosystems healthy. In states like Texas where very little land is protected, public lands are even more important.

The park will play a vital role in protecting the environment, acting as a natural filter, absorbing rainwater to contribute to the aquifer, and contributing excess run-off water directly to Lake Travis—a huge benefit since Travis County faces water scarcity concerns. The park will also serve the wildlife of the area, creating corridors for animals to wander from habitat to habitat.

“Due to the families’ generosity and the foresight of Travis County, a large and very valuable property with significant conservation value will become parkland, benefiting wildlife, water quality, and future park goers in our community,” said Jeff Francell, associate director of land protection for The Nature Conservancy in Texas, an environmental nonprofit organization that helped facilitate the transaction.

County Judge Andy Brown, who helped lead the efforts to acquire the land for the county, added, “The Scott family's generosity also ensures that future generations will have the chance to experience the beauty and ecological value of this land. We look forward to collaborating with the community to develop a park that reflects the diverse needs and interests of our residents.”

The county will create a master plan for the land, but according to Texas Monthly, a home on the ranch is already slated to be turned an events center. The Scott family will retain ownership of 90 acres of land adjacent to what, but Travis County will have right of first refusal to buy that land if the family decides to sell in the future.

The park is expected to open to the public in late 2025.

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