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These 8 incredible photos show a rescued tiger cub's journey back to health.

These 8 incredible photos show a rescued tiger cub's journey back to health.

1. This is Aasha. She's a healthy, happy tiger living in the care and comfort of a wildlife rescue center. But this wasn't always the case.

All photos by In-Sync Exotics, used with permission.

2. Aasha had a rough start. As a cub, she was put to work in a traveling circus.

None of the animals in the show were receiving proper care. As such, Aasha was malnourished and had bald spots and open sores on her body.

3. That's when an inspector from the U.S. Department of Agriculture called Vicky Keahy at In Sync Exotics.

Keahy is known throughout the country for taking in big exotic cats, especially those who've been abused or neglected. At In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center, her Texas sanctuary, she cares for tigers, lions, cougars, and more.

4. With medicated shampoo, medicine, and lots of love, Keahy got to work bringing Aasha back to life.

And after all those baths, the young cub learned to loved playing in the water.

5. Aasha grew equal parts strong and curious, especially about other tigers at the facility.

6. She soon made friends with Smuggler, a playful male tiger who happens to be twice her size.

7. After a few successful playdates, the two moved into the same enclosure.

But don't call it a love connection: to reduce the number of cats in captivity, all the rescued animals at In-Sync are either neutered or placed where they won't be able to breed.

8. Which is just fine for Aasha, who's now celebrating five happy, healthy years at the sanctuary.

Want to support animals like Aasha and Smuggler? You can!

There are thousands of exotic animals living in homes or working in shows across the U.S. They often lack the proper conditions, space, food, and enrichment required for their size and species.

That's why rescue and rehabilitation efforts like In-Sync Exotics are so important. They support all types of animals, including big cats, primates, elephants, and more. These facilities and nonprofits greatly appreciate reliable, conscientious volunteers, donations, or even just a signal boost.

So if you're up for giving animals a fresh start, give what you can.

Since Aasha has been here she is healing and becoming more like a tiger cub. She enjoys playing with her enrichment and has learned to play with the water from the hose. She hasn't jumped in her tub yet but we know it is just a matter of time. All of us at In-Sync are looking forward to a long happy healthy life with Aasha and a lot of great laughs

Innovation

Four lessons the U.S. can take from Iceland's hugely successful 4-day workweek trial

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The country of Iceland has released the analysis of its 4-day work week experiment and the results speak for themselves.

The trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government took place from 2015 to 2019 and included about 1% of Iceland's working population, making it the world's largest shortened workweek trial to date. The findings show that paying people the same amount to work fewer hours per week results in a happier, healthier workforce with similar or increased productivity. Who knew?

Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, a UK think tank that co-conducted a study of the trials, said in a statement: "This study shows that the world's largest-ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success. It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks—and lessons can be learned for other governments."

So what are those lessons we can learn?

1) There's nothing magical about a 40-hour workweek.

Most of the workers in the trial reduced their hours from 40 hours per week to 35 or 36, without any decrease in productivity. In fact, the study found "Productivity and service provision remained the same or improved across the majority of trial workplaces."

Forty hours is an arbitrary number that was initially instituted in the U.S. as a response to the inhumane factory hours workers were forced into at the dawn of the industrial age. And this isn't the first study to show that working fewer than 40 hours isn't some magical, ideal number of working hours. A New Zealand company that cut its hours to 32 hours a week had similar results as this Iceland trial—happier employees and no loss in productivity.

2) Paying people more for their time may actually make them more productive.

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culture
Innovation

Four lessons the U.S. can take from Iceland's hugely successful 4-day workweek trial

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The country of Iceland has released the analysis of its 4-day work week experiment and the results speak for themselves.

The trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government took place from 2015 to 2019 and included about 1% of Iceland's working population, making it the world's largest shortened workweek trial to date. The findings show that paying people the same amount to work fewer hours per week results in a happier, healthier workforce with similar or increased productivity. Who knew?

Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, a UK think tank that co-conducted a study of the trials, said in a statement: "This study shows that the world's largest-ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success. It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks—and lessons can be learned for other governments."

So what are those lessons we can learn?

1) There's nothing magical about a 40-hour workweek.

Most of the workers in the trial reduced their hours from 40 hours per week to 35 or 36, without any decrease in productivity. In fact, the study found "Productivity and service provision remained the same or improved across the majority of trial workplaces."

Forty hours is an arbitrary number that was initially instituted in the U.S. as a response to the inhumane factory hours workers were forced into at the dawn of the industrial age. And this isn't the first study to show that working fewer than 40 hours isn't some magical, ideal number of working hours. A New Zealand company that cut its hours to 32 hours a week had similar results as this Iceland trial—happier employees and no loss in productivity.

2) Paying people more for their time may actually make them more productive.

Keep Reading Show less
culture
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Tory Burch
Tory Burch Empowered Women
Empowered Women

This woman used creative writing as a refuge while growing up in the midst of a violent drug war. And now she's fostering a love for LatinX poetry.

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Davina Agudelo was born in Miami, Florida, but she grew up in Medellín, Colombia.

"I am so grateful for my upbringing in Colombia, surrounded by mountains and mango trees, and for my Colombian family," Agudelo says. "Colombia is the place where I learned what's truly essential in life." It's also where she found her passion for the arts.

While she was growing up, Colombia was going through a violent drug war, and Agudelo turned to literature, theater, singing, and creative writing as a refuge. "Journaling became a sacred practice, where I could leave on the page my dreams & longings as well as my joy and sadness," she says. "During those years, poetry came to me naturally. My grandfather was a poet and though I never met him, maybe there is a little bit of his love for poetry within me."

In 1998, when she left her home and everyone she loved and moved to California, the arts continued to be her solace and comfort. She got her bachelor's degree in theater arts before getting certified in journalism at UCLA. It was there she realized the need to create a media platform that highlighted the positive contributions of LatinX in the US.

"I know the power that storytelling and writing our own stories have and how creative writing can aid us in our own transformation."

In 2012, she started Alegría Magazine and it was a great success. Later, she refurbished a van into a mobile bookstore to celebrate Latin American and LatinX indie authors and poets, while also encouraging children's reading and writing in low-income communities across Southern California.

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