happy ending

An amazing world-first achievement: Saba and Nairo, two captive-born cheetahs from the UK have been released into the wild in Africa. 

The two brothers, as IFLSCIENCE reports, were born at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve in Kent, England, on July 15, 2017. Very quickly though, Saba "showed signs of illness and it was discovered that his liver wasn't functioning properly." To keep him alive, he had to be removed from the litter and hand-raised by Damian and Victoria Aspinall of The Aspinall Foundation. Under their watchful care, he made a full recovery. Of course, because of the way he grew up, he inevitably grew used to playing with humans and being fed, qualities which he would have to overcome if he were one day released into the wild.

"Saba rejoined his brother Nairo in December 2018 and despite their time apart the pair immediately formed a bond." And today, after honing their cheetah instincts for 12 months, the two of them have been released into the wild in Africa.

Read more about the story and check out pics of the adorable brothers below.

In New Miami, on Thursday, a church staffer came out of the church and found a suspicious-looking lack carrier bag outside of the building's front door. Fearing what may be inside, the staff called the authorities. Quickly, Daily Mail reports, "[m]embers of the Butler County Bomb Unit descended on the scene to inspect the 'suspicious package' but were left startled when they heard the sounds of purring coming from inside the bag."

That was definitely an unexpected ending to a situation that could have ended way differently -  bag full of abandoned kittens and their momma with a note left inside, saying that the owners of those kittens and cat could no longer take care of them. Thankfully, they found themselves in good hands and are now being taken care of and getting prepared for adoption. 

Read more of the story and check out pictures of the incident and the note below.

The last creature you would ever think would need a life jacket is a fish, but for this fish, a life jacket is exactly what it needed to keep it from swimming upside down. 

According to Daily Mail, this poor fish "found himself living upside at the bottom of his tank after a bout of swim bladder - a disorder which affects buoyancy - was found to be untreatable." Luckily, this fish had the most loving caretaker who went out of her way to make a tiny life jacket for the fish that now allows it to swim freely and happily. 

Read more and see the viral video below!

Two baby otter cubs that have been discovered walking down the street of Inverkeithing in Fife have been rescued and are now being taken car of by the Scottish SPCA. 

As BBC News reports, the two cubs, both about three or fours months old were found by members of the public on Saturday. Now, the two are "in the care of officers at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Alloa." It is believed by the care takers that something happened to the cubs' mother and that the two would not have survived on their own. 

The staff members have named the female cub Inver and the male cub Forth.

Read more about their rescue story and check out the most adorable otter pictures ever below!

An incredible friendship between a man from Turkey and the swan he rescued has lasted for decades. 37 years ago, a now retired postman, Recep Mirzan, found a female swan who he later named Garip in Turkey's western Edirne province, and they have been friends ever since. 

As NEWS CHANNEL 3 reports, "Mirzan and a group of friends were taking a shortcut in their car when they noticed the swan, with a broken wing, in an empty field. Mirzan immediately took the swan in to protect her from predators and kept her in the car until that afternoon, when he was able to take the swan to his home." Ever since then, Garip has been living on Mirzan's farm in the Karaagac region near Greece. Whenever Garip is out of her pen, she accompanies Mirzan during his chores and evening walks. 

Read more about their heartwarming story and check out their even more heartwarming pictures below.

Bring the tissues, everyone, because this one is a tearjerker. Meet Baldr. This poor pup has spent the first year and a half of his life chained up before he got rescued. He never even had a name, and it has left him afraid of trusting people. Thankfully though, his life changed when imgur user, poorschmuck, opened up their hearts and took him in. 

Baldr is now the happiest he's ever been. He's found his forever home, and he knows it. In this home, he will get nothing but love, and as poorschmuck said: he's "[n]ever going to see a chain again." And nothing could make us happier. 

If you have your own heartwarming pet stories, come share them in our Facebook community: ICanHas Storytime.

Pets with behavioral issues are never easy to take care of, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve the most amazing forever home. What happens though, when you find out that the pet's behavioral issues most likely stemmed from fear rather than anything else? You get the story of Cheddar Kevin the cat.

bythezu, on imgur, shared their kitty's story, and it first broke our hear then put it right back together. Because this poor kitty has been re-homed 5 times since he would pee everywhere. Yet, when he got to bythezu home, he didn't have an issue. It seems that the reason is that the poor guy kept being put into busy home which were simply too scary for him. 

He's happy now though, and will be happy for the rest of his life, and that's all that matters. If you have your own heartwarming pet stories, come share them in our Facebook community: ICanHas Storytime.

A horse and a pony were stuck in chest-deep mud near Salinas, Calif., for up to 18 hours during a storm, before finally being rescued. It took a lot of work, and many amazing people joined in helping these horses, thankfully helping these animals get back to safety.

SFGATE reports that the two animals got stuck "on Wednesday night on Limekiln Road, off River Road in an area south of Salinas where a flood of mud rushed down a saturated hillside this week after a powerful storm drenched the River Fire burn scar." Thankfully, the moment the owners of the property spotted the horses, they immediately flagged down passing firefighters and called the SPCA. 

Not only that but neighbors also responded to the call, coming with shovels and other tools, all in the hopes of helping to dig out the horses and help them. "It definitely took a village to get these horses out," said a Monterey County SPCA spokesperson, Beth Brookhouser. 

The two horses were, of course, very cold after being immobilized in the muck throughout the night, and it took hours for them to stop shivering. They were treated overnight by Steinbeck Country Equine Clinic veterinarians, said SPCA officials. By Friday, "[b]oth horses were recovering on Friday, and were eating and drinking." 

The area remains dangerous for now, but at least this pony and horse are safe - thank s to everyone involved in the rescue. We want to thank all of the people helping these creatures, and if you're interested in more wholesome and heartwarming animal stories, take a look at the 30 most positive animal news stories of January!

There's absolutely nothing worst than hearing a story about cruel abuse of pets, so when an unfortunate pet like that gets adopted and taken care of, we are all the more grateful. Everyone, say hi to Sweet Potato, a previously abused sweetheart who got adopted by a new veterinarian mom, went through surgery bravely like the hero he is, and got his broken leg fixed. And deservedly went viral on top of it all. 

We want to thank thecomfycat for sharing the story of Sweet Potato and for taking care of the little guy. We hope that he will have an easy and quick recovery after the surgery and that he will be happy with you for a long, long time. 

Let's end the month the right way, friends, by talking about as many positive animal news stories that we can!

It's not an easy time right now, as we're all aware, and we are all in need of positivity. The news is something that we tend to try to avoid at this point, too many stories that we don't want to hear about anymore. Well, these stories are ones that you will definitely want to tune in for, because we're about to celebrate the best of the very best!

So, read these stories and bask in the positivity, start the month off with a smile and with the kind of stories that you would truly want to talk to your coworkers and friends about! If you want more, check out last month's positive animal news collection.

Special needs cats are always a challenge to take care of. But for beautiful and terrified cats like Kyrie, finding a forever home is an extra challenge. As adrianontherocks, feline behaviorist imgur user, explains: a lot of times, with pretty cats such as these, the adopters will take them without being ready for the challenges ahead and return them not a month later. 

Luckily, Kyrie found the forever home he deserves. Not only that but ended up totally falling in love with his new adoptive family, and he even became best friends with the family dog! No ending could have been better, and we are overjoyed to hear about it and are thankful to adrianontherocks for not only taking care of Kyrie but also sharing his story!

Meet Sorsha, a hero that we are all going to be celebrating. She's a rescued dog who was cruelly shot by her previous owner, got adopted into the most loving forever home and, later in life, turned into a guide dog. Then, she outdid even herself by becoming an actual hero and saving her owner's life. 

After her owner fell on an icy road, the amazing dog ran in front of an oncoming car, grabbed her leash in her mouth and physically dragged her owner away from the path of the car, having never been trained for it.

We would like to thank Melissa Amos, one of ICanHasCheezburger's animal loving users for sharing her and Sorsha's stories with us. Continue reading her incredibly story and giving love to Sorsha below, and if you have your own stories to share, come tell us about them in our Facebook group: ICanHas Storytime.

Two adorable bear cubs have been abandoned by their polar bear momma and are now being rescued by four new adoptive moms, and it's one of the cutest things we've seen. The cubs get pampered so much - getting manicures, massages, warm milk, and undivided attention. They are now seven weeks old and growing super fast, and we can't wait to see these cuties get even bigger. 

As dailymail reports, the cub's "seven-year-old mother, Seryozhka, from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic, built a den for her new cubs at a safari park in Gelendzhik, but then rejected the crying pair." The keepers at the zoo attempted to coax the mother into giving milk to the babies and failed, but she "gave blood which was used to give serum to the babies, vital as an immunity boost."

Luckily, the mother didn't hurt the cubs, and keepers at the zoo were able to step in and take care of the little babies. Their new foster moms are a pair of 39-year-old twins, Anastasia and Olesya Sakhatskaya, 32-year-old Maria Moroz, and 31-year-old Yelena Milovidova.

"They don't seem to distinguish between the four of us," said Elena. "They know the scent of our skin and clothes, and sensing any of us getting close to them means just one thing: mother is here, and food is coming." Yelena Milovidova, deputy director of the Gelendzhik Safari Park, adds: "There were no previous cases of nurturing polar bear cubs rejected by their mother in a Russian zoo. This is the first experience for us."

The cubs who have only recently opened their eyes now weight over 4 kilograms and should start doubling in weight every few weeks. When they're three months old, they'll start going on walks outside. 

"In the world there were only five or so cases of polar bear cubs raised since birth in captivity," continues Milovidova. "I do hope that we will succeed." And we really, really hope so too. We wish these cuties all the luck in the world and want to thank their caretakers who are really giving them all the love.

Check out pictures and a video of the cubs below, and for more wholesome bear stories, read about a circus bear living in terrible conditions being rescued and moved to a sanctuary.