released

A story truly fitting the Christmas cheer. A tiny little owl was found inside of a Christmas tree. Yup. Inside of the iconic Rockefeller Christmas tree, workers discovered the tiny owl "clinging for its life to the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce". After surviving a 200 mile journey from Oneonta to Manhattan, the owl was found as the crews that were about to erect the tree were unwrapping it. 

The New York Post reports that strangely, though the bird is tiny and looks like a baby owlet, since owls are born in the spring, it was immediately understood that this owl is not actually a baby. She is a northern saw-whet, a bird that only grows to about 5 inches tall and 2 to 3 ounces in weight. "I thought it was such a heartwarming Christmas story, that there was this secret in the Christmas tree," said Ellen Kalish, the director and founder of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in New York. 

Workers at the Rockefeller Center, after the New York Post reached out for a comment, said: "We inspect each branch of the tree individually before it's wrapped, but birds sometimes can find their way into it on the journey." For three whole days, the owl didn't have any food or water, but once in the hands of Kalish, she got all the mice she wanted. 

Today, in an update to the story, we found out that the little birdy has been set free at last to its natural habitat to continue her migratory journey. And though her journey was harrowing and incredibly long, she's gotten herself a little Christmas miracle in not only being found and rescued but also in making a full recovery and getting to continue her life in the wild as she was meant to. 

Check out pictures of the owl and her release below. And for another story of an incredibly feisty owl with singed wings getting rescued from a fire, click right here. 

In difficult times such as these, it's always good to hear about good things that happen every once in a while - happy endings that we are all a little desperate for. Today, we are sharing with you one of these stories. In Uttar Pradesh, India, as reported by NDTV, a Ganges river dolphin was rescued after getting lost and stranded in a canal. This is not just a rescue story, this is a story of working as a team and helping an animal in need get back home. 

Members of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) were working together to help the poor dolphin. And the results were totally worth it. The TSA shared in a twitter post that "4.2-foot-long male dolphin went astray and was stuck in a canal in Barabanki for hours," which is absolutely horrifying. Luckily, it was found in Sharda Canal, and immediately, everyone got to work taking care of it. 

Photos from the operation show how the team members splash water on the dolphin to help it, carrying it on a stretcher together, and ultimately, releasing it back into the river - back home into the wild, allowing it to get back to its previous life. An aquatic wildlife biologist from the TSA, Dr. Shailendra Singh shared in a twitter post: "What could be better than saving a nice male Gangetic River dolphin stranded in canal in River Dolphin Week in Barabanki UP?" And we agree. This is the kind of wholesome story that we all want to see today.

Check out pictures from the rescue below, and if you need some more positivity today, you can read about this incredible story of a lemur who was abducted returning back home and reuniting with its family. 

Two orphaned manatees, Bananatee and Tostone, who were rescued as babies off the coast of Florida have successfully completed their rehabilitation and are now returning back home into the wild. Columbus Zoo, where they went through their rehabilitation, said in a tweet that on October 19th, the two manatees have traveled back to Florida and arrived safely at the Miami Seaquarium where they will go through their final preparations before getting released. 

It's a beautiful end to a story of helping animals in need for no other purpose than to help them. When the manatees were first rescued, they were babies, one underweight for what it should be and the other showing signs of cold. Now, with the help they received, they are as healthy as ever. 

As reported by Fox28, Tom Stalf, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium President/CEO, said: "It is always difficult for our devoted team to say goodbye to animals who have been in our care, but this is also a time to celebrate because the successful rehabilitation of Bananatee and Tostone is a true testament to the positive impact we've had not only on the lives of individual manatees, but also the manatee population as a whole. Bananatee and Tostone represent the 30th and 31st manatee that the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has rehabilitated since Manatee Coast opened in 1999, and we are extremely proud to be a part of the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership, working to help protect manatees' future."

We wish these gorgeous animals luck in their return back home and for them to live the full life that they should have from the very beginning. And we thank all those who helped them and wish them more success stories just like that of Bananatee and Tostone. 

Check out pictures of the preparations for the release bellow! And for more successful rehabilitation stories, you can read about the one and only Tasmanian devil returning back to mainland Australia.