wildlife

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.

When we think of jobs that we would love to have in the future, since we're animal lovers, they tend to always involve animals. But even more so, as people who love watching animals run wild and be themselves, who love reading stories about animals being released back into the wild, living where they should, we never managed to name exactly what job we would love to have... Until we came across this viral thread by a wild animal technician.

Now, we know exactly what animal related job we would love to have. This one looks like an absolute dream, and we are both jealous and, at the same time, really grateful for all the work ZooWithMegLu does and for her sharing some of her stories working as a wild animal tech.

Is it too late to become a wildlife photographer? If the end result is to be surrounded with adorable animals and maybe even one day have a cute baby animal so curious about who you are that they simply wander up to you and become your new best friend. Who in the world wouldn't love that experience?

Ah yes, life as a wild photographer is looking quite grand indeed. You can tell from the look of pure happiness on the photographer's faces as they get real up-close and personal with some of their adorable subjects! We can't blame them for that though, we believe if it had been us in their place, there might be some crying due to pure joy. 

But those who got a bit too close to that bear had the right idea of fleeing! 

When it comes to foxes, it's no secret that we're in love with them. All foxes, from red foxes to arctic foxes and all the foxes in-between. They are so heckin' adorable and we believe we understand the fox obsession. Think about it, they sort of look like bigger cats yet act like dogs. They pant, they play fetch, they're communicative. They also have a cat-like tendency to them as well, the way they sleep, the way they walk on their toes, very elegant cat-like tread. Or how about the fact that they are the only members of the dog family that can climb trees?

Foxes are truly a hybrid of both cats and dogs. The Canadian Marble fox is a unique one, with gorgeous black and white markings that almost make the animal look like a mythical creature or unreal. However, this exotic animal is real and they stem from the canine family. Marble foxes, unlike wolves, tend to hunt alone. These gorgeous animals are so lovely to look at, we only wish there were more photos of these beauties around to marvel at! 

We all know that taking care of baby animals is a lot of work; helping them get used to their environment and the people around them. But taking care of baby wild animals is even more challenging, and imgur user hereyougobacon71, who's helped rehabilitate animals previously, shows us exactly why that is. 

Working to rehabilitate a baby bobcat turned out to be quite a challenge - with the kitty showing off its fierceness with biting and playing and... climbing and claiming the washing machine and... climbing into hereyougobacon71's pants. Yeah, it's not what hereyougobacon71 expected either, which only makes it more entertaining. 

The cub will, of course, be released into the wild after its rehabilitation, but for now, we are really enjoying watching it grow up to be the fiercest of all kittens. 

After the horrendous bushfires in Australia that burnt almost half of the island, killing a significant number of wild animals, we finally have some good news! As reported by ABC news, in the recovery efforts, the conservation group Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife found a tiny creature that they feared might have been wiped out by the fires - the world's tiniest possum, the pygmy possum.

These tiny guys who weigh no more than 7 grams and who can easily sit on top of your finger are found in very few places in the world - that is, if you can find them at all. Their size not only makes them hard to study, it also makes them quite elusive little beings. 

Pat Hodgens, a Fauna ecologist, said that the little possums' discovery is really exciting, and we agree! "There's only really been 113 formal records of the species [ever on Kangaroo Island]," he told ABC news. "So certainly not very common and, obviously, the summer bushfires burnt through much of that habitat that species had, but we were certainly hopeful that we would find them."

Their conservation group is going "to try to do everything we can to protect them to ensure that they hang around during this pretty critical time". He added: "It's very important now because it is kind of like the last refuge for a lot of these species that really rely on very old long, unburned vegetation."

There are still many other rare species who have not been spotted after the fires, but this is wonderful news, and we wish Mr. Hodgens and all the other people doing amazing work luck with finding all the species they're looking for. And sometimes, in Australia, people manage to find species they weren't look for. 

It has just come to our attention that hyenas are capable of doing the loaf. You know, the loaf, like cat loaves. When an animal lays down and hides its arms within itself, creating one purrfect bread-shaped loaf. Loaves come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes but we have never witnessed a glorious moment such as this -- hyena loaves!

Hyenas are adorable animals but we were aware that they were capable of loafing and that they do it all the time! Turns out, it's not only an adorable position for cats, these wild animals look heckin' adorbs rocking the loaves. 

Jenny Jinya's newest comic hits hard. Jinya draws about real issues that a majority of people shy away from because it's uncomfortable and heartbreaking to even think about. This artist takes those hardships that animals are facing and shines a light on them, in a way they can't really be ignored. 

Jinya's latest comic is about orca captivity, but it really is about animal captivity in the larger sense. In a tweet that shared the following comic, Jinya wrote, "If you were bored during the Corona Lockdowns, imagine how animals feel when they have to spend their whole lives like this."

Jenny is not scared to shy away from these painful issues and delivers the truth, as gut-wrenching as it may be. In hopes of changing this world, check out a variety of her powerful comics that have since featured elephants, dogs, black cats, birds, and more. 

Follow Jenny Jinya on Instagram or Twitter for all the latest comics. 

One of our favorite things in the animal kingdom is the obvious, heartwarming love between mothers and their tiny little babies. And the bigger they are, the more adorable we find them. There's a tendency to think of big cats as dangerous and heartless, but we know better than that, we know that they are just as loving as any cat once you earn their trust and love. 

Cheetahs are no different. They are known to be one of the most affectionate big cats when it comes to their relationships with humans. But when it comes to their babies, their little cheetos, their love and adoration is clear as day, and it's so adorable and wholesome, it makes our hearts flutter. 

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.