wildlife

Like most woodland animals, there's something whimsical about squirrels. They're small, fast, and possibly help out the fairies when needed. For your afternoon dose of serotonin, here are 11 beautifully captured photos that show just how magical the little creatures are. For more animal photos, have a look at this collection of very chonky animals. 

2021 has been weird so far, just as if not weirder than 2020. Trying to get back to normal life, our normal routines has left us madly confused and somewhat annoyed. So, it's no wonder that suddenly the internet has made the animal that is perpetually annoyed and confused go viral. It's simply too relatable right now- a spirit animal to us all. Meet the jaguarundi.

It is a small wild cat native to southern North America and South America, and it seems to be confused by things half of the time and annoyed by them the other half. It also has relatively short legs, an elongated body, and its coat is uniform in color and without spots - helping it to hide from this annoying world like we all want to sometimes. 

It's the end of February, and we're about to end it in the best way possible - by talking about the most positive animal news stories of the month.

February may be a shorter month than most, but that doesn't mean that there was any shortage in positive animal news stories, and that's all that matters to us right now. Because although this month was just as difficult as the last one for some of us, the animal world is thriving, and for animal lovers like us, that is the best new to hear. And because hearing positive animal news makes us happy, at the end of every month, we collect the best ones we can find and give them to you.

So, please enjoy these nothing-but-positivity animal news stories, and let's hope that next month there are just as many if not many many more. 

Three months ago, in an event that puzzled wildlife carers, hundreds of bat pups were abandoned by their mothers at the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens. The number of bats that needed help was so massive, it overwhelmed local volunteers. It ended up taking three three groups from Brisbane and one from Townsville getting together to rescue all of these bats. 

Today, according to ABC News, "[m]ore than 70 baby black bats on the brink of starvation... are now being released into the wild after carer groups from across Queensland united in their rescue."

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

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.