Adorable rhino calf Reinhold is a resident at the Zululand Rhino Orphanage. Sadly he was abandoned in February of this year by his mother at only a few days old, perhaps a result of being born premature. When he was rescued, he was a bit too little to join the other rhinos under the center’s care. But he’s not lonely, thanks to Shiloh the dog stepping in and playing best friend. The two have great zoomie sessions together, and even nap together sometimes. Interspecies friendships are gold!

The center’s goal for Reinhold, as for all of their rescues, is to raise him to independence and eventually release him back into the wild. Because he was so young and needed constant care and companionship, he imprinted early with his human caregivers. Shilo plays an important part in helping his emotional growth. And he has another companion, a goat named Romeo, who he met at the beginning of April. Goat and rhino calf seem to be getting along pretty well. Presumably, Reinhold will eventually be introduced to the rest of the Zululand crash (that’s the word for a group of rhinos) after he matures a bit more.

The source for today’s gif is here. Click on through to see more of the important work they are doing, and to lend financial support if you’d like.

Zululand Conservation Trust: “A New Beginning: Meet Reinhold, Our February Rescue,” 4/5/26

Just about anyone who’s ever lived with a cat has witnessed the feline enthusiasm for climbing into or onto paper bags. Jinpachi’s human has figured out how to combine this love of bags with the cuteness of dress-up. Normally, most cats are unenthusiastic-to-the-point-of-hostile about wearing costumes of any sort. But this bag hack is genius! And Jinpachi looks darn adorable climbing into his next outfit and strutting around like he owns the look, even making sartorial selections on the fly.

The source for today’s gif comes from Jinpachi’s Instagram page. Jinpachi, like so many cats, is a much bigger social media star than I’ll ever be. Which is the way it should be, of course.

The grande old dame celebrating her 69th birthday in today’s gif is Fatou, a western lowland gorilla living at Zoo Berlin in Germany. She has been named by Guinness World Records as the oldest gorilla in the world. Fatou is almost certainly the oldest gorilla in human care worldwide, assuming there is no secret cache of elderly unrecorded gorillas living at some secret off-book zoo somewhere. On average, gorillas in the wild live to about 35-40 years old. So, it’s a good bet that she is indeed the oldest gorilla on the planet.

Born in the wild, nobody is really sure when her birthday is, but when Fatou arrived in West Berlin in 1959, caregivers estimated she was two years old. The zoo designated April 13th, 1957 as her birthday and have been celebrating ever since. This year she was treated to a basket featuring a feast of greens, cheery tomatoes, beets and leeks. She’s no longer allowed sugary fruit that she’d been treated to on past birthdays, owing to the detrimental effect it would have on a gorilla of her advanced age.

The story goes that Fatou, born in West Africa, was brought to France by a sailor in 1959. He later bartered her to cover a bar tab that he’d run up in Marseille, France. A French animal trader acquired her from there and sold her to the zoo in Berlin. The zoo is unable to confirm the tale with certainty, but the story does highlight how zoos have changed their strategies in the last century. Philine Hachmeister, a spokesperson for the zoo said that she is “one of the very few and very old animals that still came from the wild,” and specified that “nowadays we send the animals back to the wild and not the other way around.”

In 1974 Fatou gave birth to her only offspring Dufte, the first gorilla to be born in Berlin. Her family has grown from there. She’s the grandmother of two gorillas, great-grandmother to 13, great-great grandma to 20, and great-great-great grandma of three.

The zoo’s most senior denizen, Fatou has slowed a bit and requires more specialized care. Her incredible record-breaking age is a testament to the excellent support given to her by the zoo’s team. She has lost her teeth, has some hearing loss, and suffers from a bit of arthritis. Her food is most often cooked so that it is softer and easier for her to eat. She prefers a bit of space away from the other gorillas in her old age, and lives in her own enclosure.

But the zoo’s primate supervisor says that she’s still friendly with the zoo staff, even if she can a bit stubborn. The zoo says that while she moves slower, she still enjoys her outside time and “captivates visitors with her dignified manner.”

The source for today’s gif is found here, at the zoo’s Instagram page.

AP: "Fatou, the world’s oldest gorilla living in captivity, celebrates her 69th birthday at Berlin Zoo" by Stefanie Dazio and Fanny Brodersen, 4/14/26

The Washington Post: “World’s oldest gorilla, known for her dignified manner, turns 69” by Maggie Penman, 4/14/26

Wikipedia: Fatou (gorilla)

Alita the pet hedgehog is just not quite ready to face the week. Relatable, Alita!

I wrote a big ago about the scientific discovery that might help save hedgies from road accidents. Estimates have a decline in the population of rural hedgehogs anywhere from 30-70% since 2000, and they have been classified on the Great Britain Red List of Mammals as Vulnerable. Reasons for the decline include habitat fragmentation and loss and agricultural practices that have reduced food availability. But one of the major reasons is that the animals are being forced onto busy roads more frequently and are being run over by vehicles.

The discovery that hedgehogs are capable of hearing ultrasonic sounds (click the “Droplet” story for more deets) have scientists looking for ways to employ new strategies that will discourage hedgehogs from dangerous areas. One strategy might be to equip cars with sound emitters that would scare them away before a car got close enough to hit them. Similar devices could be used on landscaping equipment, which also cause hedgehog injuries and fatalities.

Speaking of more wildlife-friendly landscapes, The Guardian just published some tips for creating a more nature-friendly garden that I thought I’d share. It’s linked below. While the story was written for UK and European gardeners (complete with the creation of an adorable “hedgehog highway”), it’s got great tips for anybody with a bit of backyard space—or even just a balcony or windowsill—that they’d like to make more welcoming to our bird, insect and small animal visitors. The overall vibe of a slightly chaotic wildlife-centric garden differs greatly from one that is orderly, meticulous and well-groomed, but I personally believe that the best gardens can creatively embrace a little uncontrolled disarray alongside our more organized and neatened areas of outdoor enjoyment.

The source for today’s gif is here, a whole channel devoted to Alita and her hedgie roommates. They have a pretty nice gig!

The Guardian: “Ditch power tools, build a hedgehog highway: how to create a nature-friendly garden” by Alys Fowler, 4/22/26

BBC Countryfile: “New ultrasound discovery could be a game-changer for hedgehog conservation,” 4/22/26

Last week we visited with Laura Garcia, one of the members of the largest species of anteater, the appropriately-named giant anteater. Today we appreciate the smallest of the anteater species, the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), also known as the pygmy anteater.

The pygmy anteater is on average 14 to 18 inches in length, including a tail that is roughly half the total length, and weighs on average from 6 to 14 ounces. Their fur is soft and dense with a silvery sheen, coloration differing in subspecies from grey to yellowish. Their fuzzy, silvery fur helps them camouflage in the Ceiba trees (silky cotton trees) the anteater favors, due to the trees’ seed pots having a similar fluff and silky sheen.

Many subspecies of this small anteater have dark streaks along their backs. It has large eyes to assist night foraging. Like other anteaters, it possesses a long, sticky tongue for insect collection, and sharp front claws that it can use in defense if necessary.

Found semi-deciduous, tropical evergreen and mangrove forests of southern Mexico and Central and South America, the silky anteater is slow-moving, nocturnal and arboreal. It has hind feet that have evolved for climbing and a prehensile tail for gripping branches. It hardly ever comes to ground, climbing from tree to tree by way of overlapping branches.

During the day, the silky anteater curls into a ball and rests in the tree canopy. At night, it searches for the nests of ants that make up the majority of its diet, consuming between 700 and 5000 ants per day. Although, as an opportunistic feeder, it won’t say no to a nice, juicy beetle or termite if one crosses its path. Silky anteaters also feed on wasps and their pupae. They attack wasp nests at night when the wasps are sluggish and less able to defend themselves.

Silky anteaters are solitary outside of breeding, which can occur up to twice per year. Gestation is between 120 to 150 days, resulting in a single offspring, which the mother will place in a leaf-lined tree hollow. The pup is raised by both parents and the male will sometimes carry baby on his back. Both parents feed their pup with regurgitated insects.

Due to their secretive nature, there is still much unknown about the basic biology and ecology of these little anteaters. They are difficult to spot, but are found in a wide distribution with an assumed large population in a number of protected areas. The IUCN lists them as a species of Least Concern, noting that further field studies are needed to obtain sufficient information for an appropriate assessment of their conservation status.

The source for today’s gif is here.

Wikipedia: Silky anteater

Animal Diverskty Web: Cyclopes didactylus

AZ Animals: “Discover the Mysterious Silky Anteater: Everything To Know About This Small and Slow Creature” by Deniz Martinez, 10/25/23

The vivid little fella in today’s gif is a Oophaga sylvatica, known as a Kiki Poison Dart Frog or little devil frog, or, in Spanish, diablito. It is a species of frog in the family of Dendrobatidae, commonly known as poison dart frogs. Dendrobatidae are found in the humid and tropical environments, particularly rainforests, of Central and South America. They get their common name owing to their toxic skin secretions, historically collected by some indigenous tribes of Columbia’s rainforests to be used to coat blowgun darts for added lethality in hunting or warring with rival clans. Several species of frog within the family have bright coloration, a visual flag to potential predators indicating their toxicity.

Oophaga sylvatica are endemic to Southwestern Colombia and Northwestern Ecuador. The species can be found with several color morphs, and patterning for each morph is unique to the individual frog. Those with a blue body with bright red spotches like our friend above have what is known as the “koi” color morph. Other morphs include solid red, orange or yellow to more intricate patterns with white splotches and lines of black over blue, rust or caramel bases, sometimes with contrasting foot or leg coloration.

Since the designs on this little devil frog are so varied, studies suggest that vocalization is more important than patterning in attracting a mate, and because of their aposematism (i.e. the visual markers that warn against predation), they can be bolder in their songs, which tend to be more diverse, distinctive and complex than that of other frogs. Once a male attracts a female, they will engage in a series of movements and touching, with the male leading the female to a location that he’s chosen for their eggs, which will be on land rather than in the water. He’ll deposit his sperm on the ground and she’ll follow by laying her eggs (a relatively small clutch of somewhere between four and twenty) over the spot. The male visits the egg cache daily, secreting fluid over it to keep it from drying out. The female will return once the tadpoles are hatched, carrying the babies to water and providing nutrition by laying unfertilized eggs that the tadpoles will consume as food until they are old enough for metamorphosis. These food eggs contain sufficient toxin to provide the offspring with a defense until they develop the ability to consume the ants, termites and mites that contain the alkaloids that the mature frog uses to create their own toxic secretions.

The source for today’s gif is here.

Wikipedia: Oophaga sylvatica

Wikipedia: Poison dart frog

Wonkitty loves the beautiful blue marble we inhabit and its wonderful, dizzying array of life and beauty. On Earth Day, we take a moment to marvel at the awesome, delicate balance on this miraculous planet and to reaffirm our commitment to protecting its environment.

The video source for today’s gif is below, animation done in Blender. Music track by penguinmusic of Pixabay, appropriately titled “Earth Day.”

Wikipedia’s Earth Day overview (linked below) touches on the political and social movements of the 1970’s that brought Earth Day into being and the subsequent recognition of the event as the decades have progressed. In light of the current US (and to an extent, global) political abdication of funding and supporting ecological and scientific initiatives, it’s important to recognize that public pressure does work. And there are still a good number of charities and organizations doing the ground work for ecological and climate advocacy and action. I’ve included a few links below for your perusal.

Happy Earth Day!

Wikipedia: Earth Day

Mother Jones: "11 Organizations to Support if You Care About Climate Change" by Sigal Samuel, Rachel Durose and Sam Delgado, 12/11/24

Nonprofit News Feed: “Top 11 Trusted Environmental Conservation Nonprofits in the US 2026” by George Weiner, 1/28/26

Charity Watch: Top-Rated Charities—Environment & Climate Change Charities

We we last checked in with little Ladybird, the elephant calf born last fall at the Forth Worth Zoo, she was just learning the finer points of how to walk.

Well, she’s certainly become a lot more agile in the last six months. Look at her go! She’s an expert ball handler. Certainly, any of the World Cup teams would be delighted to have her. And unlike a lot of those other stars, she works for peanuts! Dad joke delivered, thank you, you’ve been a lovely audience, I’ll be here all week, try the veal.

I love how Ladybird gives a cheeky little look to Christine, the filming zookeeper, before she takes off with her ball. That gal has charisma and knows how to juice her socials!

Source for today’s gif is here. You may want to listen with sound on, as Ladybird gives a triumphant little call at one point, which is cute as heck.

Soccer ball pattern provided by Vecteezy.

Some kids! The warmer weather is bringing out the playful nature for this group of fox kits. I’m picturing Mom fox rolling her eyes, thankful that they are taking the roughhousing outside, in any event.

Typically born in the spring, fox cubs generally start to explore outside of their dens starting around four or five weeks old. Sticking close-by initially, they will gradually start to explore further and in three months or so they will be foraging and hunting with their parents. By autumn, they will be independent enough to strike out on their own. While mature foxes are typically solitary outside of mating and pup-raising season, the matured females in some species may stick around to help feed and care for the next season’s litter.

By the time cubs have started to emerge from their dens, their place in the social hierarchy has largely been established. The weening cubs will have been jockeying for position within the den and the most dominant will have taken his or her position by pushing others out of the way during feeding. Most animosity occurs only when food is around, with cubs employing body slams to keep their morsels. By three weeks old, the hierarchy between the cubs will mostly have been determined. The play tussles outside of the den as they get older will help them solidify their place in the social structure, although this time is generally more about having fun, honing muscle tone and developing hunting skills, since cubs will typically avoid overly-physical dominance displays that might cause injury.

The source for today’s gif is here. I’ve used video from this photographer, Karl Ramsdell, before. He’s got a great eye for nature photography, and his chubmarines are the best!

Wilderness Classroom: Red Fox

Wildlife Online: Red Fox Behaviour - The Social Hierarchy

Wildlife Center of Virginia: If you find a baby fox…

We are still basking in the success of the Artimis II mission that splashed down last week, breaking the record for furthest distance traveled from Earth, and sending back some wonderful pictures.

Wonkitty is mid-mission on her own space tour and is breaking records too. She’s become the first kitty to circumnavigate the moon, and first astronaut to bring canned clams into space. She’s radioed back here to Mission Femtrol that she’s enjoying the quiet and she plans to do at least one more pass over the moon’s dark side, staying in space until her litter box gets too full to deal with any longer.

The moon images and elevation bump maps taken directly from NASA. You can view ‘em here and download them for your own purposes if you’d like.

This little one at Moonshine Wildlife Rehab has just been fed milk and is ready for a cozy little nap. Can you guess what animal is stretching those little toe beans? It’s a native of North America and the shelter also gives two other hints: they are born with their eyes closed and are completely dependent on mom; and they come with a built-in “personal space” feature that most animals respect.

If you guessed “skunk,” you are correct.

Baby skunks are called “kits.” They are capable of generating their powerful defensive “perfume” within a few weeks after birth, although they don’t generally learn the finer points of proper aim until about 3-4 months old. But they are typically fairly reserved about unleashing their attacks, saving it for when they feel truly threatened. It does, after all, take them some time to build up the oily substance of their musk. Research says after spraying all of its musk, a skunk needs ten to fourteen days to replenish their supply.

Should you (or your pet) find yourself face-to-face with a skunk, it will likely provide plenty of warning before deciding to spray. Their first warnings will be vocal, growling or hissing their displeasure. Next comes the foot stomp, using their front paws to strike and scratch the ground. But if that doesn’t get you to make a hastily-enough retreat, you’ll know they are readying their spray when they turn and lift their tail, with the ability to land a precise hit from up to 15 feet away. You really don’t want to get to that stage! Not only is their spray eye-wateringly pungent, it is oily and sticky and difficult to wash off. A mix of baking soda, dishwashing soap and water is the most effective mix for cleaning off the irritating musk.

Newborn kits are completely dependent on their mothers for food and protection. For the first three to four weeks of their lives, their eyes are closed. They will continue to stay with their moms until they are about two months old, when they will be fully dependent and ready to strike out on their own (presumably toting little bundles of their skunk possessions and cookies from mom, wrapped in tied-up handkerchiefs that they’ll carry with a stick resting on their shoulder).

Your hed gif source is here.

Whitby Wildlife Prevention: “Do Baby Skunks Spray?” by Bill Dowd, 5/21/19

Wildside Wildlife Removal: “How Many Times Can A Skunk Spray?” by Robert Liam Donnell, 3/31/22

Work it, gurl! Laura Garcia recently arrived at the San Diego Zoo, and is strutting her stuff like a queen, with the confidence any catwalk model would envy. Talk about that “it” factor! The keepers at the zoo give us the deets (and the puns):

We’re absolutely ant-chanted to introduce Laura Garcia, a 12-year-old female giant anteater. Laura was welcomed to the San Diego Zoo in December through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, a program that’s truly import-ant in protecting vulnerable species like hers.

With fewer than 5,000 giant anteaters left in native habitats, we are honored to get to care for this gorgeous girl. Come meet her on your next visit to the giant anteater habitat.

Giant anteaters have a distinctive gait. They don’t actually walk on the base of their feet. Instead, they keep their claws curled and they walk on their knuckles. This helps them keep their claws sharp. Sharp claws are important for helping them dig into anthills and other structures where their favorite ant-y prey hangs out, and of course claws are also a defense against predators.

San Diego Zoo representatives do not know where Laura Garcia’s name originally comes from, but they report that she arrived from the Miami Zoo already so-named. Since her arrival to San Diego, she’s been getting to know the zoo’s only other giant anteater, 10-year-old Orion. The hope is that the two of them will have little (although also giant) anteater babies, helping continue the line of their species as part of the AZA Species Survival Plan.

The zoo’s conservation genetics team is using a new non-invasive genetic-based test to determine the sex giant anteaters, which helped in their planning for this potential mating match-up. Using a few hairs from the animal, they extract the DNA from targeted portions of the genome, which they can then use to determine if the anteater has specific markers found only in males. These tests are a useful tool that help in the care of managed species both in professional captivity and in the wild.

As luck would have it, I happened across this cartoon recently, which I think is a perfect way to conclude the story.

The source for today’s gif is at this link.

San Diego 7 NBC: “Welcome to the San Diego Zoo, anteater Laura Garcia” by Renee Schmiederberg, 12/15/25

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Giant Anteater

We find ourselves in that part of the year where real NFL (that would be the National Football League, i.e. American Professional Football) junkies, fresh off the glow of the Scouting Combine, await the big announcements that come during the NFL Draft at the end of the month. I mean, at least that’s what I think is happening based on the sports news that happens to find its way into my inbox. I am not one of those people that watches all that. Not to yuck anyone else’s yum, but it’s not an event that I follow, or would even know about were it not for a couple of nephews that are into it.

But one thing I am into is the training regimen of this steer. Woah! He is a mad unit, fully beef’ed (har!). If I was running one of those NFL teams, I’d hire him immediately. Just imagine the potential rushing and tackle strength. He’s already my choice for Defensive Lineman of the Year (is that a thing? It should be a thing).

The source for today’s grid can be found here.

On the evening of Friday, April 10th, the crew of the Artimis II mission re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. The crew of four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule had completed a ten day trip filled with firsts (first female astronaut, first Black astronaut and first Canadian astronaut beyond low Earth orbit), and one that has carried humans farther from Earth than they’ve ever been before. Their trip to observe the far side of the moon took them an amazing 252,752 miles from our planet, setting a new record for human spaceflight. Their reentry broke another record: using a modified angle designed to shorten the time Orion was exposed to the high heat of reentry into the atmosphere, the capsule traveled at a velocity of 25,000 mph, the fastest humans have ever traveled, 40 times as fast as a jet airplane.

Except for a toilet that didn’t quite empty as designed (first toilet in space!), the amazing journey went off without a hitch. The mission is a testament to the power of science and human ingenuity, backed by a team of dedicated experts who planned and executed every important detail that made it all possible.

The images sent back from the mission are stunning. I’ve included the larger resolution downloads here for your perusal (click ‘em to see ‘em bigger on your screen), with captions, by-and-large, taken directly from NASA with a few slight mods for brevity. All image credits to NASA, unless otherwise noted.

Images from the NASA website media pages. Click through for more!

NPR: “Artimis II astronauts are set to return to Earth today. Here’s what to expect” by Brendan Byrne, 4/10/26

USA Today: “Fastest humans have ever traveled? Shocking facts about Artemis II” by Doyle Rice and Cheryl McCloud, 4/10/26

Say hello to Maya, Kira, Lumi and Sabu! At the end of March, these four adorable snow leopard cubs made their first trip outdoors, much to the enjoyment of zoo visitors. Born January 15th, the quadruplets had been spending their time in private up until last week, bonding with their mom, nine-year-old Miska. They are the first snow leopard cubs born in Australia since 2020 and the only cubs currently resident in the country.

The 2020 litter was Miska’s first, with three cubs. Both litters were fathered by now-10-year-old Kang Ju. In the zoo, as in the wild, parenting duties fall squarely on the mother, since beyond the mating stage, male leopards are solitary animals. But it’s not a problem for Miska, who is an experienced and attentive mom, taking good care of her brood and prioritizing a bit of “me-time” for those moments when her growing, rambunctious quads get a little overwhelming. Even the best snow leopard mother can only take so much of one child or another climbing all over her or biting her tail hours on end.

Prior to their first outdoor venture, all cubs were given their vaccinations and a medical once-over by zoo vets. They are now at the 3 kilogram stage (6.6 pounds), and developing their own little personalities. Zoo staff reported that three of the four were calm and curious during their exams, but Sabu was a feisty handful, as reported by Melbourne 7 local news:

Oh Sabu, behave! You can take the cub out of the wild, but says Sabu, you’ll never take the wild out of the cub.

Your source video is linked here.

Secret Melbourne: “A Rare Litter Of Four Fuzzy Snow Leopard Cubs Just Arrived At Melbourne Zoo” by Nicole de Souza, 2/23/26

NonStop Local KHQ: “Snow leopard cubs take their best shots” 3/27/26

Sir Rupert Humperdink is pretty certain that he’s royalty. He’s a cat, after all. And so his subjects, like this hungry pig, should be honored he’s selected them as his steed of the day. For what it’s worth, Smallsie the hog doesn’t seem to mind much. As long as nobody gets in the way of his delicious meal, he’s cool with whatever Rupert is doing up there.

Some other pig-related news out of Phoenix, Arizona: In what seems like an April Fool’s joke, a student claimed that a pig ate her homework. But there’s video evidence, captured on the home’s security camera, to support her claim. Family pet, porcine Polly Pocket can be seen grabbing fourteen-year-old Taylee Tinsley’s backpack off the counter. Polly then drags her prize over to a corner and empties the contents, tossing and chewing the papers within. Somewhat embarrassed, Taylee’s mom contacted her teachers after discovering the source of the ruined schoolwork. The teachers got a good chuckle out of the situation, saying it was the first time they’d heard that particular excuse. Naughty Polly!

Today’s source video can be found at this link and comes by way of Valais V-Ewe Blacknose Sheep farm in Manitoba. Click through to see some of the absolutely adorable Valais Blacknose sheep and other farm friends.

USA Today: “The pig ate my homework. Teachers react to funny (but true) excuse.” by Kelsey Monstrola, 1/1/26

Gez Robinson is a nature photographer living in Yorkshire, England. He’s won several awards and accolades for his shots, and is probably best known for his focus on the small world of mice and other inhabitants that live in the brambles right outside his back door. A few years ago, during the COVID lockdowns, he started setting up cute little tea parties and other English-cottage miniature sets for his backyard friends to visit. The animals have come to trust him and let him photograph them at close range. One mouse in particular comes back every day.

In today’s gif, one of Robinson’s mice friends has met up with a snail mid-branch. They are, each the other, interested in this strange creature before them and engage in a bit of investigation to learn more. This close inspection results in an impromptu interspecies kiss, which seems to startle the mouse in particular. I can’t say my reaction to being smooched by a snail would be any less surprised—they are a bit slimy after all. Still, looks like the mouse is more amused than repulsed by the contact.

Embedding for Instagram seems not to work in Substack consistently lately, so I’m adding a link here for the source.

I’m including a link to photographer Gerald (Gez) Robinson’s website too, where you can find his adorable photographic merch like calendars and his book about the mouse family that lives in the brambles.

Even apex predators need some downtime. This little lion cub in South Africa is using his to get a bit of sun on the belly, which is looking very full and happy. This is the life!

A bit of good news for another young lion named Kiros. As a cub, he had been separated from his parents and illegally sold as a pet. His parents, along with seven other lions, were later rescued from a roadside attraction in Quebec that was not taking good care of them and placed at The Wildcat Sanctuary (TWS) in Minnesota. But rescuers remained worried about the whereabouts of the cub.

The separated cub, in the meantime, was rescued by authorities and had been placed at an accredited zoo for temporary safekeeping and given the name Kiros. In looking for a permanent home for the young lion, the zoo contacted TWS. To the amazement of both parties, the shelter was able to identify Kiros as the missing cub they had been searching for. TWS rescuers made the 2,280 mile round trip to collect the juvenile lion and bring him back for a family reunion. Kiros is now installed at the park in a natural habitat where he has plenty of space to roam, and in a place where he can see and smell other lions, including his parents. The shelter hopes that after some time and familiarity he will be able to form a new pride, one that includes Mango, another lion rescued from the Quebec attraction.

Today’s gif source was photographed by Daniel Charles Bailey and can be watched below.

TWS: Missing Lion Cub Sold as Pet Reunited with His Family at Minnesota Sanctuary

Today’s little active cutie is a crested tit-warbler (Leptopoecile elegans), a species of bird found in the Aegithalidae family. They are found in scrubby alpine and sub-alpine forests across the high-altitude regions of central and western China, with a the southernmost part of their range slightly crossing over to a few other Asian neighbor countries. They are considered a resident (non-migrating) species, but the populations in the northernmost parts of their range do shift from higher-altitude breeding areas in the summer to lower mountain valleys during the non-breeding season of winter, following the seasonal availability of food.

The crested tit-warbler is an adaptive little forager, with a diet consisting primarily of invertebrates (caterpillars, spiders, aphids, and other small insects) during the summer, and augmenting their intake with seeds and small fruits during the leaner winter months. They are agile hunters, flitting from small branches and twigs in the upper forest canopy as they look for food. They prefer to find their prey on branches, rather than hunting insects mid-flight, and they almost always stick to the trees, coming to ground only occasionally. Their high levels of activity help them maintain body heat in the freezing temperatures of higher elevations, and their downy feathers are highly insulating.

Although both are vibrantly-colored, crested tit-warblers do sport different feather coloration depending on gender (sexual dimorphism). Males have iridescent blue-green wings and rust coloration on their cheeks and neck. Females are paler, with silvery-colored heads and black eyebrows. They both have rosy-pink flank feathers. Juveniles will have feathers in paler shades of blue and green, increasing in vibrancy as they mature.

They are highly social birds, forming tight pair bonds during breeding season and joining large flocks of 25 or more birds in the winter, which may consist of birds both within their own species or others with similar foraging styles. Breeding pairs will work together to both build nests and feed chicks, and adults will even join in cooperative breeding, wherein non-parent birds will join in to assist with nesting duties. Nests are built of woven cobwebs and lichen and lined in feathers, situated in tress with thick foliage to be better hidden from predators. Clutches contain between six to ten eggs and broods will join their parents as a flock after fledgling.

Individuals communicate through short, tinkling calls, which can be heard at long distances. Which is a great signal to grab those birding binoculars too, I imagine. How cool would it be to spot one of these little beauties as they hop overhead?!

The source for today’s gif is included below.

Birdbuddy: Crested Tit-Warbler

eBird: Crested Tit-Warbler

Fat Birder: Aegithalidae – Tit-warblers, Bush Tits & Long-tailed Tit

Today we take a look at greater bilbies (Macrotis lagotis), a long-eared, nocturnal marsupial endemic to Australia. Once found in about 70% of Australia, they are currently restricted to parts of the northwest and central parts of the country, primarily in more arid habitats.

Bilbies are members of the order Peramelemorphia. This order includes bandicoots and indeed bilbies have some of the same physical traits as their distant bandicoot-y cousins. Specifically their foot type and their teeth help place them within the same taxonomic order, determined to have branched at the most basal split (i.e. the first and oldest split from a shared ancestor in the the evolutionary tree) from the other species in the order. Fossil evidence suggests their divergence from all other bandicoots occurred about 20 million years ago. Two species of bilby existed until the 1950’s, when the smaller of the two, the lesser bilby become extinct.

Bilbies have the characteristic long muzzle of other bandicoots, although their tails are longer and their fur is softer. But you will have noticed the one thing that the bilby has the other bandicoots do not: those distinctive long ears that give the bilby its rabbit-like appearance. They are the largest of all bandicoots, with males growing to roughly between two-and-a quarter to five-and-a-half pounds, and females smaller at roughly about two pounds. In other words, about the same size as a rabbit.

Bilbies are champion diggers. They have strong forelimbs and well-developed claws. A bilby will dig up to a dozen burrows within its home range and will travel between them for shelter from both the sun and from predators. They dig their access tunnels in a spiral shape, making it difficult for other animals to breach their homes. Burrows often have several exits to allow for speedy escape.

Those large ears help bilbies radiate heat to stay cool and also give them excellent hearing abilities. They also have a good sense of smell. They employ these honed senses in their nightly foraging for whatever they can find, either animal or vegetable. They don’t need to drink water, as they get all of their hydration needs met through what they eat. As well as digging for grubs, insects (termites are a favorite) and small animal prey, they like roots and tubers, seeds, fruit and fungi. They have long, sticky tongues that help them lick up their foodstuffs, particularly handy for trapping small seeds.

Between their burrowing and foraging, the bilby is a key player in keeping the soil in its ecosystem aerated and healthy and in helping seeds take hold. As marsupials, they do care for their young in pouches, but with all that digging, how does a mom keep her pouch dirt-free? The solution is a pouch that faces backwards, with an opening towards the rear legs rather than near those busy, tunneling forearms.

Somewhat ironically, rabbits, introduced by European settlers, are one of the reasons for the population decline of bilbies, with competition for resources playing a role in shrinking the bilby’s range. But the primary drivers of the shrinking population and range of bilbies are habitat loss, primarily through agricultural expansion, and predation by non-native predators: foxes and feral cats. Efforts in the last decade to restore the population of bilbies have included the creation of fenced-in reserves free of non-native predators and captive breeding programs to bolster populations in preparation for wild release. Coordinated efforts to protect and increase bilbies in managed ranges involve scientists, conservation organizations and First Nations people, who bring an intimate knowledge of the species, seasonal changes and landscapes. As bilbies successfully establish themselves in protected areas, more open ranges will be considered for re-introduction; not necessarily fenced, but in places where threats can be managed.

As part of the campaign to increase awareness and preserve the bilby, conservation groups have adopted a “bilbies, not bunnies” slogan. The chocolate bilby was introduced in the 1990’s, and Australians have embraced the bilby as an Easter mascot as recognition of the species has increased. Public perception is evolving, bringing hope that there will be a greater sensitivity to Australia’s ecological challenges with appreciation of the value and uniqueness of the continent’s endemic animals, and a willingness to continue to support conservation efforts.

Click the video below for a conservationist explanation as to why the bilby is Australia’s Easter Bunny and learn some of the steps being taken to preserve this iconic species.

Source for today’s gif is below.

Wikipedia: Peramelemorphia

Australian Museum: "Greater Bilby" by Sue Burrell 10/12/25

Wikipedia: Greater Bilby

Australian Geographic: "Beyond the gates" by Chrissie Goldrick, 3/30/26

Phys.Org: "Stronger together: Bilby conservation efforts enhanced by Indigenous knowledge" by Charles Darwin University, 4/3/25