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All in Animal Welfare
Something profound happened to Americans in the early part of the 20th century, right around the time they had erased the passenger pigeon from existence. The destruction we had brought to these and other avians led to a wake up call, giving rise to avian conservation – and to environmentalism itself.
A young lion that went missing after being sold – illegally – as a cub has been reunited with his parents after a year and a half separation. His ordeal began in Quebec, where the feline family had been separated after a roadside zoo was shut down.
A critically endangered African penguin is making his debut at the New York Aquarium, joining his parents and 35 other penguins at the Coney island aquarium’s Sea Cliffs habitat.
This week a committee of Trump administration officials voted unanimously to exempt the oil and gas industry from requirements of the Endangered Species Act in the Gulf of Mexico. The exemption – which will lift protections for endangered whales, turtles, and other species – is being invoked now for “national security.”
This week, a sea turtle hospital in Florida released a rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle back into the sea after its months-long rehab. The turtle, which the Loggerhead Marinelife Center named Amelie, had had her right forelimb amputated after a traumatic injury. The vets will monitor Amelie’s travels from space.
A small pack of dogs were spotted walking together this month along the highway in Changchun, the capital of China’s north-east Jilin province. According to multiple media reports, it appears the seven dogs had escaped from kidnappers who were taking them to a dog-meat shop.
A group of 20 animal rights activists were arrested this week for trespassing following their rescue operation at Ridglan Farms, a beagle-breeding facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Among them was 62-year-old actress Alexandra Paul, best known for her role in the 1990s TV series “Baywatch.”
A young male fox snuck aboard a cargo ship in Southampton, England and, two weeks later, finds himself in New York City. On his arrival the US Customs and Border Protection and government wildlife officials delivered the sly stowaway to the Bronx Zoo, where his fate is being decided.
An amateur soccer match in Istanbul was interrupted last week when a low-flying seagull collided with the ball and crumbled to the field in an unconscious heap. Yurdum Spor's team captain, Gani Catan, astonished everyone by performing CPR chest compressions on the stunned bird until it was revived.
A macaque monkey named Punch has an international legion of fans after videos of the 7-month-old being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral in recent weeks.
Italy might ban horsemeat soon as its legislature redefines equine animals – horses, donkeys, and mules – as pets, prohibiting their slaughter and use for food. If approved, the new law would impose jail terms of up to three years and fines of up to €100,000 ($120,000 USD) for the slaughter of equines.
When we last checked in on Pablo Escobar’s hippos – the descendants of the dead drug lord’s hippopotamuses that have infiltrated Colombia’s Magdalena River basin – the government was attempting to control the invasive population by sterilizing them.
Last October a sickly bearded vulture was rescued by a roadside in Haute-Savoie, France, just south of Geneva. Taken to a veterinary clinic that specializes in vultures, the staff learned this specimen is 37 years old, the world’s oldest bearded vulture outside of captivity.
This month the National Zoo in Washington announced the birth of a painted river terrapin, the first time this critically endangered species has been successfully bred at the zoo. In fact, the little guy is already five months old. The zookeepers had found it on August 26, still sporting its egg tooth, a tiny built‑in tool it used to crack out of the shell, meaning it was only a day or two old when they found it.
ZooTampa’s manatee rehab center announced it had released 26 manatees in 2025, the highest number of rehabbed manatees returned to the wild in any single year since the facility opened in 1991.
For nearly 50 years, an eastern box turtle named Rockalina lived alone on a linoleum kitchen floor. When she was rescued last year by New Jersey turtle sanctuary Garden State Tortoise, she was wan, her eyes covered in dead skin, her claws unnaturally bent upward.
French film legend Brigitte Bardot died this week at 91. The pouty “sex kitten” appeared in over 50 films in a 20-year career, which she abruptly abandonedin 1973. For the remaining decadesBardot devoted her life to animal welfare.
An African elephant named Kariba has bounced around since her family was wiped out by ivory hunters 40-plus years ago. The orphan has lived in various European zoos since then but soon – in early 2026 – she will be housed in a real sanctuary in Portugal. How well she fares there could help decide the fates of an estimated 625 elephants in captivity around Europe.
On a windy Sunday morning in Cornwall, a young flamingo took flight from a local sanctuary. By the following day, she had crossed the Channel and arrived on Île Aganton along the north coast of France, 130 miles from where she began.
