From ‘freeing’ a killer whale to cheetahs coming back from extinction: Here are this week’s best feel-good stories
When the news cycle feels extra heavy, just remember there’s plenty of good stuff going on, too. Here's a roundup of some of this week’s most heartwarming stories from Yahoo partners.
Baby cheetahs make a comeback in India
Four adorable cheetah cubs have been born in India over 70 years after cheetahs were declared extinct in the country, BBC News reported on Wednesday.
Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the news on Twitter, saying it was “a momentous event in our wildlife conservation history.”
The cubs were born in Kuno National Park wildlife sanctuary to a female cheetah brought over from Namibia last year. The babies were spotted by officials on Wednesday, but are believed to have been born five days prior.
BBC News reports that India has been trying to reintroduce the big cats for decades. Last year, eight cheetahs were brought to India from Namibia, and another 12 were brought over from South Africa last month. Cheetahs officially became extinct in India in 1952, “after years of dwindling numbers because of hunting, a loss of habitat and not having enough prey to eat.”
Free Lolita: Killer whale in captivity may finally be going home
After a decades-long campaign by animal rights groups, Lolita, a 57-year-old killer whale, may finally be returning to her home in the Pacific Northwest, after more than 50 years in captivity performing at the Miami Seaquarium, the Miami Herald reported on Thursday.
Eduardo Albor, CEO of the Dolphin Company, which owns the Seaquarium, said he had promised to do what he could to free the 5,000-pound orca, after his daughter said she was disturbed by the whale’s “too small” living conditions during their first visit to the park.
Jim Irsay, owner of the NFL team the Indianapolis Colts, has pledged to help fund the move, which could take 18 to 24 months and cost $15 million to $20 million.
“We don’t have a locked-in timeline,” he said. “Obviously the sooner, the better, but we’re not rushing, like a fire drill.”
The Miami Herald said it “wasn’t immediately clear if the plan would be endorsed by federal agencies that oversee marine mammals and animal attractions,” and added that the logistics of the move would be tricky. After being transported to the Pacific Northwest along with two dolphins that keep her company, Lolita’s temporary home would be a netted sea pen where trainers need to reacclimate her to the wild.
“We have to teach her how to catch fish again. She doesn’t know how to do that anymore, she’s been in captivity too long,” Irsay said.
This woman is nearly 80 years old and completes a 5K every single day
Meet Mae Dean Erb: an almost-80-year-old lady from Blackgum, Okla., who has been running or walking at least 5K — or 3.1 miles — every day for the past three years, according to the Oklahoman, via USA Today.
Erb said she started her daily 5K routine on March 24, 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, after being inspired by a Facebook post from a public health educator with Cherokee Nation Public Health who planned to complete a 5K a day during the shutdown.
“It was as if the sun came up,” Erb said.
She initially planned to do one 5K a day for 10 days, but when the 10 days were up, Erb “felt so good, she decided to keep going.”
Erb said that rain or shine, she hasn’t missed a day since. She doesn’t have an end goal in mind, and plans to just keep going.
“I’m sure I act 80 in some ways,” Erb said. “But I don’t feel 80. I wish I could get people to realize even a minimal amount of working out … it just has a wonderful effect.”
‘Fun-loving’ black bear plays soccer in New Yorker’s yard
The Miami Herald reported this week on a “fun-loving” black bear caught on video by a surprised resident of Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
Anna Cory-Watson said she was working from home when she noticed the bear through her window, and initially thought the creature in her yard could be a huge dog. She started recording, and the video — which was uploaded to YouTube on March 21 and has over 37,000 views — shows the black bear rolling around with a soccer ball, yanking on a hose and walking on top of a trampoline
“I don’t know what attracted the bear to our yard. We don’t have any garbage outside, for obvious reasons, and no other sources of food,” Cory-Watson said. “But whatever reason he came, he definitely stayed for the toys!”
Cory-Watson said this was the first time she has seen a bear at her home in New York’s Hudson Valley region about 80 miles north of New York City, but that bear sightings in the area have become more common.
“We have a lot of woods around our house that will never be developed, but the amount of natural habitat they have is shrinking by the day,” she said.
