finding cain

Sometimes you want a reminder that there are still good things in the world. The Amazonian Manatee Rescue Center in Iquitos, Peru, is a unique nursery for orphaned manatee calves. These gentle giants arrive frail, often due to hunting or habitat loss. Caretakers provide intensive care, including underwater bottle-feeding and lessons in swimming and foraging. Their ultimate goal is to return the manatees to the wild rivers of the Amazon, giving this vulnerable species a second chance.

I'm an anxious man who worries about a lot of things. So, the last thing I need is a high-maintenance houseplant. Every botanical enthusiast, even a reluctant one like me, has their holy grail, and right now, my current fascination is the Euphorbia obesa. When you first see this thing, you'll think it's fake. It's a perfectly plump, seamed sphere that looks entirely sculpted and belongs in a museum. This rare succulent, sometimes called the "baseball plant," hails from South Africa. It is wonderfully low-maintenance and can happily go months, perhaps even years, without a drop of water. It's a perfect organism, really. It doesn't need constant affirmation, it doesn't bark at 2 a.m., and it doesn't require a subscription. I want the Euphorbia obesa to be my new housemate, and if I get one, I think the relationship might actually last. Assuming, of course, that I don't overwater it or accidentally knock it over during a panic attack.

The winners of the Nikon Small World photo contest have been announced , showcasing truly breathtaking talent under the lens. For over fifty years, this competition has masterfully blended scientific technique with artistry, giving us an unparalleled view into the hidden biome around us. These aren't just macro photos; they are stunning, hyper-detailed portraits that transform ordinary, overlooked specks—from microscopic invertebrates to plant architecture—into monumental subjects. They prove that the greatest jungles often exist in the smallest spaces. This year’s top prize goes to Zhang You from China. His winning image is a perfectly timed and illuminated shot of a rice weevil perched on a grain. With its wings fully extended, the humble insect looks less like a pest and more like an armored shuttle preparing for an epic interplanetary battle. Below are some of my favorites. After seeing these phenomenal close-ups, you'll never look at a speck of dust or a houseplant the sam...

It's the ultimate insect smackdown: eat or be eaten, served with a side of absurdity. The action kicks off with a cute cicada happily snacking on a worm. So far, so chill. Then, in swoops the villain, a ridiculously stunning and hungry orchid mantis. Drama! But before that fashionista can land a single blow, the flamboyant peacock spider crashes the party, looking to turn both of them into a two-course meal. This microscopic, high-stakes standoff is wild. Every bug is hamming it up with expressions so relatable, you forget they're just bugs—until that bizarre, out-of-nowhere sequence drops. It’s all based on the genius Chinese proverb: "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." This short is a gorgeous, tense, and surprisingly funny reminder that you're never safe on the food chain. Seriously, go watch it—it’s an award winner for a reason.

Have you ever looked up and wondered, "What does it feel like to soar majestically like an eagle?" This video offers a captivating glimpse. Expert bird handler Lloyd Buck attached a small 360-degree camera and a GPS tracker directly to the back of one of these magnificent predatory birds. The entire setup creates a stunning, first-person virtual reality experience—only this one is real and features a creature with an impressively large wingspan. However, this isn't just for cool footage. The real mission is to capture valuable scientific data: examining how quickly an eagle can gain altitude and precisely how its incredible wings are adapted to achieve such breathtaking, effortless lift.

The 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners have just been announced . Can you believe they received over 60,000 entries from 113 different countries and territories this year? That's a ton of photos, and it must have been so tough to choose. The images are incredible. They're proof of the photographers' amazing skill and patience, but also a shout-out to how totally awesome the animals and places they capture are. You get everything in these shots: moments of raw power, delicate tenderness, and a tough, honest look at the environmental problems our planet is facing. Once a photo makes it to the shortlist, the real inquisition begins. It must be original; a story we haven't seen before. It needs to make you pause, gasp, or even feel a bit uncomfortable.  London’s Natural History Museum proclaimed Wim van den Heever as the winner, and it took the South African photographer ten years to capture the striking, ghostly portrait of a brown hyena chilling right next to ...

Oh, this is how you shoot wildlife doc for Discovery+ entirely from your garden.

From the same guys who brought us that horse-leech eating earthworm video , this is a time-lapse compilation of plants growing from seeds. Boxlapse photographed various plants for 520 days and turned all the images into this stunning 8-minute clip. That's some serious shi*t. FYI, I've never done anything for 520 days straight but delete all those marketing emails.

This is in response to Jak Wonderly's photo, titled Caught by Cats , which recently came in first place in the 2020 BigPicture Photography Competition's Human/Nature category. One of the things I always like to visit at my friend Lisa's house is the black Burmese cat because my wife and I can't have one (we have two dogs, a Labrador and a Pit Bull, who hate feline creatures). I'm not sure Selina ever caught a mouse but the last time I went there, she brought me a sand lizard that I think lives underneath the old jackfruit tree at the front yard. I grabbed her by the neck and the reptile dropped out of her mouth. Dead. According to Lisa, her pet bags about two birds a week. She saw Selina snatch a maya last month; the following day a frog succumbed to her attack. Domestic cats aren't just the adorable creatures depicted in unbearably cute Internet videos. They're also lethal hunters. They kill time by killing wildlife, and they are responsible for slaughterin...

Quarantine does weird things to people, and in this case food writer Angela Hansberger decided to open her own restaurant for a chipmunk. And each day would make a different pop-up cafe for him. From Bon Appétit : "Important to dining, especially now, is tipping. Thelonious, I’ll admit, had always been a poor tipper. Then one evening I watched as he carried over a mysterious wad of leaves and bits of flowers, things not available near my porch, and left them at the table. For me? Did he leave these special things for me? I considered it an excellent tip. Thelonious Munk comes every day now. Sometimes he sits at the table, waiting for me. He is the diner critiquing my meals; I am the chef and the server, waiting for positive reviews. I switch up the menu, making sure not to overfeed, as chipmunks are hoarders and can eat to their detriment. I watch like a new parent introducing foods to a baby, cataloging likes and dislikes. Google be damned, Thelonious doesn’t dig mushrooms, fresh...

Check out this spectacular drone footage showing the migration of 64,000 green sea turtles on Australia's Raine Island. From high above, the pristine water looks like it's speckled with tiny white dots. But a closer look reveals more: each dot is actually a sea turtle swimming toward the shore so it could lay eggs.

I really like the work of Japanese artist Noriyuki Saitoh, who uses bamboo to create beautiful sculptures of insects. Each piece is handmade and features an incredible amount of detail, resulting in realistic depictions that look as though they could come to life, crawl and fly away. Someone who can master patience can master almost everything else. Scroll down to see some of Noriyuki's bug sculptures and find more of his work on his website . Truly mesmerizing.

Over the past few years, Polish photographer Pawel Bogumil has traveled to more than fifteen zoos throughout Europe to capture images of primates displaying human traits and behaviors. Pawel's black and white portraits are enthralling and profound; sincere in their depictions of reality. His photo series, titled inHUMAN , is being exhibited at the Leica Gallery in Warsaw until April 3, 2016. Curator Rafal Lochowski offers a few words about the exhibit: "Some of the photographs make us afraid of these mighty animals – others make us wonder who the person is and what they are thinking about. We subconsciously forget that we are looking at an animal. These skillfully made portraits by Bogumil make our hair stand on end." [h/t: Resource Magazine ]

My new favorite YouTube channel is called Wakaleo . It features unique species, unusual animal relationships and also the people who have made a pledge to assist animals in their own lives. The video above, titled Animals On Glass , is a compilation of rare creatures filmed from underneath.

Observing fireflies at night can be engrossing. When I was a kid, my friends and I used to catch a few of these flickering lightning bugs and put them inside a glass jar. If you're a firefly enthusiast and you're thinking of planning a trip around Asia, you might want to consider China.     According to this blog , the world's first ever firefly-themed park just opened in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province. It is divided up into five separate areas including a zero-distance contact zone, observation zone, flying zone, breeding zone and science popularization area for visitors to interact with and observe the insects.    The park has already attracted thousands of visitors, and will be opened annually from the end of May to early October.

One of the things I always like to visit at my friend Lisa's house is the black Burmese cat because my wife and I can't have one (we have two dogs, a Labrador and a Pit Bull, who hate feline creatures). I'm not sure Selina ever caught a mouse but the last time I went there, she brought me a sand lizard that I think lives underneath the old jackfruit tree at the front yard. I grabbed her by the neck and the reptile dropped out of her mouth. Dead. According to Lisa, her pet bags about two birds a week. She saw Selina snatch a maya last month; the following day a frog succumbed to her attack. Domestic cats aren't just the adorable creatures depicted in unbearably cute Internet videos. They're also lethal hunters. They kill time by killing wildlife, and they are responsible for slaughtering billions of other animals each year. Yes, a cat doesn't look nearly as deadly as the black mamba, as strong as the mountain gorilla or as menacing as the humans, but they shou...