29-year-old Oscar Alejandro Hernandez was found in a remote region of Griffith Park in Los Angeles according to NBC 4. Beside him was his emaciated pet, King, who was still alive. Hernandez was reported missing by his family and friends in mid-March after they became concerned about his safety. 

He was last seen on March 16 around 2:30 a.m. near the hiking trails around the park’s merry-go-round according to the flyer distributed by the family revealed that Hernandez was last seen. Source: LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
It was a heartbreaking moment when authorities found the man's body, especially because his family was present at the scene. 

Los Angeles Sgt. Ruben Arellano told The Associated Press that the golden retriever was found beside his best friend when responders arrived. 

The dog was described to be both tired and hungry by rescue agents. Meanwhile, Hernandez's cousin believes that the pooch never left the deceased's side and remained by his for the entire time. 

A distressing video of the dog being placed in the back of a truck the night Hernandez was found dead was shared on Twitter. Police are yet to reveal the cause of death and how his body was discovered.

#BREAKING: Body of 29 year old Oscar Hernandez, missing for 16 days, discovered in #GriffithPark. His dog, King, found alive and by his side. pic.twitter.com/9hieZs806u

— Robert Kovacik (@RobertNBCLA) April 1, 2022

A firefighter told NBC Los Angeles that the location where Hernandez's body was found was a decent hike up from the region he was last seen. 

The Los Angeles Fire Department, park rangers, police, and Hernandez's relatives were all present at the site where the hiker's remains were found on Thursday night. 

Per PEOPLE, the Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue team used a helicopter to remove his body from the steep hillside where Hernandez was found. The circumstances surrounding his death are still being investigated. Last month, four children lost their father who was hiking in Montana. 

The Park County Sheriff's Office found the remains of Craig Clouatre who is suspected to have died in a grizzly bear attack. "It is with a very heavy heart that I am writing this update. After an extensive search this morning we have located Craig. It appears he had an encounter with a grizzly and unfortunately did not survive," shared Sheriff Brad Bichler in a statement. Source: GoFundMe
"We will continue to work through the afternoon to bring Craig home. Please keep his family and all those involved in your thoughts and prayer," he continued. 

Clouatre was reportedly on an off-trail hiking trip with his friend in Gallatin National Forest when the unthinkable happened. At one point, he and his friend split up temporarily but when the father-of-four did not show up at the pre-decided spot, his friend became concerned. 

Following a day-long hunt, his body was sadly found lifeless.
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Although swans are not usually affectionate animals, after Wiese picked her up she showed gratitude and trust by wrapping her neck around her rescuer. 

“When I put it next to me I could feel its heart beating and it just relaxed its neck and wrapped it around mine,” Wiese told ABC News. 

“It’s a wonderful moment when an animal totally trusts you.” 

More info: Facebook | h/t: sabcnew, thedodo Source

Fortunately, all that suffering came to an end and the majestic creature have finally been rescued. But as two of them have been taken to a wildlife sanctuary, the third one was left behind. 

Camera captures the moment she’s been reunited with her ‘sisters!’ Thanks to the devoted people from the Wildlife SOS – a UK-based rescue and wildlife conservation group, Mia, Sita and Rhea, got a second chance after a lifetime in agony. 

The three elephants lived in chains for more than 50 years as part of a circus, and now they all got the chance to roam free. But rescuing them wasn’t an easy mission though. It took months and tons of effort until, the volunteer were able to bring the three ‘sister’ to the sanctuary. 

But while Mia and Site arrived at the Elephant Conservation and Care Center together, Rhea had to be left behind – unsure if she would see them again. “It broke our hearts to leave Rhea behind,” the group wrote. “But we always knew we’d come back for her, and fight with all our strength to get her freed too!” 

Fortunately, Wildlife SOS’s efforts eventually paid off, and after being separated for months, time came for Rhea to be reunited with her companions. 

The three elephants – aged between 45 and 53 – have bonded during their many years of suffering, and the relationship they share was beyond our understanding. Finally, after a 1,750-mile journey that took nearly five days, Rhea was once again next to her ‘sisters.’ The moment the three old friends were reunited was too beautiful to behold, and brought everyone into tears. 

“It was fantastic to witness natural elephant behavior and hear the vocalisations of the elephants as they greeted each other,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS. 

“We could not help but feel honored to have been part of this reunion. It was overwhelming that we had brought these gentle giants back together as a family.” Now, Mia, Sita and Rhea have the chance to enjoy a free happy life, and maybe most importantly, they’ll never be separated again! 

 Watch their reunion here:

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And he’s got a unique personal connection with bears through his friendship with Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear who he’s reared since the bear was a cub. Casey found Brutus next to his dead mother in the Alaskan mountains. He rescued the cub and cared for him. When Brutus grew too big to stay in Casey’s home, he established the Montana Grizzly Encounter Rescue and Educational Sanctuary. 

"This connection goes beyond just taking care of Brutus," Casey told Oprah back then. 

"They're very, very emotional animals... When he was a little baby, I was bottle-feeding him and I looked down in his eyes. He had a little tear in his eye. I just kind of chalked it up to [him] straining as he was sucking down the bottle. Several years later, Brutus got a bit of a bellyache. In his eyes, he had the same tear. At that moment, I realized that grizzly bears can feel the same emotions we do." 

"I was having a hard time, was really upset about some things... I was crying," Casey said. 

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Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) is a non-profit organization that works for the welfare of these voiceless beings, writes ilovemydogsomuch. In this video, we see OCN rescuers Antoine and Naude visiting the Walvis Bay to look for seals entangled in fishing nets. 

This is an everyday morning patrol for the duo as several seals end up intertwined in those nasty wires due to the commercial fishing operations prevalent in the area. 

However, this turned out to be a special day for the rescuers thanks to a sweet angelic baby seal! Once a seal gets messed up in a fishing net, they panic and run around in desperation. This often causes the piercing nets to tighten around their soft bodies, injuring them severely. 

Without the intervention of rescuers, most of these seals either starve or suffocate to death. It is habitual for the rescued seals to bite their saviors and run off in agitation, which is honestly quite understandable considering their stressful struggle to survive. 

However, Antoine and Naude were in for a heartwarming surprise when they captured one distressed baby seal in this video! This particular seal cub was uncharacteristically calm when the rescuers approached him. He looked at them with his big gloomy eyes as a sharp fishing line tormented his neck. 

He squirmed in anxiety when a rescuer grabbed his neck to snip off the net. But the moment he was freed, the seal’s face gleamed with gratitude! Unlike his fellow rescued seals, this baby seal didn’t scoot off at top speed to join his herd. 

Instead, he lingered on the sand and repeatedly turned his head to the rescuers in an adorable attempt to say thank you! What a sweetheart! It’s a pity such marvelous creatures suffer because of human thoughtlessness. 

Click the video below to watch the baby seal’s heartwarming gesture of gratitude toward his rescuer.

 
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One such episode occurred over the Costa Brava, in Northeastern Spain, when a flock of birds began to gather into a shape-shifting cloud, known as a murmuration. 

This phenomenon is a true spectacle, with hundreds, sometimes thousands or more birds moving and twisting in what appears to be a coordinated, single organism that can quickly morph into some startling shapes. Image credits: Daniel Biber/lensculture
Wildlife photography professional Daniel Biber from Hilzingen, Germany was there when the starlings began to swirl and twist, most likely the result of a predator such as a falcon or a hawk being in the vicinity. 

It was almost supernatural that in response to the predator, the cloud of starlings ended up twisting and turning themselves into a giant, single bird, as if to say to their tormentor, “we are bigger than you.” It was a case of patience pays off for Mr. Biber, who had tried and failed to capture the starlings in full flow before. 

“’I’ve tried to photograph the starlings but it never worked out as well as I hoped for,” he said. 

“’I eventually drove to the spot every day for four days in a row in order to capture them. I picked a spot where I thought they would turn up and picked a matching foreground and backdrop in order to put them in a scene.” “It took less than 10 seconds for the birds to create that formation. I realised that I had captured a unique snapshot, technically, sharp and in high quality. 

It usually happens that birds of prey turn up and the starlings then create bizarre forms. It can be quite erratic and completely random” "A number of people were watching this display but they were observing it from other spots and might not have seen what I captured” The photos have earned Mr. Biber a prize in an international photography competition, but he didn’t realize that he had captured such unique shots until later on. 

“Only when I checked the pictures on the computer later, I realized what formation the starlings had created,” he told the Daily Mail. 

“I was so concentrated on taking pictures at the time that I hadn’t realized that the starling murmuration had created a giant bird in the sky.”
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Being in such a strange and scary environment proved difficult for Smokey and he showed his fear by growling. This contributed to his being unavailable for adoption and in a worse situation. 

Thankfully, a couple of volunteers from the I Have a Dream Rescue Organization came across Smokey and set about getting him into a foster home. There is still a chance for him to be delivered back to his family if they have the means to take him, but he has plenty of time and love in the meantime. 

Smokey will join the happy company of Akida, a playful pup, and Jack Frost, a deaf dog learning sign language. Most importantly, Smokey will be able to keep his stuffed elephant; the single tie to his former life he was left with. 

Treasurer of the rescue organization that is saving Smokey, Melissa Sutherland, had the following to say: “He was sad and laying with his elephant until she started to talk with him. It is amazing what rescue does for dogs.” 

 More info: Facebook | h/t: The Dodo
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