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In the headlines...

🥡 The European Union’s new packaging regulations are now in effect, setting EU-wide limits on “forever chemicals” in food-contact packaging.

🌳 Protesters are staging a “tree sit” in a tiny Arizona town to protect a 200-year-old tree from being cut down by the federal government for a border wall.

Animals

Kazakhstan just released its first tiger into the wild, 70 years after they were last seen

At the end of July, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit — which means “hope” in Kazakh — leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck as she was released into the wilderness of a 1.1 million-acre nature reserve in southeastern Kazakhstan.

It’s the first time in the 70 years since they were wiped out that a wild tiger will roam in the country.

The reserve was established in 2018 to create the conditions for the tigers’ return to the wild, including efforts to increase the population of their natural prey, such as Bukhara deer and kulan. The preparations took over a decade.

Good to know: The area where Umit was released was actually once inhabited by the extinct Caspian tiger. The Kazakh government chose to release Amur tigers after research showed their genetic makeup was almost identical to that of Caspian tigers, which went extinct due to habitat loss and hunting by humans.

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More Good News

​Trail cameras capture a litter of cougar kittens, the first babies seen in Minnesota in over a century. Experts believe the litter could indicate a growing population of the big cats in the region.

​Scientists transformed sheep’s wool into a new material that helps regrow damaged bone. Researchers at King’s College London believe the agricultural byproduct holds great promise in regenerative medicine.

​Scotland has officially banned glue traps, after years of advocacy from animal rights campaigners. With the law now in full effect, it is illegal to buy, possess, or use a glue trap, which often proves deadly to birds, bats, and fox kits.

​After the first full year of a maternal RSV vaccination campaign in the U.K., newborn ICU admissions dropped by 50%. The program is offered to women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect newborns, who are at higher risk of severe illness from RSV.

​New York City is on track to record its fewest reported rat sightings since the pandemic. Rat sightings are down 22% in the first seven months of 2026 compared to a year earlier, a drop attributed to a “war on rats” campaign initiated by former mayor Eric Adams.

​After conservationists released wild bison in Romania, plant biomass in the region increased by 30%. The bison herds have been roaming the Tarcu Mountains for a decade, aiding the growth of grass, shrubs, and flowers along the way.

Animals

After a weeklong rescue effort, over 60 cats have been saved from an abandoned sailboat: ‘They’re incredibly resilient’

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good progress

Loggerhead sea turtles are having a record nesting season on the East Coast, especially Florida

A nearly 10-mile stretch of Florida beach just north of West Palm Beach is seeing a record number of loggerhead sea turtle nests, with just over 13,000 total nests. It’s a huge jump from nearly a decade ago, in 2007, when there were only around 3,600.

Experts credit both the Endangered Species Act and state laws for supporting the loggerheads’ comeback.

Just up the coast, Georgia is expected to see more than 4,000 nests, breaking a nearly 40-year record. In North Carolina, nests have already reached the same numbers as last year, and the nesting season still isn’t over.

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More Good bits

🐢 The ocean’s matriarch made her grand return.

📬 It took 26 years, but this postcard finally made its way home.

🐕 Well, Facebook is good for some things at least.

🕷️ When a movie theater didn’t get its “Spider-Man” posters, one teen gave it his best attempt.

☀️ Coming soon: The world’s most efficient solar panels.

📈 The U.S. is installing so much solar, we need a chart to keep track.

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