Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs
In a world where conservation news often appears grim, let’s celebrate the animals who made a difference.
The post Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs appeared first on The Revelator.
Welcome to The Revelator’s annual Wildlife MVPs, where we celebrate animals who left their mark in the previous year.
Some of our 2025 most valuable players earned a mention for reclaiming historical habitat, like certain salmon and wolves in California. Others, including elk and dolphins, made our list for turning up in unexpectedly large groups that wowed onlookers. And some simply did something new, like the orcas in Washington who made tools and the deer-moose pair in Alaska who just seem to enjoy each other’s company.
The stories show that wildlife, like humans, use determination and their own innate skills to thrive, often despite the odds. They also show that we still live in a world of remarkable abundance. And many of the stories reveal big successes from conservation measures — something that’s critically important as the Trump administration takes aim at the Endangered Species Act.
So let’s celebrate those successes: Sit back and enjoy some of this year’s good news.
Making the Klamath Great Again
Klamath River salmon won’t stop winning. In 2024, after removal of four fish-blocking dams in California and Oregon, Chinook salmon surged up over 200 miles of newly open river, reclaiming habitat that had been inaccessible to them for over a century.
During their 2025 spawn, they again rocketed upstream and beyond the expectations of biologists. This time they swam 360 river miles from the ocean, climbing past the Klamath’s remaining dams and into more watersheds that hadn’t seen salmon in over 100 years.
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The fish enliven their habitats with ocean nutrients and baby salmon, but they also spread joy, including among Klamath and other Indigenous groups who had pressed for dam removal for years, based on 1864 treaty rights. In July more than 100 Indigenous youth from Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, and other groups completed a 30-day paddle down the river to honor salmon’s return and the people behind it.
Tribal and government biologists are also on the river, trying to keep up with salmon to understand their movement. Fishing is not permitted, but salmon still face threats from agricultural runoff, pollutants, and warming waters.
Wandering Wolves
Hats off to the female gray wolf who explored 1,230 miles of Colorado between January and April. Wildlife officials called it an “extraordinary display.” The wolf was translocated from British Columbia as part of a voter-approved reintroduction program. Maps show most of the wolves are in Colorado’s mountains, while some are pushing toward busy Front Range communities and the borders of Wyoming, Utah, and Mexico.
Wolves also stretched their legs in California this year. Three new wolf packs established themselves in the north-central part of the state, bringing the total to 10 packs since their 2015 migration back into California. A 2025 report also showed Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, reintroduced in 1998, increased by 11% the prior year. They total 286 animals in 60 packs.
By nature wolves are valuable landscape players. Since their 1995 reintroduction to Yellowstone, research shows their presence influences elk and other prey species in ways that positively reshape habitats.
Although resilient, wolves still face a hard road. In October Colorado reported the 10th death of a reintroduced wolf, dropping their survival rate to 60%. Also in 2025, Colorado paid record compensation for reported wolf-related livestock predation. New federal rules further complicate the Colorado program, and a move is underfoot for a ballot initiative to stop reintroduction.
Turtle Recovery Speeds Up
This July crowds in Cocoa Beach, Florida, cheered as a giant loggerhead turtle named Bubba crawled into the ocean after three months of rehab at the Brevard Zoo. People shouted, “Go Bubba!” as the 375-pound guy eased himself into gently lapping waves. Estimated at 75 years old, Bubba had been treated for anemia, leeches, and injured flippers, likely from a shark. Thought to be a great-grandfather, the breeding male went home at the tail end of mating season, perhaps in time to contribute to ongoing Atlantic turtle recovery.
Speaking of mating season: In Florida, loggerhead, leatherback, and green turtles dug a whopping 170,000 nests in 2025. They included over 2,000 endangered leatherback nests, a new state record, and 66,000 green turtle nests, second only to the 2023 season. It comes amid news that conservation efforts have reduced sea turtle threats in over half of sites monitored around the world. Green sea turtles have especially benefitted: This year the IUCN changed their conservation status from “endangered” to “least concern.”
Scientists credit decades of conservation work, including bans on commercial harvest, reduced bycatch, and thousands of volunteers who raise awareness and restore beaches. Sea turtles, whose herbivorous diets help important underwater seagrass meadows, still face global threats. But current numbers are worth at least a slow clap.
Miles of Dolphins
A super-pod is a marvelous thing to behold, and in 2025 Californians saw two. In January biologists near Carmel encountered a miles-long group of Risso’s dolphins, estimated at over 1,500 animals. Drone footage showed the cetaceans, who grow to 13 feet and over 1,000 pounds, breaching, tail-slapping, and “having fun,” according to one biologist.
A month later an even larger super-pod swam near Monterey Bay. Estimated at more than 2,000 animals, it included the smaller northern right whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins. Experts say whales and dolphins form superpods to socialize or when food is abundant.
A River (of Elk) Runs Through It
Is there such a thing as a super-herd? If so, that’s what a Montana woman filmed south of Bozeman in January. Estimated at 2,000 animals, the herd undulated across snowy fields and a rural road. Montana biologists, who had tagged some of the animals earlier, said the elk are using conservation easement lands specifically established for their protection.
Orca Tools and Hats
In 2025 scientists reviewing drone footage found that orcas in the Salish Sea repeatedly cut kelp into similar sized lengths, which they used to massage or scrub each other. Each piece was just the right size for an orca to press and roll along the body of a pal. They’re the only orcas known to do this.
The same orcas, known as the Southern Resident pod, made waves in late 2024 when some were seen balancing dead salmon on their heads. It recalled the salmon “hats” that they took to wearing in the 1980s. And in November 2025, all 74 Southern Residents gathered into a rare super-pod near Port Townsend, Washington, delighting ferry passengers.
While the Southern Residents are revered in the Pacific Northwest, their endangered population faces threats from pollution and declining salmon.
Legacy MVP for Utah Bison
In the past two decades, roughly 25 bison wandered into Colorado from Utah’s 600-member Book Cliffs herd, who Utah officials manage as big game. Unfortunately, each was killed after entering Colorado.
Now, following years of objections from Native Americans, conservationists, and others, a new Colorado law gives the bison freer range. It grants them “dual status” as both livestock and wildlife and directs state biologists to prepare a free-ranging bison plan, which will address possible competition with livestock. Our MVP goes to the wandering bison of yore who prompted the change.
Summers at the Cape With Right Whales
Here’s a wave out to all those Atlantic right whale moms nursing newborns this year. In the 2024-2025 calving season, they included 32-year-old Monarch and 44-year-old Grand Teton. Across their breeding careers, these moms have so far had five and nine calves, respectively. And although this year’s count of 11 calves for the entire species is lower than past years, biologists express cautious optimism about a slowly growing population. The critically endangered species has 386 members.
Whales also made news in April, when 30 right and humpback whales amassed in Cape Cod Bay to feed on zooplankton. They briefly closed Cape Cod Canal ship traffic. The gatherings, typical for spring, show a functional marine food chain that connects its largest and smallest creatures.
Ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and climate change are chief threats. But officials credit rising awareness among boat captains and better fishing gear for recent progress.
Of Moose and Deer
For over a year, residents of Seward, Alaska, have seen a moose and a Sitka black-tailed deer hanging around with each other. The pair have grazed and traveled together through the seasons. Unconfirmed rumors are also flying of a separate pair to the north. Deer are extremely rare in the region, with some occasionally migrating over snowbound mountains from Prince William Sound. But moose are common. The buddies make our MVP list simply because any tales of conviviality are welcome news these days.
She Loves New York
On April 14 a wild turkey named Astoria spread her wings and jetted across the East River from Roosevelt Island to the east side of Manhattan. It’s not a lot of air time for a turkey, but Astoria’s “movin’ on up to the East Side” is her latest surprise for her many fans. And it reflects one of America’s most successful conservation stories.
The turkey first arrived in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in 2024, before relocating to Roosevelt Island, where she strutted and pecked among brush for months. Although midtown Manhattan presents more noise and traffic, she appears to have figured out city life. Local authorities have even lent a hand by shooing her away from traffic. So New York has her back.
While Astoria appears to be flying solo, she’s not the city’s only turkey. Several flocks live on Staten Island. They also live in Boston and other cities. By the 1930s deforestation and overhunting had extirpated America’s native turkeys from much of their habitat. But they rebounded over decades, responding to hunting regulations, reforestation, and translocation programs. In recent years recovering coyotes, bobcats, and raptors have decreased turkey populations. As Astoria struts about New York, she’s a reminder of these successes.
Sisterly Love
We’ll wrap with Shadow and Jackie, two California bald eagles about 30 miles from Los Angeles who gained millions of online fans this year as they raised sister eaglets Sunny and Gizmo. A nest cam livestreamed their straight-up adorable upbringing, including the moments they fledged. Jackie and Shadow have used their nest overlooking Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains since 2018, when they first started dating.
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Biologists believe that Jackie, who hatched in 2012, was the first bald eagle born in the basin in decades. Between Shadow and an earlier mate, she has helped raise five eaglets — her contribution to ongoing eagle recovery across the United States.
This is the first time the pair fledged two eaglets in one season. A third hatchling died after a March snowstorm, one of several that dumped inches of snow on the parents as they shielded their young. Their nest is 145 feet up in a Jeffrey pine that sways in strong wind.
Every day for months, the parents brought fresh fish to their young, reflecting an intact local food web. Sunny and Gizmo also get credit for impressively peaceful cohabitation, with minimal bonking or other competitive conflict, even as they endured snow, rain, high winds, aggressive owls, and being couped up in the same tiny pad for two months.
So love wins and puts this family among our most valuable players — for reflecting conservation and species recovery, showing off an abundant basin, gathering people together, and raising good kids.
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Although we live in an era of alarming losses in biodiversity, it’s good to note the encouraging stories. Each reminds us of the resilience of wildlife and the value of conservation. Happy New Year.
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The post Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs appeared first on The Revelator.
