A wildlife rehabilitation center on Long Island, New York, performed a life-saving wing transplant on a monarch butterfly.
The transplant went viral on social media and is providing some much-needed inspiration.
As KTLA News reported, the Sweetbriar Nature Center saved the monarch butterfly after someone brought it into its Smithtown, New York, location. The butterfly had a bent, deformed wing after emerging from its chrysalis.
The center's director, Janine Bendicksen, performed the transplant using a wing from a deceased butterfly, contact cement, and a bent wire hanger.
She shared that the butterfly couldn't feel the procedure because there is no blood flow and no nerve endings in that portion of a butterfly's wings.
People have viewed Bendicksen's monarch butterfly's wing transplant over 13.8 million times across multiple platforms.
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The wing transplant took her only about five minutes, and once complete, the butterfly was able to walk and fly away immediately.
"It literally just took off from my hand," Bendicksen said, per KTLA News. "You know, I felt like a Disney princess — like Prince Charming just came back or something. I really didn't know if it would work, and when it did, it was a spectacular feeling."
This inspiring story demonstrates how just a little time and attention can improve the lives of our world's incredible creatures, large and small. It's an uplifting social media share that encourages people to save injured animals and preserve their lives whenever possible.
It's also important to save wildlife because of their unique, crucial roles in the broader ecosystem. Balanced ecosystems are vital to the health of our planet, as pollinator species play an essential part in supporting plant growth, while prey species also provide food for predators.
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Definitely 👍 Monarch butterflies, for example, feed upon milkweed plants to survive, and milkweed populations have steadily declined due to habitat loss and herbicide use in North America.
Meanwhile, many other inspiring rescues have gone viral, with videos depicting missions to save bees, protect hummingbirds from freezing, and release rehabilitated penguins into the wild.
You can help these efforts by rescuing vulnerable and injured animals when it's safe to do so — usually, the best way to do this is to contact professional animal rescue or wildlife organizations, though one family's creative use of a tortilla is an excellent example of a situation when it might be OK to step in. Another effective way to take local climate action is to donate money to conservation groups that work with species that hold a special place in your heart.
"What excites me more than anything is the attention this butterfly is getting," Bendicksen commented on the monarch butterfly wing transplant, per KTLA News.
"With everything going on in the world, people are hopeful and happy. It's a feel-good story — and we need more of those out there."
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