Tired, but can’t sleep? Working, but can’t focus? Need something mindless yet peaceful happening in the background? Check out our December picks for the best live wildlife cams from Explore.org. From surprising visitors to a bald eagle nest to the fuzziest penguins in all of Argentina, we have you covered for the best creature activity around the globe.
4. Muskoxen in Alaska
Until you have seen a muskox, you cannot comprehend how much fur they have. If you haven’t, don’t even finish reading this. Go take a look at the muskox live cam from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Here, half a dozen muskox meander in and out of view, attracted by a feeding stand. Some stand snacking, while others curl up on the ground, heedless of the cold, and scratch their heads against the snow.
Muskoxen went extinct in Alaska around the start of the 20th century. The U.S. government reintroduced them from Canadian populations in 1935 to support Yup’ik subsistence hunting. Since then, their population in Alaska has remained stable, and muskox continue to thrive in Canada and Greenland.
3. Elephants at a watering hole in South Africa
This one deserves a special shout-out for its soundscape. Insects and songbirds unite at all hours of the day to form a peaceful, evocative background for work or sleep.
But it’s worth watching, too. At one point, a herd of strange, orange-red creatures thronged onscreen. Their heads looked like deer, they were striped like zebras, and they wagged their tails incessantly like dogs. Several larger, long-horned dark creatures wandered among them, equally obscure to me.
After much googling, I determined the orange creatures to be bongos, a type of antelope. (If you need a pick-me-up, go search for photos of baby bongos.) The cow-things were harder, but I eventually placed them as nyalas. Although also a type of antelope, nyalas have a bovine grace. They look like what teenage cows would compare themselves to when they look in the mirror.
As it turns out, bongos are both shy and nocturnal. Seeing them for so long during the day and interacting with a different species is a rare treat. Check them out when you have a moment.
2. Bald eagle nest in Iowa
Earlier this week, I was on the phone with a friend when I mentioned my hatred of raptor cams. “I check them on and off, and the birds are never there,” I proclaimed. “Raptor cams are a scam. I’ll never put a raptor cam on my best-of-the-month list.”
But I decided to give raptors a last chance before my monthly ranking, and lo and behold, there was a little bird sauntering around the nest on the Decorah, Iowa cam. It was dark brown and strangely sleek for a chick. I watched it, entranced by the way its neck moved.
Slowly, like a character in a horror movie, the truth dawned on me. “Holy cow,” I texted the same friend. “I just checked this eagle cam, and there’s an owl in the nest.”
“Brave owl right there,” she wrote back. “Though maybe he too knows the rule of the eagle cam: As long as the eagles are on camera, they’re never there.”
1. Baby penguins on Isla Tova
Hey. Hey, you. Please take a look at these fuzzy little penguins.
It’s been a rough day for me. These penguins have gotten me through it. I keep thinking about having a cry, and instead I switch back to the penguin tab. They’re fuzzy and small, and they keep wiggling everywhere. I’m obsessed.
Magellanic penguins are native to Patagonia, and unlike many of the creatures featured on Explore.org, they’re not endangered at all. These hardy two-foot birds are particularly thriving on Isla Tova off the coast of Argentina, where the live cams set up around the island also support biological research.
Right now, there are three chicks in this nest under a wiry bush. As I watch, one of them emerges from the mass of indistinguishable fluff. He opens and closes his mouth a bit like a cat chirping, annoys his siblings by rearranging his position, and then falls asleep with his mouth open. The other chicks settle back in for a long, tiring night of penguining.
