As we approach the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid increasingly destructive climate change, news coverage of science can sometimes be a heavy read.

But Earth is still an incredible place, bursting with promise and mystery. Research into the wonders of the natural world continue to show us how amazing life on our planet really is.

Here are the top 12 animal discoveries that got our attention this year.

California condors—magnificent scavengers with a wingspan of over nine feet—almost went extinct by the middle of the 20th century, due to poisoning, poaching, and habitat destruction. In an ambitious bid to save them, all 22 condors were captured from the wild in 1987 and bred in captivity, before being released back to parts