Three bald eagles released back into wild after rehabilitation

SAUK CITY, Wis. (WMTV) -- A village known for its eagle population gained three more on Saturday at an eagle send off over the Wisconsin River.

© Provided by Madison WMTV A worker with Raptor Education Group, Inc. prepares to release a bald eagle back into the wild in Sauk City on Saturday. REGI workers cared for the bird for months at the group's facility in Antigo, Wisconsin.

Organizers say hundreds of people turned out to witness the sendoff.

"You can feel the power of the bird," said Donna Schmitz, who released one of the eagles. "You can feel the spiritual being of the bird, and it was so cool letting that bird go back to where it belonged."

One of the three birds was found early last summer in the Sauk Prairie area. It had fallen out of a nest and was treated by rescuers. Another one of the three eagles was hatched int he Sauk Prairie area back in 2019.

The eagles were rehabilitated at Raptor Education Group, Inc. Injured eagles and birds across the state are taken to their facility in Antigo to recover from lead poisoning or injuries.

The eagles were originally going to be released during Eagle Watching Days on Jan. 18, but the weather conditions delayed it.

LEAD POISONING FROM HUNTERS AND SHOOTERS KILLS THE AMERICAN EAGLE

Every single dog from a Kansas City shelter found a home thanks to Super Bowl star's promise to pay fees

© Elsa/Getty Images MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 02: Derrick Nnadi #91 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi vowed to pay the adoption fees for more than 100 dogs if his team won the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs won. And Nnadi made good on his promise.

Now, thanks to his generosity, every kennel at one of KC Pet Project's animal shelters is empty.

"Because of Derrick Nnadi's generous sponsorship, our Petco Adoption Center has no more dogs to adopt," the non-profit wrote on Facebook on Thursday with a photo of dogless kennels. "Yay for so many lives saved!"

Nnadi partnered with the Missouri animal rescue organization this season: For every Chiefs win, he'd pay a dog's adoption fee. The Chiefs won 15 games total, including the postseason.

And when the Chiefs made the Super Bowl, Nnadi decided he would pay for every dog's adoption fee, if his team won. That ended up being 109 dogs at an average adoption fee of $150. 

© KC Pet Project Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi paid the adoption fees for every dog at a Missouri shelter in the wake of his Super Bowl win. Now, there are no dogs left to adopt -- they're all in permanent homes.

Celebrity chef Rachael Ray chipped in, too: She offered a free supply of pet food for a whole year for every dog that Nnadi paid for, provided through her dog food line.

There are still some adoptable dogs available at the non-profit's other locations, but they may not be available for long if Nnadi decides to foot their adoption fee, too.

Every single dog from a Kansas City shelter found a home thanks to Super Bowl star's promise to pay fees


By Scottie Andrew and Francisco Guzman, CNN

Orangutan in Borneo offers its hand to 'rescue' a man from snake-infested water

MUTUAL AID KROPOTKIN

The natural world never fails to surprise us, and this moving encounter between an orangutan and a man in Borneo has melted hearts all over the world.

© Anil Prabhakar/SWNS The orangutan held out its hand to the man, who was clearing snakes from a river as part of efforts to protect the endangered apes.

Amateur photographer Anil Prabhakar captured the fleeting moment, in which one of the Indonesian island's critically endangered apes stretched out its hand to help a man out of snake-infested water.

Prabhakar was on a safari with friends at a conservation forest run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation(BOS) when he witnessed the scene.

He told CNN: "There was a report of snakes in that area so the warden came over and he's clearing snakes.

"I saw an orangutan come very close to him and just offer him his hand."

Prabhakar said it was difficult for the guard to move in the muddy, flowing water. It seemed as if the orangutan was saying "May I help you"? to the man, he said.

"I really wasn't able to click," he said. "I never expected something like that.

"I just grabbed that moment. It was really emotional."

Venomous snakes are predators of Borneo's orangutans, which are under threat from forest fires, habitat loss and hunting.

"You could say snakes are their biggest enemy," said Prabhakar, a geologist from Kerala in India.

The guard then moved away from the ape and climbed out of the water. When Prabhakar asked why he moved away, "He said, 'they're completely wild, we don't know how they'll react.'"

Prabhakar said the entire encounter lasted just three or four minutes. "I'm so happy that moment happened to me," he said.

© Anil Prabhakar/SWNS The great ape appeared to be trying to help the warden, who was standing in a muddy, flowing river.

His photo of the moment has been liked 15,000 times on Instagram.

The orangutan is Asia's only great ape and is found mostly in Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia, with the remaining 10% found in Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, according to the BOS foundation. It is estimated that the Bornean orangutan population has decreased by more than 80% within the past three generations.

The apes are brought to the conservation forest if they are injured, at risk from hunters or facing destruction of their habitats. Once they are healthy, they are returned to the wild.

They also reproduce very slowly, according to BOS. A female will only give birth every six to eight years in the wild.

© Anil Prabhakar/SWNS The conservation forest is maintained by Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, which protects the critically endangered species from hunters and habitat destruction until they can be returned to the wild.

'Favorite hobbies include looking in two directions at once': Cross-eyed rescue cat Belarus earns thousands of dollars for animal charities with his adorable goofy look


 SLIDES © Provided by Daily Mail

The pupils of poor Belarus's bright yellow eyes face in separate directions thanks to a condition called strabismus. Belarus lives in San Francisco

A cross-eyed rescue cat has earned thousands of dollars for adoption charities by selling t-shirts emblazoned with his face - thanks to his adorable 'googly eyes'.

The pupils of poor Belarus's bright yellow eyes face in separate directions thanks to a condition called strabismus, leaving him with a permanently confused expression.

After a post featuring the Nebelung feline at San Francisco Animal Care & Control (SFACC) went viral back in June 2018, animal lover Rachel Krall couldn't resist going to meet the rescue cat.


Despite not being a huge cat person, Rachel had her heart stolen and two-year-old Belarus has been doing the same to people all around the world, with more than 254,000 followers on his Instagram.

Rachel, from San Francisco, California, said: 'When I first saw him, I just thought he was the most hilariously adorable cat ever. 'I had never really been a cat person before, but thought he would be the perfect cat. 'I sent his adoption picture to my family and their reactions were quite similar. 'They told me you have to go see him, so I did.

'His favorite hobbies include juggling, waiting for his food machine and looking in two directions at once.'

Rachel had grown up in a house full of animals - including rabbits, parrots and hamsters. However she had just decided her dog of six years would be better suited living with her family, rather than in her one bed apartment, when she spotted the post featuring Belarus.

He had been left at the SFACC because his previous family had issues with their landlord.

Rachel said: 'I moved things around at work that day to be able to visit the shelter and meet him. 'I wasn't formally in the market to adopt a pet but it was love at first sight and fortunately I was informed I was selected to be his adopter later that night.'

Strabismus is the deviation of one or both eyes where one of the four rectus muscles - used to control the movement - may have abnormal positioning, causing atypical tension and displacement of the gaze.

Despite the condition, Belarus has very few apparent issues with his vision, apart from occasionally pawing at his water bowl. Rachel said: 'He is just like any other curious cat. He's really adventurous and loves to explore new environments.

'Belarus' favorite toys are balls, twist ties and any other small object he can lay his paws on. 'One of his funnier habits is attempting to bury coffee and other 'bad' smelling things.'

Thanks to his following, there is now a whole range of clothing available on Bonfire featuring Belarus' goofy grin, with 100% of the profits being donated to charities in the area.

Rachel said: 'Bonfire actually reached out to me, which is what sparked the idea. 'Last year, we donated $6,000 to shelters, with $4,000 to Belarus' shelter SFACC, $1,000 to Sonoma Community Animal Response Team for their efforts saving animals from the Sonoma wildfire, and $1,000 to Cat Town of Oakland. 'While I had originally only pledged 50% of the profits to the shelter for our first campaign, I've actually donated 100% of proceeds.'

Cherokee Nation Donates Indigenous Crops to the Global Seed Vault

Earlier this week, the Cherokee Nation started to distribute its supply of heirloom seeds, which are free to any Cherokee. Last year, the Cherokee Nation Heirloom Garden and Native Plant Site distributed almost 10,000 packets of seeds to any Cherokee citizen who requested them. This seed bank was established in February 2006, and the number of participants who register to receive their two crops has steadily increased every February—although 2019 was its biggest year to date.

© JUNGE, HEIKO/AFP via Getty Images A man carries one of the newly arrived boxes containing seeds from Japan and USA into the international gene bank Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV), outside Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen, Norway, on March 1, 2016.

"It’s important that we continue to distribute these seeds every year,” Feather Smith, a cultural biologist for the Cherokee Nation, told the Cherokee Phoenix. “These plants represent centuries of Cherokee cultural and agricultural history. They provide an opportunity for Cherokees to continue the traditions of our ancestors and elders, as well as educate our youth in Cherokee culture.”

But this year, in addition to the members of Cherokee Nation who apply to receive two varieties of gourds, corn, and native plants, some of those seeds are also being sent some 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where they'll be cataloged and preserved in Norway's ultra-remote Svalbard Global Seed Vault. (Yes, the one that's supposed to save civilization and keep us all from starving to death after any kind of Doomsday scenario.)

Although the Global Seed Vault contains more than one million seed samples from around the world, this marks the first time that a U.S. Native American tribe has been invited to store its seeds inside the facility. Anadisgoi, the Cherokee Nation newsroom, reports that nine samples of heirloom seeds were collected to send to the vault, including Cherokee White Eagle Corn—which the tribe considers to be its "most sacred" corn—Cherokee Long Greasy Beans, Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans, and Cherokee Candy Roaster Squash.

“This is history in the making, and none of it could have been possible without the hard work of our staff and the partnership with the team in Norway,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “It is such an honor to have a piece of our culture preserved forever. Generations from now, these seeds will still hold our history and there will always be a part of the Cherokee Nation in the world.”

It's rather poetic that these seeds have been chosen for the vault, since the Cherokee Nation's own heirloom seed bank was inspired by the collection in Svalbard. Pat Gwin, senior director of environmental resources for the Cherokee Nation, told NPR that after reading an article about the Global Seed Vault, he spent a year traveling throughout the United States, visiting groups of Cherokee and acquiring seeds for traditional crops and native plants so that they could be planted, cataloged, and distributed.

"You can't be Cherokee without Cherokee plants," he said. "And without Cherokee plants, there can be no Cherokee."

Svalbard will deposit its 2020 collection of seeds, including the ones it received from the Cherokee Nation, on February 25.

---30---

THIS IS ONE OF THE EARLY AMERICAN INDIAN RIGHTS POP SONGS FROM THE SIXTIES

ANDREW JACKSON, TRUMPS HERO, FORCED THE CHEROKEE ON THE TRAIL OF TEARS 

SeaWorld to End 'Dolphin Surfing' Trainer Tricks at All Parks

Since the release of the explosive 2013 documentary Blackfish, SeaWorld has ended their orca breeding program, ceased all whale kissing and dancing in their orca performances, and has made other changes to their animal encounters to make the performances more about education and less about entertainment.

© John Greim/LightRocket/Getty Dolphin surfing tricks are ones that include a trainer riding on the backs or snouts of two dolphins

The most recent of these changes is SeaWorld’s decision to cut all “dolphin surfing” tricks performed by the parks’ trainer during the dolphin shows. Dolphin surfing is a term used for tricks that include trainers riding through the water on dolphins by placing their feet on the backs or snouts of two swimming dolphins.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “the decision to move away from such showy theatrics in the dolphin shows was disclosed in a letter sent earlier this month by a SeaWorld attorney to the Securities and Exchange Commission.” The letter referenced a proposal made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA), which, as of Dec. 2019, holds 163 shares of SeaWorld stock, late last year to SeaWorld Entertainment shareholders, asking for a shareholder vote to end dolphin surfing in the parks’ shows.

The letter regarding SeaWorld’s plans to “no longer demonstrates ‘surfing’ (on dolphins) at any of its locations” states that SeaWorld trainers have already ceased riding on the back of dolphins and that the parks plan to phase out tricks that include trainers ride on a dolphin’s snout in the next few months, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Since the news of the change broke after PETA’s call for a shareholder vote regarding dolphin surfing, along with other measures the group has taken against the practice, the animal welfare organization is claiming responsibility for the end of dolphin surfing at SeaWorld.

“Following a months-long PETA campaign that included a damning veterinary report, a shareholder question asked by Alec Baldwin, numerous local ads, and more, SeaWorld admits in response to PETA’s latest shareholder proposal that it has stopped making trainers ride on dolphins’ backs and will soon end their practice of standing on dolphins’ faces in abhorrent circus-style shows. In response, PETA has withdrawn its shareholder proposal calling for an end to these cruel practices,” PETA wrote in a release obtained by PEOPLE.

“Stopping trainers from treating dolphins like surfboards means less abuse at SeaWorld, but orcas and other dolphins continue to suffer in tiny concrete tanks,” Tracy Reiman, PETA’s executive vice president, added in a statement. “The company seems intent on being dragged, kicking and screaming, into ultimately releasing these animals to seaside sanctuaries. PETA is calling on it to put a plan in place now.”

In response to PETA’s claims of victory, SeaWorld provided this statement to PEOPLE:

“SeaWorld is continually evolving its animal presentations to create the best experience for both guests and our animals. As an accredited zoological facility, our leadership solely determines the content and format of our presentations and is not influenced in any way by the actions of ill-informed activists, who are seemingly more interested in their profile and fund raising than they are the welfare of animals.”

Related video: TripAdvisor Will No Longer Sell Tickets to SeaWorld or Any Attraction That Breeds Captive Whales or Dolphins (Provided by Travel + Leisure)
Click to expand


TripAdvisor Will No Longer Sell Tickets to SeaWorld or Any Attraction That Breeds Captive Whales or Dolphins

OZ TRIFECTA
Bushfires, cyclone, torrential rain hit Australia's coasts
MELBOURNE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Severe bushfires burned through parts of Western Australia on Sunday, with other areas of the state dealing with the aftermath of a powerful cyclone, while the country's east coast was facing potential life-threatening flash flooding.

© 2020 Getty Images SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 09: Cars travel through flooded roads on February 09, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast heavy rainfall across Sydney this weekend and issued a severe weather warning for dangerous winds, heavy rainfall and coastal erosion from abnormally high tides and damaging surf. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

After months of destructive wildfires that have razed millions of hectares of land, Australia has been hit in recent weeks by wild weather that has alternately brought heavy downpours, hail storms, gusty winds and hot and dry air.

About a dozen fires were burning in Western Australia (WA) on Sunday, with severe fire danger expected in several districts, according to fire services and the state's Bureau of Meteorology.

Daytime temperatures in some of the districts were forecast at up to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

The state's upper parts were battling on Sunday the aftermath of a tropical cyclone Damien that made a landfall on Saturday afternoon, bringing gusty winds of up to 200 km per hour (124 miles per hour).

No immediate damages were reported and the cyclone was expected to weaken as it moved inland, but winds were seen to blow at more than 100 kph.

"Although Tropical #CycloneDamien has weakened significantly from the thrashing it gave Karratha and Dampier yesterday, areas around Tom Price and Paraburdoo are receiving significant rainfall and squally conditions," the state's Bureau of Meteorology said on its Twitter account.

On the opposite coast of Australia, Sydney and the state of New South Wales were in danger of potential life-threatening flash flooding as rain kept bucketing down for a third day in a row in downpours not seen since 1998.

Rainfall in some parts of the state approached half the annual average, but the falls were welcomed after the state saw its driest year on record in 2019, at 55% below average.

The state's Bureau of Meteorology said there was potential for heavy "rainfall and life-threatening flash-flooding," and coast erosion, although little danger of river flooding as water levels have been low due to a persistent drought.

In Queensland, meteorologists also warned of flash and riverine flooding on Sunday, following heavy falls overnight. An emergency flood alert was issued for residents of Dalby due to a creek overflowing, some 200 km (124 miles) west of Brisbane. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Christian Schmollinger)

Snow Moon stuns as one of the largest full moons of 2020 lights up the sky

Skygazers are enjoying the spectacular February full moon, or snow moon, this weekend.

© FoxNews.com Everything you need to know about the celestial event.

The Snow Moon is one of the largest full moons of 2020 and will light up the sky on Saturday and Sunday.

WHAT IS A SUPERMOON?

In New York City, photographers brazed the cold on the waterfront at Red Hook, Brooklyn, early Saturday morning to capture images of the almost-full moon behind the Statue of Liberty.

The February full moon will reach its peak at 2:33 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to NASA.

“For the best view of this Moon, look for it on the night of Saturday, February 8; it will rise in the east and reach its highest point in the sky around midnight,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

'SUPER SNOW MOON' STUNS AS THE BIGGEST SUPERMOON OF 2019 LIGHTS UP THE SKY

The full moon is the fourth-largest of 2020, according to EarthSky.

Some experts also describe the full moon as a supermoon, although others feel that it does not qualify as that category of celestial event. Supermoons happen when the moon’s elliptical orbit brings it to the closest point to Earth while the moon is full. The phrase was coined in 1979, NASA said.

FEBRUARY SKY: NASA’S TOP TIPS FOR SKYWATCHERS

The February full moon played an important role in Native American culture.

“As the midwinter moon or the second full moon of winter, the Native American tribes of what is now the northern and eastern United States called this the Snow Moon or the Hunger Moon,” NASA said. “It was known as the Snow Moon because of the heavy snows that fall in this season.”

US taxpayers have shelled out at least $471,000 to Trump's properties since he became president, according to newly revealed documents

The Trump Organization charges the Secret Service exorbitant rates to protect Trump when he travels to his properties, The Washington Post reported. 

According to federal records and people who have seen the receipts, Trump charged US taxpayers up to $650 per night at the Mar-a-Lago resort dozens of times in 2017, and $396.15 per night dozens of times in 2018. 

The Secret Service was also charged $17,000 per month for a three-bedroom cottage agents rented to protect the president when he traveled to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ. 

US taxpayers shelled out $471,000 to Trump properties from January 2017 to April 2018. The total number is likely much higher since that figure only covers a portion of Trump's time in office. 

Friday's revelation is the latest example of how Trump profits off the presidency.

The Trump Organization charges the Secret Service exorbitant rates to protect President Donald Trump when he travels to his properties, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Citing federal records and people who have seen the receipts, the Post reported that the Trump Organization billed US taxpayers up to $650 per night dozens of times in 2017 at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2018, the Trump Organization charged the US government $396.15 per night on dozens of occasions, the Post reported, pointing to documents from Trump's visits

The Trump Organization also billed the Secret Service when agents rented out a three-bedroom cottage at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, to protect the president when he traveled there, according to the report. A receipt from 2017 showed that the Trump Organization charged the government $17,000 per month for the cottage, which is an unusually high rate for the area.

The report said that the Secret Service was billed for the cottage even on days when Trump wasn't at the Bedminster golf club.

Receipts and documents released so far show that US taxpayers have shelled out $471,000 to Trump's properties from January 2017 to April 2018. The total cost is likely much higher since that figure only covers a portion of Trump's time in office.

Trump has repeatedly been accused of profiting off the presidency.

He frequently hosts foreign leaders, like Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, at Mar-a-Lago, where foreign officials pay the market rate. After Trump became president, several foreign countries with embassies in Washington, DC, began hosting parties and events at Trump properties in what ethics experts say was a bid to curry favor with the president.

In December 2018, the Post reported that Saudi-funded lobbyists rented 500 rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, shortly after the 2016 election. The lobbyists spent more than $270,000 for the rooms, according to the report.

The Republican National Committee has spent nearly $2 million at Trump Organization hotels and resorts. And Trump's campaign, which is funded in part by donations from the president's supporters and big-dollar donors, has spent more than $14 million at his properties.

Last year, Trump faced harsh backlash when Politico reported that members of the US Air Force stayed for days at a time at the five-star Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland as part of an unusual layover on a routine trip from the US to Kuwait to deliver supplies.

"The incidents raise the possibility that the military has helped keep Trump's Turnberry resort afloat," the report said.

Last summer, the president also sparked a firestorm when he announced that the 2020 G-7 conference, which the US is hosting, would take place at the Trump National Doral golf club in Miami, Florida.

"Doral Miami, so it's a great area. We haven't found anything that could even come close to competing it," Trump said at the time.

He later backed off after facing public backlash and allegations that he was using the conference to line his own pockets.

Friday's report about the Trump Organization billing the Secret Service, meanwhile, flies in the face of Eric Trump's claim that if his father travels, members of his government detail "stay at our properties for free meaning, like, cost for housekeeping."

Controversial Canadian academic Jordan Peterson has been treated in Russia for drug addiction

LIKE RUSH LIMBAUGH ANOTHER RIGHT WING PILL POPPER DRUG ADDICT
Daughter of controversial academic Jordan Peterson says he flew to Russia for treatment after developing a 'physical dependency' on prescription drugs

SELF MEDICATING Connor Perrett

Controversial Canadian academic Jordan Peterson has been treated in Russia for addiction, his daughter said. Carlos Osorio/Getty Images


Jordan Peterson, a controversial Candian academic popular among conservatives, sought treatment in Russia for a "physical dependency" on anti-anxiety medication, his daughter said. 

Mikhaila Peterson, posting on her father's YouTube and Instagram accounts, said her father had a physical dependency and a "paradoxical reaction" to an unspecified benzodiazepine that he started taking years ago.

The dosage of the medication had been increased following his wife's cancer diagnosis.
Peterson said her father tried to seek treatment in North American hospitals, but his attempts were unsuccessful, adding he developed pneumonia.

Jordan Peterson, the controversial Canadian professor and clinical psychologist popular with online conservatives, is recovering following a physical dependence and a "paradoxical reaction" to a prescription anti-anxiety medication that required he seek emergency medical treatment in Russia, his daughter said.

"The last year has been extremely difficult for our family," Peterson's 27-year-old daughter, Mikhaila said in a YouTube video posted to her father's channel Friday. She said that her dad was prescribed a low dose of an unspecified benzodiazepine following an "extremely severe auto-immune reaction to food" a few years ago.

She said Friday the dosage of her father's anti-anxiety medication was increased last year when her mother, Tammy Peterson, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. While details about Tammy Peterson's health aren't entirely clear, she appears to have made a full recovery following her grim diagnosis, according to a previous video posted by Peterson's daughter.


"It became apparent that he was suffering from both physical dependency and a paradoxical reaction to the medication," the younger Peterson said about her father, a professor at the University of Toronto. She explained that a paradoxical reaction was when a drug has the opposite of the intended effect.

The American College of Emergency Physicians supports Peterson's depiction of a paradoxical reaction.


"Still, within this low prevalence, there appears to be certain risk factors which increase susceptibility for developing paradoxical reactions such as: male gender, recreational abusers, psychiatric disorders, high-dosage regimens and extremes of age," the ACEP writes, noting that such reactions are rare.

"Neither our family nor our doctors here believe this is a case of psychological addiction," she said. "Benzodiazepine physical dependence due to brain changes can occur in a matter of weeks. It can be made even worse by paradoxical reactions that are difficult to diagnose. It can be extremely dangerous. We've been told and hope that dad will recover fully but it will take time, and he still has a ways to go. We're extremely lucky and grateful that he's alive."

As The New York Post noted last year, Peterson has previously discussed a yearslong battle with depression, which began when he a teenager. He said previously he was able to overcome his depression – in part – by adopting a meat-heavy diet recommended by his daughter, according to the report.

"After several failed treatment attempts in North American hospitals, including attempts at tapering and micro-tapering, we had to seek an emergency medical benzodiazepine detox, which we were only able to find in Russia," his daughter said in the nearly-three-minute video posted February 7. "It was incredibly grueling and was further complicated by severe pneumonia," she said, adding that her father developed it during previous attempts to treat his addiction in North American hospitals.

She added her father spent around a month in the Intensive Care Unit and was in "terrible shape," though she assured her father's fans that he was on the mend.

Friday wasn't the first time Peterson has mentioned her father's struggle with addiction. In September 2019, she posted a video to her YouTube channel that first mentioned a stint in rehab due to his addiction to clonazepam, a Benzodiazepine, though she didn't mention it by name in the February video.

"I've never seen my dad like this," Peterson said in an eight-and-a-half-minute video last fall. "He's having a miserable time of it. It breaks my heart."

In February, she added "the decision to bring him to Russia was made in extreme desperation when we couldn't find any better option. The uncertainty around his recovery has been one of the most difficult and scary experiences we have ever had."

Peterson said her father's fans should expect another update soon, and she said the next one would come from her father himself.


The elder Peterson has been a controversial figure. An anti-political correctness activist, he published the best-selling self-help book, "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" in 2018.

According to The Guardian, Peterson has drawn the ire of social justice circles for refusing to call transgender people by their identified gender and for rebuking ideas like cultural appropriation and white privilege. The Guardian said Peterson's arguments often include "pseudo-science and conspiracy theories," and often involve topics he is unqualified to discuss.

Still, Peterson has amassed a significant, dedicated following. The Toronto professor has racked up nearly 200,000 followers on Reddit, and in 2018 he was the subject of a piece from conservative writer Caitlin Flanagan at The Atlantic entitled "Why the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan Peterson."

"It is because the left, while it currently seems ascendant in our houses of culture and art, has in fact entered its decadent late phase, and it is deeply vulnerable," Flanagan wrote in 2018. "The left is afraid not of Peterson, but of the ideas he promotes, which are completely inconsistent with identity politics of any kind."

THE LEFT IS HARDLY AFRAID OF THIS SELF PROMOTING BLOW HARD ACADEMIC

NOBODY