In the year of AI videos making us believe kids are feeding alligators and bears, a video is going viral that almost seems like it couldn't possibly be real.
When a Long Island woman called the Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown about an injured monarch butterfly she'd found, staff didn't hesitate. She brought it in, and the team got to work performing what can only be described as a tiny miracle... a wing transplant.
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Using the wing from a dead monarch found in the center's vivarium, Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation Janine Bendicksen carefully matched, trimmed, and glued the new wing in place using contact cement, cornstarch, and an incredibly steady hand. A small wire kept the butterfly still during the delicate five-minute procedure.
When it was over, the monarch could fly!
The video of the procedure quickly spread online, earning millions of views and inquiries from professionals as far away as Costa Rica. The fascination isn't just about the repair, either, but what it says about the blend of patience, anatomy, and understanding it takes to pull something like this off.
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Sweetbriar staff say the response has been overwhelming but inspiring, especially for a species that desperately needs our help. Monarchs are now considered near-endangered, with their numbers dropping due to habitat loss and climate changes affecting their long migration routes.
Bendicksen's work highlights how delicate monarch wings actually are, covered in microscopic scales, light enough to catch air currents, yet strong enough to carry them thousands of miles on their migration south each fall.