Oct. 6, 2026

There's a new kind of cat!

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares five good news stories: researchers in Bolivia confirmed a newly documented wild cat species, locally called “Chilkayo,” genetically distinct from the oncilla and split from its nearest relative about 1.4 million years ago. At Chimp Haven in Louisiana, 54-year-old chimp Pierre, blinded by cataracts, was trained with positive reinforcement to cooperate with care and then underwent successful cataract surgery, quickly reconnecting with caregivers and his companion Jill. Emma’s family achieved a Guinness-certified record when her son Arthur became the fifth consecutive generation born on September 14th, with alternating genders across generations. Concord Public Library in New Hampshire ended overdue fines and received back an 1894 magazine 48,220 days late, avoiding a calculated $12,055 fee. In Omaha, Conagra’s Blaze Crew set a Guinness record with a 429-foot Slim Jim that was later eaten.

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Hi there, I'm Johnny Mac with five good news stories.

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Good news, there's a new kind of cat. No, really,

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there is. It started with a phone call in 2016.

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A wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia reached out to a researcher

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named Paula about a strange kitten. A local man had

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captured the strange kitten, kept it for a while, and

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eventually realized it was wild and untamable. When Paula arrived

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and looked at the animal, she noted the long whiskers,

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the small ears, the large rosettes arranged in a pattern

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she didn't recognize. She assumed it was an onkyla, which

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is a known species, and moved on. But three years later,

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she was preparing a publication on Bolivia's wild cats and

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went back to her notes. And then she was like, hey,

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wait a minute. So she reached out to Eduardo the geneticist.

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They spent the next five years running the genetics group.

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What they figured out is that that animal is not

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an Ancilla. It's something that has never been documented before.

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A completely separate species split from its nearest living relative

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approximately 1.4 million years ago. They asked local indigenous people,

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what do you call this thing? They said Tilkaya. The

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locals said they inherited the name from the grandparents. It

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had been their word for the animal long before any

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scientists showed up and said, hey, what's this thing? There

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are roughly 40 wildcat species in the world. Tilkaya was

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now one of them. Good news for Pierre. Pierre has

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lived at Chimp Haven for years. Chimp Haven is the

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world's largest chimpanzee sanctuary, 200 wooded acres in northwest Louisiana,

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home to chimpanzees, retired from medical research. That's where Pierre landed,

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and he spent his later years. He's now 54, making

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him one of the oldest chimps in human care anywhere.

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At some point, poor Pierre lost his sight to cataracts completely.

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He couldn't see the other chimpanzees. He couldn't see the

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people who cared for him. including colony director Michelle, who

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has known Pierre for over 25 years. So the staff

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adapted his enclosure, adding handholds, they adjusted the ladders, they

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changed how he delivered his food, but he was still blind. Now,

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using positive reinforcement training, staff taught Pierre to voluntarily present

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his eyes for care, to hold still for eye drops,

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to cooperate with the monitoring that he'd need after surgery.

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After months of prep and collaboration... They were confident Pierre

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would be comfortable with the follow-up care. They brought in

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veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Ken. He performed cataract surgery. Within hours

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of waking up, Pierre responded visually to his longtime caregiver.

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And within days, Pierre had reunited with Jill, his closest

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companion in the chimp colony. Some people think they're a couple.

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And returned to his full social group ahead of schedule.

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Michelle said, watching Pierre look at me again was something

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I will never forget. That's awesome. Now let's talk about Emma.

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Emma grew up hearing her grandmother say the same thing

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over and over. You have to have a boy on

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September 14th. The 14th is the family date. You see,

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her grandfather Wilbur had been born on September 14th. Her

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mom Addie, guess what? September 14th. How about Fred, the dad?

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Guess what date? September 14th. Guess what day Emma was born?

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September 14th. Four generations, same day. Grandma said, hey, get

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this done. When Emma had her first child, that child

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arrived early, not on the 14th. But that's not how

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this podcast works, guys. With her second pregnancy, she was

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not going to miss it. She managed the timing carefully.

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And on September 14th, Arthur was born, becoming the fifth

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consecutive generation of the family to arrive on that date. Wow.

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Guinness certified it as the official record for most generations

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of a family sharing the same birthday. I dare you

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to try and break that one. The guy, you know,

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David Rush that always breaks all the records. Try and

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break that one, dude. Let's see what kind of game

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you got. Guinness also noticed that the birthdays alternate by

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gender across the five generations. Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy. Wilbur, Addie, Fred, Emma, Arthur.

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Good news! The Concord Public Library in New Hampshire recently

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announced no more overdue fines. They thought, you know, maybe

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a few late paperbacks would come in. What they got

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was a guy named John who heard about the fine

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freeze and decided, all right, yeah, here you go. I

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had taken out the Century Illustrated Monthly September issue 1894. Yeah,

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I said 1894. Now, the first time even I looked

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at the copy... My brain translated it to 1984. No,

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not 1984. 1894. Totally different kind of concept. John said

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he wasn't sure how the magazine came into his possession.

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I mean, I don't think he's 140 years old. So, yeah,

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it had been in his home for years, passed down

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from someone in his family from a time when it

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was first checked out in 1894 and never returned. John

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wasn't there to make a scene. He just thought the

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library might want it back. And, you know, no fines.

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The library did the math and announced it on social

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media and said, thankfully, John doesn't have to pay the $ 12, 055

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fine for being 48,220 days overdue. The magazine's from an

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era before electricity was common in America homes, before cars,

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before radio. The president was Grover Cleveland. The century it

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was named for hadn't even ended yet. The magazine will

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not go back into circulation. The library plans to put

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it on display in the Concord Room, where special collections

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are kept. Were you there in the parking lot of

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Conagra Brands Campus in Omaha, Nebraska? No? Well, here's what happened.

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There was a team called the Blaze Crew, and they

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began unspooling a Slim Jim. They had built it coiled

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around a large rolling wire rack to make a 400-foot

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meat snack. They unspooled the giant Slim Jim across a

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series of tables, stretching it out until it reached its

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full length of 429 feet, 5.4 inches, breaking the record

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for World's longest Slim Jim. That's right. The previous record

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was 313 feet. The Blaze Crew beat it by 116 feet.

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In case you're curious, the recipe was the standard one.

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Same spices, same seasoning blend, same beef and pork mixture

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as every Slim Jim. The only difference was scale. After

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Guinness certified the record, the Slim Jim was cut into

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pieces and people ate it. Those are your five good

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news stories for today. You have an awesome day.