Animals news

• Experience: A horse-riding accident shattered my jaw

  04-10-2024 11:00
  As my horse galloped on to the main road, all I could do was hold on for dear lifeThe wind was rushing past my face. I clung on to the reins of the galloping horse. I could see a gatepost up ahead. But before I knew it, I felt my teeth smacking together.It was the summer of 2019, I was 15, in the Lake District for my friend’s dad’s 50th birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day. The party was at a country house. There was a bouncy castle in the garden, and the screams of children i
  
  Read more

• The mustelid enthusiasts of Devon are overjoyed at the return of the redoubtable pine marten! | First Dog on the Moon

  04-10-2024 09:23
  
  In Australia we have real endangered animalsSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sharks found to eat sea urchins as large as their heads in accidental discovery by Australian researchers

  04-10-2024 09:02
  
  Researchers tethered 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined urchins outside lobster den and sharks were observed ‘smashing the whole thing’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn experiment designed to investigate lobster predation on sea urchins unexpectedly found that Port Jackson and crested horn sharks ate the spiky animals instead.The research, led by University of Newcastle marine ecologist Jeremy Day, invo
  
  Read more

• Week in wildlife in pictures: bears caught in the act, a glamorous seal and a fugitive emu

  04-10-2024 09:00
  
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Collins Street falcons: two chicks have hatched on skyscraper and are taking meals – video

  04-10-2024 07:47
  
  The stars of 367 Collins Street have welcomed baby birds to the nest. Two hungry chicks are taking meals after entering the world on a Melbourne skyscraper. Last year’s eggs were unable to hatch after the mother stopped incubating – likely due to a territorial dispute – making the stakes all the higher this yearGood eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Country diary: The inspiration for a first world war flying ace? | Phil Gates

  04-10-2024 06:30
  
  Low Barns nature reserve, Witton-le-Wear, County Durham: Dragonflies perform an aerobatic stunt while pursuing prey that isn’t unlike a famous dog-fight manoeuvreAfter a steep fall in temperature overnight, I’m wishing I’d worn gloves this morning. Common darter dragonflies are feeling the cold too, lined up along the handrail of the boardwalk through the reedbed, catching the first hint of warmth as the sun creeps over the treetops.A female darter shares her sunbathing pe
  
  Read more

• ‘I won’t believe it until I see it happen’: Could a ban on sea farms save Canada’s salmon?

  03-10-2024 14:00
  
  A row over sea life, lice and livelihoods is dividing communities as the government plans to end open-net pen farming in British Columbian watersOn a clear August morning, Skookum John manoeuvres his fishing boat, Sweet Marie, out of the Tofino harbour and into the deep blue waters of Clayoquot Sound on Canada’s west coast.On shore, the late summer sun shines on visitors from all over the world who have flocked to the bustling fishing town on Vancouver Island, where they wander in and out
  
  Read more

• Europe’s exhausted oyster reefs ‘once covered area size of Northern Ireland’

  03-10-2024 11:00
  
  Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and IrelandOnly a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Taurine torpor: bullfighting’s non-fatal French cousin fights for survival

  03-10-2024 10:11
  
  Picasso and Hemingway believed folk sports like the course camarguaise were the height of European culture. Facing financial struggles, rowdy spectators and animal rights concerns, can its practitioners keep the custom alive?In an arena in the southern French village of Raphèle-lès-Arles on a torpidly hot July afternoon, a young black bull paws the floor next to the exit door. Eight raseteurs – the white-clad runners whose job is to seize tokens fixed to the animal – ye
  
  Read more

• Good eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper

  03-10-2024 09:43
  
  Social media stars of 367 Collins Street welcome baby birds to the nestFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJoy can be hatched in the most unexpected places. On Thursday, it was nestled into the ledge of a skyscraper in Melbourne’s CBD, where two peregrine falcon chicks entered the world for the first time.The newest members of Melbourne’s favourite family hatched in the morning on top of 367 Collins Street,
  
  Read more

• Nature in England at risk as amount of protected land falls to 2.93%, data shows

  03-10-2024 06:00
  
  Experts are calling for ‘rapid rescue package’ for nature to improve condition of protected sitesThe amount of land that is protected for nature in England has fallen to just 2.93%, despite government promises to conserve 30% of it by 2030, new data reveals.Campaigners are calling for a “rapid rescue package for UK nature”, as government delegates head to Cop16, the international nature summit, which will take place from 21 October in Colombia. They intend to ask other co
  
  Read more

• Nature in England at risk as amount of land ‘effectively protected’ falls to 2.93%

  03-10-2024 06:00
  Experts are calling for ‘rapid rescue package’ for nature to improve condition of protected sitesThe amount of land that is “effectively protected” for nature in England has declined to just 2.93%, despite government promises to conserve 30% of it by 2030, new data reveals.Campaigners are calling for a “rapid rescue package for UK nature”, as government delegates head to Cop16, the international nature summit, which will take place from 21 October in Colombia.
  
  Read more

• The secret life of greater gliders: sneezes, squabbles and a brand-new baby – video

  03-10-2024 04:14
  
  A camera installed inside a tree hollow in a New South Wales is capturing the lives of a family of greater gliders, eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums. Australian National University ecologist Dr Ana Gracanin installed the camera – which is now streaming live – to raise awareness about the plight of the endangered animal. Habitat destruction, including land clearing, logging and climate-fuelled bushfires, have led to greater glider populations declining by 80% in some
  
  Read more

• Bird flu outbreak kills dozens of tigers in Vietnam zoos

  03-10-2024 03:50
  The H5N1 virus killed 47 tigers, three lions and a panther at the My Quynh safari park and the Vuon Xoai zoo, according to state mediaForty-seven tigers, three lions and a panther have died in zoos in south Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus, state media reported.The deaths occurred in August and September at the private My Quynh safari park in Long An province and the Vuon Xoai zoo in Dong Nai, near the capital Ho Chi Minh City, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Nibi the beaver sees dam of unwavering support as rescuers try to stop her release into wild

  03-10-2024 03:13
  
  Massachusetts court to decide whether internet-famous ‘diva’ beaver will stay with rescuers or be released into wildWhether a two-year-old beaver named Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild as winter approaches in Massachusetts has ended up in court – and caused such an uproar that even the governor has weighed in.“To literally see people from around the world come together to protect this beaver is one of
  
  Read more

• Cuddles and drama as live stream shows secret life of ‘ridiculously fluffy’ greater glider

  02-10-2024 17:00
  
  Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possumFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastConservationists call them “ridiculously cute” and “captivating” – and now a live stream offers a global audience the chance to view life inside the hollow for a family of eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums.The hollow-cam broadcastin
  
  Read more

• Alaska’s Fat Bear Week begins late after contestant killed by another bear

  02-10-2024 14:09
  
  Voting opens in 10th annual contest after Bear 402 was killed by a male bear on Monday in Katmai national parkLet the chunk-off begin.Voting starts on Wednesday in the annual Fat Bear Week contest at Alaska’s Katmai national park and preserve, with viewers picking their favorite among a dozen brown bears fattened up to survive the winter. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Days of the jackal: Canis aureus makes sudden tracks into western Europe

  02-10-2024 07:00
  
  The golden jackal has expanded its range as far as Norway and Spain, seemingly driven by climate breakdownThe golden jackal, Canis aureus, may seem an exotic creature from a far-off country but the species has suddenly expanded its range into western Europe. Much smaller than a wolf but larger than a fox, the jackal will compete with both species for food and territory. The animals have been found as far north as Finland and Norway and have also reached Spain.Genetic research shows the individua
  
  Read more

• Country diary: The last redstart till spring | Mya Bambrick

  02-10-2024 06:30
  
  Purbeck Heaths, Dorset: On a 22-mile fundraising walk, I spotted two rusty-red birds about to embark on their own epic journeyTwenty miles in, two to go. I had spent the previous 12 hours walking around Poole Harbour, Dorset, for a birthday fundraiser in aid of a local environmental charity, Birds of Poole Harbour. I was just passing through Hartland Moor as the sun hovered above the distant pine trees, casting an orange hue on the gorse and heather below.This last section of the walk took me th
  
  Read more

• Flamingo foster fathers hatch an egg together at the San Diego zoo

  01-10-2024 17:10
  
  After practicing with a fake egg, the fortysomething lesser flamingos join other same-sex animal co-parentsTwo male flamingos have joined their kind’s ranks of same-sex co-parents after hatching an egg together at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.The two foster dads are both in their 40s and are lesser flamingos, a species found in sub-Saharan Africa and western India, according to the zoo. The chick is also a lesser flamingo. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Alpine dingoes at risk of extinction after Victorian government extends right to cull

  01-10-2024 17:00
  At least 468 shot by government controllers last year out of an estimated population of as few as 2,640 in the state’s east, advocates sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTraditional owners and dingo advocates say a Victorian government decision extending the right to kill dingoes on private and public land until 2028 could threaten local populations with extinction.A government order, which took effect on Tuesday, declared dingoes were “unprotected wildlife
  
  Read more

• Of course I look like a crazy dog lady! I am one | Arwa Mahdawi

  01-10-2024 16:12
  Every night, I make up little Rascal’s bed and leave a dog chew on his pillow. What’s so odd about that?In the popular imagination, writers often have rock’n’roll lifestyles. Me? Not so much. In fact, I have the world’s most mundane weekday routine. Every morning, about 8.25, I wipe congealed oatmeal off my kid’s face and put her in a stroller. Then I put a lead on my dog (a mutt called Rascal) and walk to daycare with them. Then I walk back home with an empty
  
  Read more

• US man, 81, sentenced to six months for creating giant hybrid sheep for hunting

  01-10-2024 14:41
  
  Arthur Schubarth of Montana used tissue and testicles from Marco Polo sheep to clone animal and create hybridAn 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in central Asia and the US to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota.The US district court judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montan
  
  Read more

• Search for missing emu Irwin amid fears bird fell into Wiltshire river

  01-10-2024 12:24
  People in Malmesbury asked to keep eye out for Irwin, who vanished from animal sanctuary on MondayA search is on for an emu called Irwin feared to have lost its footing and slipped into a swollen Wiltshire river.Malmesbury Animal Sanctuary said emus were strong swimmers. The sanctuary hopes the bird has clambered out of the water and is sheltering in a garden. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘We look to the past to move forward’: the ancient method boosting cuttlefish numbers in the Mediterranean

  01-10-2024 07:00
  
  A project on Spain’s Costa Brava is reviving dwindling populations of the prized seafood – and keeping small-scale fishers in businessClinging to almost vertical cliffs on the Costa Brava in north-east Spain, the resort of l’Estartit has a dramatic location but the real drama is unfolding under the waves, where an innovative approach to ancient techniques is helping to revive declining populations of prized cuttlefishCuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) are a valuable catch for Spani
  
  Read more

• Country diary: The air transformed into eloquence and beauty | Mark Cocker

  01-10-2024 06:30
  
  Gradbach, Staffordshire: Autumnal drifts of motes and dancing shoals of midges give a precise geography to the transparent fluidity of spaceThe heavens had been pure blue all day but, as dusk fell, they acquired a smoky quality at lower elevations. I sat to watch four red deer across the slopes opposite, until I happened to glanced westward.The heart of that woodland scene was burnt out by the brilliance of the low-angled sun, but to either side of the glare, I could operate with binoculars and
  
  Read more

• Firefly species may blink out as US seeks to list it as endangered for first time

  30-09-2024 23:14
  
  Bethany Beach firefly, found in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, faces dangers to habitat because of climate changeThe US government is seeking to consider a firefly species as endangered for the first time, according to a proposal from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.The Bethany Beach firefly, found in coastal Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, is facing increasing dangers to its natural habitat because of climate change-related events. They include sea level rise, which is predicted to affect a
  
  Read more

• Parrots overwhelm Argentinian town with screeching, poo and power outages

  30-09-2024 19:53
  
  Birds outnumber residents in Hilario Ascasubi, after deforestation leads them to seek food, shelter and waterThe town of Hilario Ascasubi near Argentina’s eastern Atlantic coast has a parrot problem.Thousands of the green, yellow and red birds have invaded, driven by deforestation in the surrounding hills, according to biologists. They bite on the town’s electric cables, causing outages, and are driving residents around the bend with their incessant screeching and deposits everywhere
  
  Read more

• A butterfly: ‘elbowing each other with the joints on their legs, pushing and shoving to get at the liquid’

  30-09-2024 17:00
  
  We learn about butterflies when we are small because it is foreshadowing: you too will change. But they are an imperfect metaphor for what it feels like to liveThe very funny naturalist and writer Redmond O’Hanlon was on a sandbank on the edge of a river in Borneo when hundreds of butterflies started to fly towards him and his travel companion and landed on their boots, trousers, and shirts, and “sucked the sweat from our arms.”He watched them for a while – “there w
  
  Read more

• Stella McCartney preaches Peace and Dove in mission to save birds

  30-09-2024 16:53
  
  Designer launches campaign to banish real feathers from fashion industry as she shows latest collection in ParisThe battle to banish fur from fashion being mostly won, with almost all luxury brands fur-free, Stella McCartney is now on a mission to save the birds.“1.5 billion birds are killed for their feathers by the fashion industry every year,” the designer said backstage after a street catwalk show held in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, launching a campaign to put bird cruelty in
  
  Read more

• Gone to the dogs: why has the 2024 US election featured so many disturbing animal tales?

  29-09-2024 14:00
  
  Cuddly White House pets have been swapped out for stories of dog killing, whale decapitating and bear pranksAnimals have always played a role in political lore in the US, whether it’s a series of beloved and cuddly White House pets or Teddy Roosevelt’s love of horses that helped cement his robust public image.But as the US’s traumatic 2024 election has played out, amid warnings of democracy under threat, multiple attempted assassinations of Donald Trump and fears of civil unres
  
  Read more

• Dog killings and pet-eating claims: the weird and disturbing ways animals are dominating US 2024 election

  29-09-2024 14:00
  Cuddly White House pets have been swapped out for stories of dog killing, whale decapitating and bear pranksAnimals have always played a role in political lore in the US, whether it’s a series of beloved and cuddly White House pets or Teddy Roosevelt’s love of horses that helped cement his robust public image.But as the US’s traumatic 2024 election has played out, amid warnings of democracy under threat, multiple attempted assassinations of Donald Trump and fears of civil unres
  
  Read more

• ‘Every tree used to be blanketed with them’: photographer captures campaign to save monarch butterfly

  29-09-2024 10:00
  
  Climate change and pesticides have combined to pose a deadly threat to the vivid species. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards celebrate the fightbackJaime Rojo has been following the fate of the monarch butterfly for more than 20 years. In the process the Spanish photographer has watched one of the planet’s most colourful, flamboyant insect species succumb to the combined onslaught of habitat destruction, climate change, pesticides, drought and wildfires. Its population has crashe
  
  Read more

• Australia’s magpie swooping season is here – but they aren’t the only birds to watch out for

  29-09-2024 02:00
  Noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings will also go on the offensive to protect their eggs and youngFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s infamous magpies have started to attack – but they’re not the only birds you might fall victim to this swooping season.Lesser known suspects including noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings also swoop to protect their eggs and young, typical
  
  Read more

• The world is shifting away from using animals in research. Will Australia get left behind?

  28-09-2024 22:00
  
  Australia’s lack of transparency and funding leave it on the outer as researchers worldwide explore alternatives for training, study and testingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA global shift in scientific and medical research is under way as countries hope to phase out experimentation on animals – but Australia risks being left behind.The transition from using animals to alternatives based on human cells, tissue and data is driving multibillion-dollar growt
  
  Read more

• SofistiCAT 2024 international cat show – in pictures

  28-09-2024 21:26
  
  About 250 felines from 15 breeds gathered in Bucharest, Romania, to compete for the international title Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘It’s hugely moving’: sea turtle nests in Greece reach record numbers

  28-09-2024 09:00
  
  Conservationists celebrate as efforts to save the Caretta caretta sea turtle, which has existed for 100m years, pay offAfter nearly a quarter of a century observing one of the world’s most famous sea turtle nesting grounds, Charikleia Minotou is convinced of one thing: nature, she says, has a way of “sending messages”.Along the sandy shores of Sekania, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, what she has seen both this year and last, has been beyond her wildest dreams. The beach, lo
  
  Read more

• Country diary: The annual spectacular of noisy, feathered visitors | Rob Schofield

  28-09-2024 06:30
  
  Sefton, Southport: As the days lengthen, thousands of honking pink-footed geese arrive in England’s north-west from Greenland, Iceland and NorwayThe echoing screech of swifts hurtling between the houses is a distant memory. Some swallows and martins have hung around, wittering away on telephone wires over the Cheshire Lines, or hunting flies above the salt marsh north of Southport’s defunct pier. Our summer visitors have largely flown, but autumn has its magic. The recent h
  
  Read more

• What’s next for internet darling Moo Deng? | Fiona Katauskas

  27-09-2024 17:00
  
  Sometimes you’ve got to make the most of your 15 minutes of fameSee more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Bottom-breathing turtle among Queensland endangered species under threat from invasive fish

  27-09-2024 17:00
  
  Record floods propel aggressive Mozambique tilapia throughout Mary River, compromising efforts to save ancient fish and endangered turtlesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastRecord floods have propelled an aggressive invasive fish species across a south-east Queensland river catchment, compromising efforts to save endangered and ancient fishes and turtles.The Moonaboola (Mary) river catchment is home to several threatened species, including the Mary River turtle, the white
  
  Read more

• Country Diary 100 years on: sheep and dogs dominate over rabbits and house martins

  27-09-2024 15:52
  
  Domesticated creatures feature heavily in contemporary contributions to Guardian column compared to diaries of 1920sIn the early 1920s, the British countryside was a place where blackbirds sang, rabbits scurried and the summer skies were animated by swallows and house martins. A century on, blackbirds still sing and ancient oaks stand proud but the landscape is dominated by sheep, cows and dogs – according to Guardian country diarists.A study of the most-featured species in the Country Dia
  
  Read more

• New York greenlights rat birth control to curb city’s infestation

  27-09-2024 15:47
  
  Program signals possible change of strategy in the eternal war between New Yorkers and their least favorite neighborsNew York’s seemingly eternal battle against its rodent population has taken a new twist after the city council approved pilot schemes to deploy rat contraceptives in a new effort to curb their booming population.The Thursday-night vote means that in the next few months pilot programs will begin using ContraPest, a type of rodent birth control, that will be put in special con
  
  Read more

• Experience: My dog is the ‘ugliest in the world’

  27-09-2024 11:00
  
  Wild Thang had a huge audience because he’d been going to the competition for five years. People were screaming and going wild. He was kind of the underdogI have been a heritage breeder and exhibitor of pekingese dogs for more than 30 years – though I’ve rescued more than I’ve bred. Eight years ago, one of the dogs I rescued had canine distemper, a nasty disease that can cause developmental problems, and he spread it to one of our puppies.Sadly, despite thousands of
  
  Read more

• Week in wildlife in pictures: a penguin ballerina, the spooky spookfish and a sociable octopus

  27-09-2024 09:00
  
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• A wondrous fish has made a miraculous return to UK seas. Why are ministers so keen to see them killed? | George Monbiot

  27-09-2024 09:00
  
  We should be celebrating the revival of the bluefin tuna – but a ravenous fishing industry, backed by government and ‘science’, is already licking its lipsOver the past three weeks, I’ve been watching one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth, here in south Devon. At a certain station of the tide, within a few metres of the coast, the sea erupts with monsters. They can travel at 45mph. They grow to 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) in length and 600kg in weight. They herd smalle
  
  Read more

• I loved pygmy hippos long before the world fell for Moo Deng | Natasha May

  27-09-2024 02:47
  
  They’ve been my favourite since doing work experience at Sydney’s Taronga zoo. I hope the viral moment sweeping the globe turns into an enduring devotion like mineGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnyone who knows me well knows I love pygmy hippos. Up until a few weeks ago, it was somewhat of a novelty answer when the question of my favourite animal came up.That is, until the rest of the world woke up to the unique cuteness of the luminescent blubber, the tin
  
  Read more

• ‘Thrown like a rag doll’: British tourist narrowly survives hippo attack in Zambia

  26-09-2024 11:49
  Roland Cherry, from Warwickshire, sustained severe bite wounds after being mauled by animal during safariA man narrowly survived after being dragged to the bottom of a river and “thrown through the air like a rag doll” when he was attacked by hippo while canoeing on holiday in Zambia.Roland Cherry, who was on five-week holiday through southern Africa with his wife, Shirley, sustained severe bite wounds across his body, including a 10in wound to his abdomen, as well as a thigh injury
  
  Read more

• Comedy wildlife photography awards 2024 – in pictures

  26-09-2024 09:00
  
  Loved-up brown bears and whispering raccoons feature in this light-hearted look at a selection of finalists from the Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. A winner will be announced on 10 December Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘You could single-handedly push it to extinction’: how social media is putting our rarest wildlife at risk

  26-09-2024 08:00
  From breeding spots overrun by visitors to photographers disturbing endangered species, experts say the rarer the find is, the bigger the problemWith its impressive size, striking plumage and rowdy displays, sighting a capercaillie is many birders’ dream. Only about 530 of the large woodland grouse survive in the wild, most in Scotland’s Cairngorms national park.But in recent years, those tasked with saving the species from extinction have had to walk a line between calling attention
  
  Read more

• Country diary: A wheatear stands out among the shingle | Paul Evans

  26-09-2024 06:30
  
  Dungeness, Kent: The bird’s beak is as black as the old lighthouse, and its occult beam rotates in her eyeThe wheatear is in stop-go motion. She’s in the stones, she’s in a sea-kale patch, she’s on a lump of concrete. At each point she is poised, head held high, and although she may have been hunting spiders in the shingle, her eye is on the main chance, which is far away across the sea.Dungeness is the “dangerous nose” (said Tilda Swinton, in her forewor
  
  Read more

Follow @newsloc_animals on Twitter!