Animals news

• We can still rely on the kindness of strangers | Letters

  02-01-2026 17:26 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to an article by Martin Kettle about a lost wallet and restored faith in human natureI can readily confirm Martin Kettle’s points (Need cheering up after a terrible year? I may have just the story you’re looking for, 28 December). I tripped up while last-minute Christmas shopping in Nailsworth on Christmas Eve; couldn’t move, very painful. The passersby and staff from a nearby shop were helpful and sympathetic. They must have been busy, but they freely gave me t
  
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• True signs of feline feelings | Brief letters

  02-01-2026 17:18 via theguardian.com
  Dogs v cats | French potatoes | Suffolk rocks | Copper cables | A jab at M&S | Easter eggs – alreadyOn the A64 between York and Leeds, there used to be a large sign (Letters, 1 January) near its rehoming centre reading: “Dogs Trust”. Underneath, someone added: “Cats don’t”.
  Lindsay Walter
  York• Seen on a farm gate here in Norfolk: “Potatoes” – to which had been added “Twinned with Pommes de Terre”.
  Pau
  
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• A ban on trail hunting makes little sense | Letters

  02-01-2026 17:18 via theguardian.com
  Stopping trail hunts because some break the law is as logical as closing supermarkets because people shoplift, writes Lindsay Gilmour. Plus a letter from Roderick WhiteIf the government is going to stop all trail hunts because some break the law (Labour ‘alienating rural people’ with plan to ban trail hunting, says Countryside Alliance, 26 December), can we also expect a ban on supermarkets because some people shoplift, a ban on cars because some drivers break the speed limit, or a b
  
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• Colorado authorities suspect mountain lion attack after woman found dead near trail

  02-01-2026 15:03 via theguardian.com
  Other hikers had reported seeing the animal near the body and scared it away ‘by throwing rocks’ at itAuthorities in Colorado are investigating a suspected fatal mountain lion attack after a woman was found dead on a hiking trail in Colorado on Thursday.In a news release on Thursday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said that hikers reported seeing a mountain lion near a person lying on the ground on the Crosier Mountain trail in unincorporated Larimer county at around 12.15pm local
  
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• Rapid expansion of ring-necked parakeets in UK sparks concern

  02-01-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Bird organisations say more research on the species needed to control impact on other wildlifeIn the past 20 years, the soundscape in the ancient wild, rolling landscape of Richmond Park has been transformed. Once you would have heard the chirrup of the stonechat, the chirp of the greater spotted woodpecker or the song of the skylark. Today, the auditory power of one bird dominates.The bright green ring-necked parakeet increased 25-fold from 1994-2023 in the UK. They are still mainly based in th
  
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• ‘A place of darkness and light’: the uninhabited Japanese island that became a rabbit paradise

  02-01-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Once host to a poisonous gas research facility, Okunoshima is now an Instagram-friendly tourist destinationThe bunny-ear designs on the window aside, there is little to indicate that the ferry has arrived on an island teeming with rabbits. Then, moments after the passengers disembark, there is activity in the undergrowth. A single rabbit scampers out, wholly untroubled by its two-legged visitors. And then another.A short walk along the coast takes visitors deep into rabbit territory on Okunoshim
  
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• What makes an elephant abandon her calf – and is it a growing problem?

  02-01-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  A helpless baby elephant has won the Thai public’s sympathy but her case has shed light on the pressures facing herds across AsiaKhao Tom, a two-month-old elephant, plays with a wildlife officer, nudging his face and curling her trunk around his wrist. When she lifts her trunk in the air, signalling that she is hungry, the team at the rescue centre seems relieved – she has not been eating well. A vet prepares a pint-sized bottle of formula, which she gulps down impatiently.Khao Tom h
  
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• Week in wildlife: a hide-and-seek squirrel and an otter in a Christmas tree

  02-01-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I need to help’: Barnsley woman’s rabies death inspires dog-vaccinating mission

  02-01-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Robyn Thomson immunised thousands of animals in Cambodia after shocking death of her mother this summerIt was just a scratch. Among all the feelings and thoughts that she has had to wrestle with since the summer, disbelief is the emotion that Robyn Thomson still struggles with the most. “You never think it would happen to you,” said Robyn. “You don’t really think it happens to anyone.”Robyn’s mother, Yvonne Ford, had shown no signs of illness in the months aft
  
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