Animals news

• ‘Gifted learner dogs’ can learn words by eavesdropping, study says

  08-01-2026 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Certain canines can learn using cues from people’s gaze, gestures, attention and voices, researchers findWhether it is a piece of food or a four-letter expletive, words can be learned by young children overhearing adults – but now researchers have found certain dogs can do something similar.Scientists have discovered canines with the unusual ability to learn the names of myriad objects can pick up such labels by eavesdropping on conversations. Continue reading...
  
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• On the lamb: 50 sheep break away from flock and storm German supermarket

  08-01-2026 18:37 via theguardian.com
  Woolly incursion occurred during seasonal migration of animals in the Bavarian municipality of BurgsinnAbout 50 wayward sheep have broken off from their flock and stormed a discount supermarket in German town, startling and delighting customers as they rushed to explore the aisles before being escorted from the premises.The woolly incursion occurred on Monday during a routine seasonal migration of the farm animals in the Bavarian municipality of Burgsinn. A few dozen of the sheep had other ideas
  
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• In Queensland tens of thousands of cattle die of thirst and hunger encircled by fresh water and grass

  08-01-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  ‘It sounds completely absurd,’ one grazier says. ‘But they are actually perishing because they are not drinking’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastStranded upon sodden islands that dot the submerged plains of outback north-west Queensland, encircled by fresh water and with grass growing before their eyes, tens of thousands of cattle are dying of thirst and hunger.“It sounds completely absurd,” grazier Angus Propsting says. “But th
  
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• Supermarkets could help UK shoppers eat more sustainable local fish – study

  08-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Shift from ‘big 5’ imports to British fish such as sprats and sardines would help diets and the planet, say researchersSupermarkets could help to support British consumers to move away from their reliance on mainly imported seafood – the “big 5” of cod, haddock, tuna, salmon and prawns – to more sustainable, nutritious and locally caught fish such as sardines and anchovies, researchers say.A study by the University of East Anglia (UEA), which confirmed previou
  
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• Country diary: Everything is frozen, but still the finches come | Amanda Thomson

  08-01-2026 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Abernethy Forest, Cairngorms: Thanks to a local collaborative effort, linnets, bramblings, green and goldfinches are coming to this field in joyful flocksIt’s -6C and I’m off to what has been a regular haunt recently – a field planted by a small, community-run charity, Speyside Fields for Wildlife, which works with local farmers, crofters and others to take over “spare” fields and land for wildlife-friendly crops.Some sites are planted with annuals such as corn
  
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