Animals news

• Australian wildlife in ‘harm’s way’ with volunteers left to ‘pick up the pieces’ amid climate crisis, fires and floods

  02-03-2026 15:00
  Ken Henry leads push for federal government to do more to protect animals as biodiversity declinesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor is being pushed to introduce tough new national rules for protecting threatened species exposed to disasters including bushfires and floods, with the former Treasury boss Ken Henry among advocates warning that risks to wildlife could reach a point of no return.Months after a major rewrite of environment laws passed parliament, a consor
  
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• The pet I’ll never forget: Harvey, the most human of cats who helped me through grief and illness

  02-03-2026 11:00
  He could use door handles and steal catnip from the kitchen cupboards. And, when I became very unwell, he would pace around me like a doctor on call Harvey came into our lives during a year of loss. It was 2004, and my grandmother had just died, quickly followed by our beloved cat Skeet (Manx English for “nosy”). With the family thrown into mourning, the house became eerily quiet and still, and my mother was grieving.I was only 11, and did not know how to take care of her, but I did
  
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• ‘I love midges because I know what their hearts look like’: is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out?

  02-03-2026 09:00
  Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be discoveredOnce Art Borkent starts speaking about biting midges, he rarely pauses for breath. Holding up a picture of a gnat trapped in amber from the time of the dinosaurs, the 72-year-old taxonomist explains that there are more than 6,000 ceratopogonidae species known to science. He has described a
  
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• Shark culls brought in after fatal attack causes division and anger in New Caledonia

  02-03-2026 05:20
  Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challengeSome beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from Ne
  
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• Shark culls brought in after fatal attack cause division and anger in New Caledonia

  02-03-2026 05:20
  Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challengeSome beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from Ne
  
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