Animals news

• The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?

  04-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has vowed to spend his remaining years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empireIt is a drizzly October afternoon and I am sitting in a rural Lancashire pub drinking pints of Moretti with London’s leading snail farmer and a convicted member of the Naples mafia. We’re discussing the best way to stop a mollusc orgy.The farmer, a 79-year-old former
  
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• The Traveller community’s London Christmas drive – in pictures

  08-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Photographer Jill Mead joined the Traveller community’s London Christmas drive on Saturday – a 14-mile trip by 200 or so horse-drawn carts and carriages through the capital, stopping at Buckingham Palace, Soho and Borough Market Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: Lapwings are birds of my childhood – finally they have returned | Kate Blincoe's

  06-12-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: I have memories of seeing them at night, on our pyjama-clad safaris round the farm, but they haven’t been here for a decadeThere’s a shimmering in the sky and I can’t work it out. Driving, I can only snatch glimpses of flickering light. I pull into a lay-by near home. Now I can make out five or six broad-winged birds, flying in a loose flock. They are black and white and their motion reflects the low sun, flashing light and contrasting dark, like a&n
  
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• Country diary: Lapwings are birds of my childhood – finally they have returned | Kate Blincoe

  06-12-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: I have memories of seeing them at night, on our pyjama-clad safaris round the farm, but they haven’t been here for a decadeThere’s a shimmering in the sky and I can’t work it out. Driving, I can only snatch glimpses of flickering light. I pull into a lay-by near home. Now I can make out five or six broad-winged birds, flying in a loose flock. They are black and white and their motion reflects the low sun, flashing light and contrasting dark, like a&n
  
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• Just not that into ewes: ‘gay sheep’ escape slaughter and take over a New York catwalk

  05-12-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Designer Michael Schmidt’s 36-piece collection was made from the wool of rams who have shown same-sex attractionWhen a ram tips its head back, curls its upper lip, and takes a deep breath – what is known in the world of animal husbandry as a “flehmen response” – it is often a sign of arousal. Sheep have a small sensory organ located above the roof of the mouth, and the flehmen response helps to flood it with any sex pheromones wafting about.Usually, rams flehmen whe
  
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• Week in wildlife: a studious deer and a partying raccoon

  05-12-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• 60,000 African penguins starved to death after sardine numbers collapsed – study

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa, research findsMore than 60,000 penguins in colonies off the coast of South Africa have starved to death as a result of disappearing sardines, a new paper has found.More than 95% of the African penguins in two of the most important breeding colonies, on Dassen Island and Robben Island, died between 2004 and 2012. The breeding penguins probably starved to death during the moulting period
  
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• 60,000 African penguins starve to death after sardine numbers collapse – study

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa, research findsMore than 60,000 penguins in colonies off the coast of South Africa have starved to death as a result of disappearing sardines, a new paper has found.More than 95% of the African penguins in two of the most important breeding colonies, on Dassen Island and Robben Island, died between 2004 and 2012. The breeding penguins probably starved to death during the moulting period
  
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• Baby fur seal wanders into a bar in New Zealand

  05-12-2025 03:18 via theguardian.com
  The surprise visitor waddled around the pub during what’s known as ‘silly season’ where seals pop up in unexpected placesOn a wet, lazy Sunday evening a baby fur seal waddled into a craft beer bar in Richmond, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. Accustomed to seeing animals in the pet-friendly bar, co-owner Bella Evans initially assumed the visitor was a dog before she took a closer look.“Everyone was in shock,” Evans said. “Oh my gosh. What do we
  
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• US student who took four chickens after breaking into slaughterhouse sentenced to 90 days in jail

  05-12-2025 02:20 via theguardian.com
  Zoe Rosenberg, 23, studying at UC Berkeley, had said it was a ‘rescue’ and ‘will not apologize’ for her actionsA California student has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after breaking into a Petaluma poultry slaughterhouse and taking four chickens in an effort she called a “rescue”.Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, was convicted of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanor counts in October. On Wednesday, a judge se
  
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• Red squirrels expand across Highlands after 10-year reintroduction drive

  05-12-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Rewilding charity helps bolster Scottish stronghold of species that once came close to extinction in UKRed squirrels have expanded their range across the Highlands by more than a quarter after a 10-year reintroduction programme moved hundreds to new homes.The species once came close to extinction in Britain when foresters killed them as pests and their natural habitat was destroyed. A deadly virus carried by invasive grey squirrels has hampered their recovery. Continue reading...
  
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• US student who took four chickens after breaking into a farm sentenced to 90 days in jail

  04-12-2025 22:34 via theguardian.com
  Zoe Rosenberg, 23, studying at UC Berkeley, had said it was a ‘rescue’ and ‘will not apologize’ for her actionsA California student has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after breaking into a Petaluma poultry and taking four chickens in an effort she called a “rescue”.Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, was convicted of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanor counts in October. On Wednesday, a jury sentenced her to 9
  
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• ‘It moved … it was hopping!’ One man’s search for a wild wallaby in the UK

  04-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Reports of escaped wallabies are on the rise, especially in southern England. But how easy is it to spot these strange and charismatic marsupials – and why would a quintessentially Australian creature settle here?It was about 9.30 or 10 on a dark, late November night; Molly Laird was driving her pink Mini home along country lanes to her Warwickshire cottage. Suddenly, the headlights’ beam picked up an animal sitting in the road. “I thought it was a deer at first,” Molly t
  
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• Having a dog can boost teenagers’ mental health, say scientists

  03-12-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Researchers find children who own dogs score lower for social problems, aggressive behaviour and delinquencyHaving a dog in the home could help boost teenagers’ mental health, research suggests, with scientists adding this could in part be down to the sharing of microbes.Prof Takefumi Kikusui, of Azabu University in Japan, who led the work, said being with dogs could reduce owners’ stress and stimulate the release of the bonding hormone oxytocin. Continue reading...
  
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• Drunk raccoon found passed out in Virginia liquor store

  03-12-2025 14:56 via theguardian.com
  Store employee found masked bandit sleeping off a bender after invading booze store and tippling a tad too muchA liquor store employee in Virginia was startled on Saturday to discover smashed whisky bottles on the floor of the shop and, upon entering the bathroom, an apparently drunk, sleeping and spread-eagled raccoon.“He fell through one of the ceiling tiles and went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything,” Samantha Martin, an local animal control officer, told the Daily Mail
  
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• NIH funds new cat experiments despite pledge to phase them out, watchdog reports

  03-12-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  White Coat Waste finds $1.7m in NIH grants for cat research months after officials said they were working to end studiesThe US National Institute of Health is continuing to fund new laboratory experiments on cats despite saying that they are “working tirelessly” to “phase out” such projects.In July this year, Dr Nicole Kleinstreuer, the NIH acting deputy director, announced in a podcast with Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the NIH director. that she doesn’t think the NIH shoul
  
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• Country diary: A broken leg and singing crossbills – am I having a strange dream? | Nicola Chester

  03-12-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Inkpen, Berkshire: Drifting in and out of sleep on the woodland floor, I’m in searing pain, but far from aloneIt was nobody’s fault, but here I am, lying on the damp floor of a wood, half a mile from the road. Drifting down with the falling leaves are the voices of two women, too easily accepting of blame. I reassure them and try to sit up, but the high singing in my ears turns to static, the edges of the wood begin to pixelate, and I lie 
  
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• ‘Iconic swamp king’: San Francisco’s beloved albino alligator dies aged 30

  03-12-2025 02:24 via theguardian.com
  Claude, the de facto mascot for a local museum, was the subject of a children’s book and regularly received fan mailClaude, the beloved albino alligator who called the California Academy of Sciences home for the better part of two decades, has died at age 30.The San Francisco museum announced his death on Tuesday and said that the reptile had in recent weeks received treatment for a “suspected infection”. Claude, with his unusual white scales, had become a sort of mascot for th
  
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• Ozempets: will weight-loss jabs for cats and dogs make them miserable?

  02-12-2025 18:11 via theguardian.com
  The era of plump, cuddly pets may soon be over, as overweight animals are being prescribed a version of Ozempic. What will this do to their love for food?
  Name: Ozempets.Age: Depending on the species, anywhere from 0 to 18 years or so. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Those who eat Chilean salmon cannot imagine how much human blood it carries with it’

  02-12-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  The country is the world’s second-largest producer of the popular fish, and the biggest supplier to the US, but its farms are beset by accusations of dangerous labour conditions, antibiotic overuse and ecological harmJulia Cárcamo López’s house faces the sea, near enough to hear the gulls calling through the salt-encrusted windows. She lives in the small town of Maullín, on the edge of Chile’s Patagonia, an area where almost everyone works in the fishing in
  
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• Toto carrying the rings at Albanese’s wedding is nothing new as more pets join couples saying ‘I do’ | Kate Leaver

  02-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The Australian prime minister and Jodie Haydon’s cavoodle had a critical role to play as ring-bearer while more brides and grooms bring a pet to their big daySign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsWhen Anthony Albanese became the first prime minister to get married in office, the pressure was on for his ring-bearer, a 10-year-old in a white gown trimmed in tulle.Fortunately Toto, the prime minister’s blond cavoodle, was escorted down the aisle on his white lead by Albanes
  
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• ‘They’re a lot like us’: saving the tiny punk monkeys facing extinction

  02-12-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  In the tropical dry forests of northern Colombia, a small team is gradually restoring the degraded habitat of the rare cotton-top tamarinLuis Enrique Centena spent decades silencing the forest. Now, he listens. Making a whistle, the former logger points up to a flash of white and reddish fur in the canopy. Inquisitive eyes peer back – a cotton-top tamarin, one of the world’s rarest primates.“I used to cut trees and never took the titís into account,” says Centena,
  
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• Spanish swine fever outbreak may be linked to food eaten by boar, say officials

  02-12-2025 12:26 via theguardian.com
  Hundreds of police, rangers and military personnel deployed to tackle virus threatening pork export industrySpanish authorities have deployed hundreds of police officers, wildlife rangers and military personnel in an effort to contain an outbreak of highly infectious African swine fever (ASF) outside Barcelona before it becomes a major threat to the country’s €8.8bn-a-year pork export industry.Officials believe the virus, detected in the municipality of Bellaterra, may have begun to c
  
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• Nine boars found dead in Spanish swine fever outbreak

  02-12-2025 12:26 via theguardian.com
  Hundreds of police, rangers and military personnel deployed to tackle virus threatening pork export industrySpanish authorities have deployed hundreds of police officers, wildlife rangers and military personnel in an effort to contain an outbreak of highly infectious African swine fever (ASF) outside Barcelona before it becomes a major threat to the country’s €8.8bn-a-year pork export industry.Officials believe the virus, detected in the municipality of Bellaterra, may have begun to c
  
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• Why we have to continue with animal testing for medical research | Letters

  30-11-2025 19:11 via theguardian.com
  Dr Robin Lovell-Badge and Prof Emma Robinson respond to an editorial on using new technologies to reduce the reliance on animal experiments I write in response to your editorial on animals in research (The Guardian view on animal testing: we can stop sacrificing millions of lives for our own health, 23 November). I am supportive of many aspects of the strategy to aid the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to replace the use of animals. However, much of this is geared towa
  
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• Country diary: My Black Friday? A night-time skulk in the woods | Nic Wilson

  29-11-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Purwell Ninesprings, Hertfordshire: A chilly evening spent interpreting rustles and admiring the silhouetted trees – now that’s what I call a bargainI used to regard November as the D month. Dank. Dismal. Dreary. Depressing. That is, until I discovered the Dark. My conversion took place on Black Friday 2019, as I sat alone in a Bedfordshire wood under a sliver of moon.With eyes slowly acclimatising, I started to pick out night’s nuances – the pale suggestion of leave
  
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• City life is reshaping raccoons – and may be nudging them toward domestication

  28-11-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Scientists say urban raccoons’ shorter snouts and calmer reactions to people mirror traits found in domesticated animals across speciesRaccoons living wild in cities in the United States are beginning to show physical changes that resemble early signs of domestication, according to a recent study.The study found that urban raccoons had developed shorter snouts than rural raccoons, with the research produced by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and published in Frontiers in Zoology.
  
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• Country diary: A stag red deer, totally still, totally dominant | Elizabeth-Jane Burnett

  28-11-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Raddon Hills, Devon: I spend a watchful moment with a mixed herd. Rutting season is over, but there’s no doubt who is in chargeIn the golden early morning, where gilded beech and oak leaves hang hushed and sunlight soaks into the grass, the stillness is complete. No engines, no wind, no birdsong. The red deer, conjured into a field that appeared empty one moment, occupied the next, seem part of it. Ears pricked, they face me.They are a bright brown in the soft light, with neither the russe
  
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• ‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose – podcast

  28-11-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the worldBy Rose George. Read by Rosalie Craig Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife: seal pups, albino turtles and a sleeping tiger

  27-11-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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