Animal News

Dogs trained to offer support to troubled US veterans

By AFP

Nesconset - Michael Kidd, now 84 years old, fought in the Korean War. His young German shepherd Millie helps calm him down when things start to swirl, usually at night.

France's 'wolf brigade': Alps guards with licence to kill

By AFP

Breil-sur-roya - As the sun sets over the southern French Alps on a cool evening in early June, a flock of sheep huddle in an enclosure at an altitude of 1,500 metres.

Nepal activists call for end of animal sacrifice

By AFP

Kathmandu - Nepali activists rallied in Kathmandu on Friday calling for an end to religious animal sacrifices, months ahead of a festival that in the past has seen tens of thousands of animals slaughtered.

Head of 32,000-year-old wolf found in Russian Arctic

By AFP

Moscow - A first intact head of a gigantic adult wolf which died about 32,000 years ago and was preserved in permafrost has been found in the Russian Arctic, scientists have said.

Happiness and Harmony: 'Big step forward' as twin pandas grow

By AFP

Maerkang - Born to a wild father and captive mother, nearly one-year-old twin pandas roll on the grass in a conservation base in southwest China, marking an important achievement in the preservation of the country's beloved animal.

North Korea taking 'emergency' measures to contain swine fever

By AFP

Seoul - North Korea is taking emergency measures to prevent the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever, its state media said Wednesday, weeks after confirming an outbreak in the isolated country.

Israeli coral rescue plan needs chisel and deep blue sea

By AFP

Eilat - A dozen feet deep in the azure waters of the Red Sea, Israeli marine ecologist Assaf Zvuloni firmly grasped a bright red coral fastened to a metal jetty piling.

Heatstroke kills monkeys as India suffers in searing temperatures

By AFP

New Delhi - A troop of monkeys died from suspected heatstroke in India as scorching temperatures that have lasted more than a week take a mounting toll on humans and animals, media reports said Saturday.

14 lions on the loose in S.Africa, with nowhere to go

By AFP

Johanesburg - A pride of 14 lions is on the loose near a mining community bordering South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Friday, and warned members of the public to be alert.

14 lions on the loose in South Africa

By AFP

Johanesburg - A pride of 14 lions is on the loose near a mining community bordering South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Friday, and warned members of the public to be alert.

Leopard kills toddler in S.Africa's Kruger park

By AFP

Johanesburg - A leopard killed a two-year-old boy inside a fenced-off staff compound at South Africa's Kruger national park, officials said Thursday."The toddler was only 30-months-old," the park said in a statement.

'Landscape of fear': how invasive species disrupt habitats

By AFP

Apo - Invasive species can dramatically reshape environments and cause extinction, even when they don't prey on their newfound neighbours, according to new research that highlights the dangers of altering habitats.

Vietnam seizes 5 tonnes of pangolin scales from Nigeria

By AFP

Hanoi - Vietnam police have seized more than five tonnes of pangolin scales stashed in a cashew shipment from Nigeria, the government said Friday.

Sleepless in Berlin: Nightingales flock to scruffy city parks

By AFP

Berlin - Sarah Darwin, the great-great granddaughter of British biologist Charles Darwin, was sleepless in Berlin when, to her "enormous surprise", she heard a nightingale warbling merrily outside her window.

Internet star Grumpy Cat dies at age of seven

By AFP

Los Angeles - Internet star "Grumpy Cat" has died at the age of seven, her owners said early Friday."We are unimaginably heartbroken to announce the loss of our beloved Grumpy Cat," they said in a statement on Twitter.

Activists urge Kenya to halt 'horrific' donkey skin sales to China

By AFP

Nairobi - Animal activists urged Kenya Thursday to ban the slaughter of donkeys for use in Chinese medicine, a practice which has soared in recent years and decimated African populations of the animal.

The deadly odds of pigeon racing in the Philippines

By AFP

Manila - It is a brutal 600-kilometre gauntlet during which competitors face searing heat, wild seas, vicious predators, and the threat of kidnapping. Only one in ten will finish.

Dispute erupts over New York fur ban proposal

By AFP

New York - A proposal to ban the sale of fur in New York has pitted animal rights advocates against an unexpected alliance of local industry figures and minority groups who say wearing fur is an important cultural marker.

Rare Asian black bear spotted in Korean DMZ

By AFP

Seoul - A rare Asiatic black bear has been photographed in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, Seoul's environmental ministry said.The area around the four-kilometre (2.

Influential excrement: How life in Antarctica thrives on penguin poop

By AFP

Washington - For more than half a century, biologists studying Antarctica focused their research on understanding how organisms cope with the continent's severe drought and the coldest conditions on the planet.

Man arrested in France for keeping white tiger cub

By AFP

Marseille - Investigators in southeast France have seized a white tiger cub at the home of a suspected exotic animal trafficker, while pythons and endangered marsupials were found at his mother's house, a police source said Saturday.

'Russian' whale leads to espionage speculations in Norway

By AFP

Oslo - A spy, a far away visitor or a fugitive on the run? A mysterious Beluga whale, caught wearing a suspicious harness, has ignited the imaginations of Norwegians who have yet to receive answers.

Jumbo commotion as wild bull elephant lumbers into Indian city

By AFP

Guwahati - A wild bull elephant caused a major stir in an Indian city, wandering along the busy streets and crowds of photo-snapping onlookers before being tranquilised, officials said.

'Spy vulture' held in war-torn Yemen

By AFP

Sanaa - Griffon vulture Nelson crossed into war-torn Yemen in search of food but ended up in the hands of Yemeni fighters -- and temporarily in jail for suspected espionage.

Australian father rescues toddler from dingo's jaws

By AFP

Sydney - A father rescued his son from a dingo's jaws after the infant was dragged from a campervan at an Australian tourist island, authorities said Friday, in the third such attack this year.

Kakapow! Rare world's fattest parrot has record breeding season

By AFP

Wellington - The world's fattest parrot, the critically endangered kakapo, has enjoyed a record breaking breeding season, New Zealand scientists said Thursday, with climate change possibly aiding the species' unique mating spree.

Malaysia arrests Vietnam poachers, seizes tiger, bear parts

By AFP

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian authorities have arrested two suspected poachers from Vietnam and seized body parts from tigers and bears, a minister said Tuesday, as the country clamps down on rampant wildlife trafficking.

Death in China zoo puts rarest turtle on cusp of oblivion

By AFP

Shanghai - The world's rarest turtle has moved a step closer to extinction after a female specimen died in a Chinese zoo, leaving behind just three known members of the species.

Russian officials agree to free 'whale jail' animals

By AFP

Moscow - Russian officials said Monday they will work towards freeing all orca and beluga whales from a notorious facility in the east of the country, after a visit by US-based marine mammal advocates.

Rhino poacher crushed by elephant, devoured by lions in S.Africa

By AFP

Johanesburg - A suspected rhino poacher was trampled to death by an elephant and his body devoured by lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Monday.