Animal News

Oui oui: France's presidential pooch leaves palace puddle

By AFP

Paris - President Emmanuel Macron's dog Nemo has been filmed casually peeing on an ornate fireplace at the Elysee Palace as the French leader met with members of his government.

'It was going to eat her' — Aussie teen survives shark scare

By AFP

Sydney - An Australian teenager has survived a terrifying encounter with a great white shark, with her harrowing screams alerting her father who was certain it was about to "eat her".

Lost Australia diver swam miles to shore stalked by shark

By AFP

Sydney - A diver separated from his boat off the coast of Australia said Sunday he was lucky to be alive after being forced to swim miles back to shore -- shadowed by a large tiger shark.

Two rescued Aleppo tigers settle into new Dutch home

By AFP

De Beek - Two tigers, rescued traumatised and emaciated from war in Syria, have arrived in a Dutch refuge and are settling into their new, quiet home far from the conflict.

India to close colonial-era military farms

By AFP

Allahabad - Under a hot afternoon sun workers scrub down cows at the Allahabad Military Farm, the latest hangover of India's colonial past being forced into the 21st century.The 700-acre (285-hectare) farm in the city of 1.

Two tigers rescued from Aleppo find new Dutch home

By AFP

Den Haag - Two tigers rescued from an abandoned zoo in the war-torn Syrian town of Aleppo are to be given a new home in a Dutch sanctuary, the animal refuge said Friday.

Conservation cutbacks put Brazil's Amazon animals at risk

By AFP

Benedito de Souza scoops back sand hiding a nest of baby giant Amazon River turtles that he had covered over weeks ago to hide from predators. Suddenly exposed, dozens of the tiny reptiles make a run for it.

Chile penguins win battle in war against mine

By AFP

La Higuera - They may be less than a meter tall but they have conquered a Goliath: Chile's vulnerable Humboldt penguins have thwarted -- for now at least -- a billion dollar mining project in one of the country's most depressed regions.

Baby rhino gallops into public view at Singapore Zoo

By AFP

Singapore - A baby white rhino has made his first foray into the spotlight, galloping into a public enclosure at Singapore Zoo after being given a name -- Oban, which means "King" in the African Yoruba language.

Pangolin trade forces Ghana to look at new wildlife laws

By AFP

Accra - Ghana is facing calls to update its laws on wildlife crime after fears the country has become a transit route for the illegal trade in pangolin scales.

Finding Nemo may become even harder: climate study

By AFP

Paris - The clownfish, the colourful swimmer propelled to fame by the 2003 film "Finding Nemo", is under threat from warming ocean waters wreaking havoc with sea anemones -- the structures which serve as its home, a study has found.

Wolf attacks raise howls of protest from French farmers

By AFP

Lyon - Animal lovers may be delighted that wolves are roaming the French mountains once again -- but the predators' increasing attacks on sheep have farmers longing to get their guns out.

From poacher to ranger: saving China's Siberian tigers

By AFP

Bejing - In the northern mountains bordering Russia, everyone knew the spry Chinese man as a skilled and ruthless hunter -- the kind who once killed a mother black bear as her cubs looked on.

Leopard on the loose in Indian car factory

By AFP

New Delhi - Wildlife officials and police were on the hunt Thursday for a leopard on the loose inside a factory run by India's largest car manufacturer, officials said.

Lovelorn koala nabbed after zoo escape in hunt for mate

By AFP

Sydney - Australian wildlife staff needed a crane to rescue a lovelorn female koala who escaped from her enclosure at the start of her first mating season, impatient to find a partner.

Sun bear attacks couple in Indonesia, killing one

By AFP

Pekanbaru - A sun bear mauled a couple in a rare attack in Indonesia, killing the wife and seriously injuring the husband, officials said Wednesday.

Giant python attacks Indonesian man before being eaten

By AFP

Pekanbaru - A giant python attacked an Indonesian man, nearly severing his arm, before hungry villagers chopped up the reptile and ate it, a police chief said Wednesday.

Cats kill one million birds a day in Australia

By AFP

Sydney - Feral and pet cats kill more than one million birds in Australia every day, new research showed Wednesday, with the staggering slaughter driving the decline of many species.

Hanging cow at Australia restaurant sparks controversy

By AFP

Adelaide - An Australian pizzeria that hung a taxidermied dairy cow from its ceiling to call attention to the industrialisation of the farming industry has been criticised on social media for cruelty.

Panda diplomacy: Two giant pandas from China land in Indonesia

By AFP

Jakarta - Two giant pandas from China arrived in Indonesia on Thursday in an act of "panda diplomacy" aimed at celebrating 60 years of bilateral ties.

NY Guggenheim museum cuts animal artworks after threats

By AFP

New York - The Guggenheim Museum in New York has decided to withdraw three works from a hotly anticipated exhibition on modern China, after receiving "repeated threats of violence" related to the staging of live animals.

Pandas rebounding, but their habitat isn't: study

By AFP

Paris - China's fiercely protected giant panda had a smaller habitat in 2013 than when it was declared endangered more than 20 years earlier, researchers said Monday.

High hopes for Australian bid to breed panda cubs

By AFP

Sydney - A giant panda couple struggling to produce cubs in an Australian zoo have been given a helping hand by vets who hope to overcome the bears' notorious breeding difficulties with three artificial inseminations.

Whale carcass dug up from Australian beach over shark fears

By AFP

Sydney - A massive humpback whale buried on a popular Australian beach after it washed up dead was being exhumed Monday because locals feared its rotting carcass was attracting sharks.

Australian police hunt killer of giant crocodile

By AFP

Sydney - A manhunt has begun for the killer of a giant saltwater crocodile in Australia, as authorities warned its death would trigger more aggressive behaviour among younger crocs in the area.The carcass of a 5.

Wildlife pays the price of Kenya's illegal grazing

By AFP

Nairobi - "It's devastating. I've been following them every day of my life for the last year," said Dedan Ngatia, a wild dog researcher in Kenya's central Laikipia region. "They're all dead.

Czech zoo burns horns it sawed off rhinos after French attack

By AFP

Stare Mesto - A Czech zoo on Tuesday burnt 33 kilos (72 pounds) of rare rhino horns, including some it sawed off its own animals in the wake of a brutal attack on a French zoo.

Chinese man investigated for cutting 'noisy' dogs' vocal cords

By AFP

Bejing - A Chinese man is being investigated for running a "veterinary" clinic on the street that cut the vocal cords of "noisy" dogs for a fee, local authorities announced Monday.

Body of British journalist killed by crocodile found in Sri Lanka

By AFP

Colombo - Sri Lankan police Friday found the body of a 24-year-old British journalist, Paul McClean, who is suspected to have been killed by a crocodile.

Invasive beetle pushing US ash trees to extinction: conservationists

By AFP

Geneva - An invasive beetle has driven North America's most widespread ash tree towards extinction, conservationists said Thursday, also warning of dramatic declines among several African antelope species.