Category Archives: Animals

Is time up for backyard fireworks? UK ministers weigh partial ban over noise concerns

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Consultation follows growing calls from campaigners, vets and National Farmers’ Union for tighter regulation

As the nights draw in, the season of sparklers begins, with Diwali, Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve among the occasions typically celebrated with fireworks. But if campaigners get their way, this could be the last blast for bangers in the back yard.

In January concerns about the noise and availability of fireworks were aired in a parliamentary debate, with two petitions clocking up more than 180,000 signatures each, while earlier this month the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade closed a consultation on proposals including making louder fireworks only available to professional users.

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‘Worldwide legacy’: almost $20m raised to protect majestic tract of land in far north Queensland

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Bush Heritage hopes to buy Wooroora station, which links wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland and is home to 12 endangered species

A majestic tract of land in far north Queensland that links wet tropics and world heritage rainforest, and contains headwaters that flow to the Great Barrier Reef, could be bought and protected by Christmas, after a conservation group raised more than $19m in private donations to buy the cattle station.

Wooroora spans more than 20,000 hectares of largely intact wet sclerophyll forest and savanna woodland on the lands of the Jirrbal people about 100km south-west of Cairns – and borders Bush Heritage’s existing 43,575-hectare Yourka Reserve in one of the most biodiverse regions in Australia.

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New Trump rule allows hunters to bait bears in Alaska with doughnuts, bacon and more

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Critics decry Trump administration rule that lets hunters lure bears with human foods on federal lands in Alaska

A new Trump administration rule allows hunters to bait bears on federal lands in Alaska with bacon, doughnuts, meat scraps or other human foods typically used to help kill the trophy animals at close range.

Opponents say the practice will cause bears to be more aggressive around humans, and allege that the rule change is a political gift to largely rightwing trophy hunters. The rule replaces a 2024 Biden administration rule that banned the practice, and environmental groups criticized the move as “indefensible and inexcusable”.

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Blue Planet III features cloudier footage to prove authenticity amid AI boom

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BBC series deliberately uses ‘more organic’ shots to assure viewers animals are not AI-generated, producers say

The David Attenborough-narrated series Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to counter AI fakery and assure viewers it is “authentic”, its producers have said.

Nearly a decade after Blue Planet II shone a light on plastic pollution, and 25 years since the first Blue Planet aired, the hit BBC series is returning with more animal behaviour and cutting-edge technology, including the world’s first underwater CCTV camera – dubbed “stonefish” cam.

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Shark trapped for a month in South Korean canal is finally freed

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Bukang-i successfully guided out after month in which it drew 1.6m visitors and was watched over by YouTubers

In South Korea, they call them jagyeongdan, a word whose meaning sits somewhere between vigilante group and neighbourhood watch. Each night they put on hi-vis vests, picked up their selfie sticks and gathered around the harbour in Busan to keep watch over an unlikely charge: a stranded shark affectionately known as Bukang-i.

On Wednesday, after more than a month in the canal and at the third attempt, the shark was successfully guided out, South Korea’s oceans ministry said. Officials expect her to move into open water in time.

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‘Bad decisions’: Man convicted for taking Peachy the flamingo from Las Vegas hotel

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Mitchell Fairbarn found guilty of animal cruelty after prosecutors say he hurt and frightened the 27-year-old bird

A Canadian man was convicted of animal cruelty charges on Monday for snatching a flamingo named Peachy from its enclosure at an iconic Las Vegas hotel.

Prosecutors said it was a malicious prank while a lawyer for the tourist insisted it was drunken foolishness not meant to harm the bird.

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Black bear breaks into California library to raid snacks and eat jar of honey

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Bear wandered into Mono county free libraries branch ahead of opening, snacking before wandering new releases

A California library on Wednesday had a visitor worthy of a story book on the 100th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh: a black bear that wandered inside, reportedly raided the snacks and helped itself to a jar of honey.

On Wednesday, a black bear walked into the Mammoth Lakes branch of the Mono county free libraries at about 6.10am, more than four hours ahead of its 10am opening time, the library director, Josef Bopp, told local news outlet KMPH.

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Florida fisher dragged into water and killed by 12ft alligator

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Steve Hamilton was fishing in Winter Garden when he was attacked by gator, which was later killed

A man fishing at a pond in Florida was killed on Friday by an alligator that was almost 12ft long in a rare kind of animal attack, according to authorities and media reports.

Steve Hamilton, 71, was on the shoreline in the community of Winter Garden when the animal dragged him into the water, the Florida news outlet WOFL reported, citing local police and the state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission.

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Wanted: children to rear harvest mice at home for wild release in Devon

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Teenagers Eva Wishart and Emily Smith launch project to breed and release 250 of the tiny animals by September

Children in Devon are being invited to become “citizen captive breeders”, rearing harvest mice at home for release into the wild to help revive endangered nature.

Wild Pets, a new conservation project launched by two 14-year-old friends, is seeking 20 Devon-based children to rear hundreds of mice after the duo’s own successful restoration efforts.

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Wanted: children to rear harvest mice at home for wild release in Devon

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Teenagers Eva Wishart and Emily Smith launch project to breed and release 250 of the tiny animals by September

Children in Devon are being invited to become “citizen captive breeders”, rearing harvest mice at home for release into the wild to help revive endangered nature.

Wild Pets, a new conservation project launched by two 14-year-old friends, is seeking 20 Devon-based children to rear hundreds of mice after the duo’s own successful restoration efforts.

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Stella McCartney makes waves with ‘sea life, not sea food’ theme in zero-wool Paris show

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Designer showcases wool alternatives and ocean-inspired clothes and says ‘kindness requires real work’

Stella McCartney has been talking about animal rights at fashion week for 30 years. She is usually a lone voice, but the issue is back in the headlines this season. Outcry over the physical restraining of a Peta protester at a catwalk show by Steven Kolb, the president of New York fashion week’s governing body, has put cruelty in wool production – previously considered niche compared to the hot button topic of fur – on the news agenda.

“There is no wool on the runway this season, and I’m proud of that,” McCartney said after her show. She has been working on wool alternatives, including Brewed Protein, a fermented alternative to cashmere and wool developed in collaboration with the Japanese biotech firm Spiber, which was first used in her collections a year ago.

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Insects play critical role in ecosystems beyond just providing food, new research shows

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Insects provide protection, sanitation and even shelter to vertebrates, making them a priority for conservation efforts

For many vertebrates, insects are more than a food source. As “little things that run the world”, insects provide critical functions such as protection, sanitation and shelter across ecosystems, according to a new study.

The study, published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity on Wednesday, sheds light on the various ways insects support vertebrates, ranging from birds and bats to reptiles, amphibians and mammals.

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‘Cute but unbearable’ freeloading bear discovered in another LA crawlspace

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‘Yellow 2120’ has been driven out of other Altadena neighborhood crawlspaces but he just keeps coming back

He’s back: the 550lb bear made famous after he took up residence under an Altadena home in November 2025 is wandering the Los Angeles neighborhood again after he moved in and out of the crawlspace of another home.

“Yellow 2120”, as the black bear has been tagged, was spotted in the crawlspace of a home on Minoru Drive on Monday.

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Two giant pandas arrive in Atlanta from China after Xi-Trump summit

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Ping Ping and Fu Shuang to live at Atlanta zoo in Georgia as part of loan deal between Chinese and US governments

Two giant pandas from China arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday morning as part of an agreement between the Chinese and American governments.

While in Washington DC for a three-day summit with Donald Trump, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced that the pandas would arrive in Atlanta in the coming days. The loan of the pandas to the Atlanta zoo was one of the few concrete outcomes to come out of Xi’s state visit with the US president, which saw expressions of goodwill between the leaders, but no fixes to any of the longstanding differences between the two countries.

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‘It’s hard to sell a house when it’s covered in baboon faeces’: Cape Town divided over plan to remove its monkeys

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Two troops of chacma baboons are breaking into homes and shops but animal rights activists insist coexistence is the answer

Cape Town’s city council has said it will “imminently” round up two baboon troops coming into repeated conflict with residents. The animals will be sterilised and permanently moved to a newly constructed sanctuary. The plan has been fiercely criticised by animal rights activists, who say the monkeys should remain roaming freely, and that less destructive options have not been properly considered.

Cape Town’s baboon problem has been brewing since the 2000s, after the city stopped culling troops in the late 1990s after pressure from the public. But in the past two years it has reached boiling point. A 2025 census found that the population had grown by a third since 2000, from 360 baboons to 493, now living in 12 managed troops.

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Alberta’s self-image as world’s only rat-free region shattered by discovery of rat

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Province’s rat patrol called in to investigate as town of Bowden announces discovery of dead vermin

For more than seven decades, residents of Alberta have shared something in common with Antarctica and the high Arctic: all locations are officially free of rats.

But on Thursday the Canadian province’s reputation as a firewall against rodent infestation took a hit when the town of Bowden announced the discovery of a dead rat and called on the province’s “rat patrol” to investigate.

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Trump’s executive order on recreational fishing is a ‘giveaway of fish and ocean ecosystem’, advocates warn

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Federal agencies told to prioritize recreational fishing and to reconsider scientific standards as well as regulations

Donald Trump’s latest fishing order is raising new concerns about US marine protections, as it directs federal agencies to prioritize recreational fishing while reconsidering the scientific standards and environmental regulations that govern American fisheries.

The National Marine Fisheries Service hailed last Thursday’s order, Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation, telling the Guardian: “By addressing long-standing flaws in federal data collection, streamlining permitting, and expanding marine habitats, this action delivers long-overdue stability to America’s $1.2tn outdoor recreation economy.”

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Rick Wakeman performs piano concert to 150 rescued moon bears in Vietnam

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Former Yes musician plays at sanctuary to raise awareness of animals that remain stuck in cages at ‘bile farms’

Rick Wakeman has played to all kinds of people around the globe, but he has now performed to an audience he had never encountered before – an enclosure of 150 bears.

The former Yes musician, who has gone on to have a prolific solo career, played the piano at a Vietnamese bear sanctuary.

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Louisiana firefighters find feline native to sub-Saharan Africa while responding to house fire

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The African serval, illegally enclosed in the back yard, was subdued and transferred to an animal welfare facility

Louisiana firefighters responding to a small house blaze found a wildcat native to sub-Saharan Africa illegally enclosed in the back yard, prompting an animal welfare agency to seek placing the creature in an appropriate environment, according to officials.

Firefighters investigating a report of a minor fire at a home in the suburban New Orleans community of Marrero on Tuesday spotted the cat in question – an African serval – behind the residence in a chain-linked enclosure resembling a cramped baseball batting cage, a spokesperson for the local animal protection services said.

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