Category Archives: Animals

Vets exposing shocking animal welfare breaches at Australian export abattoirs face ‘enormous risk’

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Lawyers urge government to protect veterinarian whistleblowers who monitor animal welfare and food safety for trading partners such as the US and EU

Lawyers and animal welfare advocates have urged the government to protect veterinarian whistleblowers who revealed shocking animal welfare breaches and oversight failures at Australia’s export abattoirs.

The Australian government relies on a workforce of veterinarians placed inside export abattoirs to monitor animal welfare and food safety, largely to satisfy the requirements of major trading partners such as the US and EU.

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Wild chimpanzees filmed by scientists bonding over alcoholic fruit

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Footage of apes consuming fermented breadfruit leads researchers to ask if it may shed light on origins of human feasting

Humans have gathered to feast and enjoy a tipple together for thousands of years, but research suggests chimpanzees may also bond over a boozy treat.

Wild chimpanzees in west Africa have been observed sharing fruit containing alcohol – not in quantities to get roaring drunk but, possibly, enough for a fuzzy beer buzz feeling.

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Labor vows to consider strengthening Australia’s animal welfare body after shocking abattoir revelations

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Exclusive: Guardian Australia investigation into export abattoirs brings ‘necessary and commonsense’ commitment back to the spotlight

Labor will consider strengthening Australia’s independent animal welfare body following shocking revelations of welfare breaches and oversight failings in the nation’s export abattoirs.

A Guardian Australia investigation revealed on Saturday that government-employed veterinarians working inside the nation’s export abattoirs had repeatedly blown the whistle on “profound problems” with the system.

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Millions tune in for three-week live stream of Sweden’s moose migration

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Slow TV is attracting viewers with hits such as a knitting marathon, burning firewood and swimming salmon

Most of the time, nothing much happens. A wide Nordic river, melting snow still lining its banks, meanders peacefully through a pristine forest of spruce and pine. But this spring, as every spring for the past six years, a lot of people will be glued to it.

When Den stora älgvandringen – variously translated as The Great Moose Migration or The Great Elk Trek – first aired on the public broadcaster SVT’s on-demand platform in 2019, nearly a million people tuned in. Last year, it was 9 million.

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Revealed: nearly 2m hectares of koala habitat bulldozed since 2011 – despite political promises to protect species

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Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystems

Nearly 2m hectares of forests suitable for endangered koalas have been destroyed since the iconic species was declared a threatened species in 2011, according to analysis for Guardian Australia.

The scale of habitat destruction in Queensland and New South Wales – states in which the koala is formally recognised as being at risk of extinction – has continued despite political promises it would be protected.

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Tell us about the people in your community working to protect our endangered species

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While the election is ignoring the issue of Australia’s extinction crisis, volunteers and community groups all around the country are doing their best to save our endangered species. We want to hear about them

Australia is in the midst of what experts say is an extinction crisis, but the decline of the country’s unique wildlife and the state of the environment has not been mentioned by the major parties this election campaign.

This week, Guardian Australia launched a new series, Last Chance, to put a spotlight on everyday people standing up for endangered species in their local environment.

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Pet dogs have ‘extensive and multifarious’ impact on environment, new research finds

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Scale of environmental damage attributed to huge number of dogs globally as well as ‘lax or uninformed behaviour of dog owners’

Dogs have “extensive and multifarious” environmental impacts, disturbing wildlife, polluting waterways and contributing to carbon emissions, new research has found.

An Australian review of existing studies has argued that “the environmental impact of owned dogs is far greater, more insidious, and more concerning than is generally recognised”.

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Mackerel stocks near breaking point because of overfishing, say experts

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North-east Atlantic mackerel in decline and Good Fish Guide says shoppers should look for other options

Mackerel stocks are nearing a “breaking point”, experts have said as the fish is downgraded as a sustainable option.

People should be eating herring instead, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said, because mackerel continues to be overfished by countries including Norway and the UK.

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Earless dragons were presumed extinct in Australia – now Daisy and Kip have sniffed out 13 of them

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Zoos Victoria wildlife detection dogs uncovered the ‘bloody gorgeous’ reptiles in return for treats and cuddles

Wildlife detection dogs successfully sniffed out 13 critically endangered earless dragons in previously unknown burrows in Melbourne’s west, after a training program launched by Zoos Victoria in 2023.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon – Australia’s most imperilled reptile – had not been seen for 50 years and was thought extinct before its remarkable rediscovery on privately owned grassland in 2023.

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Rainbow lorikeet is our most commonly spotted bird, Australia’s largest citizen science event finds

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About 57,000 people participated in the Aussie Bird Count, with the lorikeet joining the noisy miner and magpie in the top three spots

The rainbow lorikeet and its colourful plumage has topped Australia’s largest citizen science event as the most numerous bird recorded across the country.

More than 4.1m birds were counted as part of BirdLife Australia’s annual Aussie Bird Count, a week-long event which involved 57,000 participants across the country last October.

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Rainbow lorikeet

Noisy miner

Australian magpie

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Welcome swallow

Galah

Silver gull

Australian white ibis

House sparrow

Little corella

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Rainbow lorikeet is our most commonly spotted bird, Australia’s largest citizen science event finds

Posted on by

About 57,000 people participated in the Aussie Bird Count, with the lorikeet joining the noisy miner and magpie in the top three spots

The rainbow lorikeet and its colourful plumage has topped Australia’s largest citizen science event as the most numerous bird recorded across the country.

More than 4.1m birds were counted as part of BirdLife Australia’s annual Aussie Bird Count, a week-long event which involved 57,000 participants across the country last October.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Rainbow lorikeet

Noisy miner

Australian magpie

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Welcome swallow

Galah

Silver gull

Australian white ibis

House sparrow

Little corella

Continue reading...

‘They’re everywhere’: workers warn of rat infestation at Somerset nuclear plant

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Unions urge energy giant EDF to take action as concerns mount over health of construction staff

Workers building the troubled Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor in Somerset have raised concerns that the construction site is overrun by rats.

The Unite and GMB trade unions are understood to have warned the developer, the French energy giant EDF, that urgent action is needed because the rodents are “everywhere”.

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Beloved Alaska pet reindeer euthanized after cage tampering and possible poison

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Star, 8, began to lose weight after someone got inside pen, cut gate locks and sprayed substance over two-month span

A pet reindeer beloved by many in Alaska’s largest city has been euthanized, just weeks after someone tampered with his cage and possibly poisoned him, his caretaker said on Wednesday.

“I don’t have an answer as to why he had to be put down other than it relates back to what happened,” said Albert Whitehead, who cared not only for the eight-year-old reindeer named Star but also the decades-long tradition of having a reindeer in downtown Anchorage.

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Chester zoo unveils £28m ‘Africa’ facility – complete with chilly giraffes

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Nine-hectare site home to 57 species including rhino, zebras and ostriches in UK’s biggest such development

“Although we are trying to replicate Uganda and Kenya we are actually in Cheshire so the weather is slightly different,” admits Chester zoo boss, Jamie Christon, on a fresh and very grey Monday morning.

But ignore the chilliness and screw your eyes and you could well be transported to a sweeping African savannah where, one day, there will be giraffes, zebras, antelopes and ostriches roaming majestically side by side.

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Charity faces legal action after relocated elephants in Malawi allegedly kill 10 people

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People living near Kasungu national park say they are living in fear after translocation of 263 elephants by International Fund for Animal Welfare

People living on the edge of a protected area in Malawi are taking legal action against an NGO that moved more than 250 elephants into the area, which they say have killed at least 10 people.

Villagers near Kasungu national park, which is Malawi’s second largest and crosses the Zambian border, say they are living in fear for their livelihoods and safety after 263 elephants were introduced in July 2022, causing a sharp spike in human-wildlife conflict. Ten people claiming to be affected by the translocation from Liwonde national park have begun legal action against the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw), demanding that the conservation NGO construct adequate fencing to protect the 167 villages around the park and compensate local people for the damage caused by the elephants.

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Bald eagle who went viral for incubating rock dies after fierce storms in Missouri

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Murphy, who lived to 33, took in a rock in 2023 and tried to hatch it, captivating hearts and later fostering two eaglets

Missouri lost an ambassador, role model and community pillar in the violent storms that swept the country on 15 March: a 33-year-old bald eagle named Murphy.

Murphy captivated hearts far beyond the midwest and gained national attention in 2023 when he incubated a rock, attempting to hatch it, in a stunt the internet loved. The World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri, where he lived, rewarded his instincts, allowing him to foster an eaglet that he nurtured back to health. Another eaglet was placed into his care, and is expected to be released midway through the summer.

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Falconer ‘extremely close’ to catching hawk attacking Hertfordshire villagers

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Bird of prey’s violent reign in Flamstead could soon come to an end, according to parish council

It stole two woolly hats from the head of a 91-year-old pensioner. It clawed a jogger’s scalp and left him reeling. It is said to swoop in from behind without making a sound, has a penchant for tall men’s heads and – so far – has evaded capture.

But the violent reign of the Flamstead hawk, which has made men in the Hertfordshire village of Flamstead afraid to go out without covering their heads, may soon be at an end.

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Spanish parliament vote on cutting food waste will end ban on wolf hunting

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Amendment brought by coalition of parties says wolves add to food waste due to remains of livestock they kill

The Spanish parliament has voted through a measure that will in effect lift the hunting ban on wolves that was imposed in 2021.

A coalition led by the conservative People’s party, with the support of the far-right Vox party and Basque and Catalan nationalists, added an amendment to a law aimed at reducing Spain’s estimated 1.2bn kilograms of food waste.

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Mexico City introduces ‘bloodless bullfighting’ in win for animal rights activists

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Activists celebrate move, but note that ‘a bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering’

Mexico City’s congress has voted to ban traditional bullfights and replace them with a new form of bloodless spectacle, marking the latest episode in a years-long legal battle to outlaw the practice in the capital.

Animal rights activists celebrated the move on Tuesday – even if it wasn’t the total ban on bullfighting they had been pushing for.

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Hope for endangered penguins as no-fishing zones agreed off South Africa

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Deal will restrict fishing near colonies on Robben Island and Bird Island for 10 years, after long debate between industry and conservationists

Efforts to stop the critically endangered African penguin from going extinct took a step forward on Tuesday after South African conservationists and fishing industry groups reached a legal settlement on no-fishing zones around six of the penguins’ major breeding colonies.

Sardine and anchovy fishing will not be allowed for 12 miles (20km) around the penguin colony off Cape Town on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and Bird Island, across the bay from Gqeberha, also known as Port Elizabeth. There will be more limited closures around four other colonies, according to a court order formalising the agreement.

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