It's party time for pests, and some holidaymakers are returning to find uninvited, hungry house-sitters lurking at home.

Thousands of people have again levelled contempt at Texas cheerleader Kendall Jones over an online competition she set up to find the "hottest" male hunter.

On Labour Weekend this year, Ashley Schomaker decided to make the holiday a memorable one.

New figures show ACC paid $49.1 million in compensation for more than 107,000 animal-related incidents in the past two years.

A hippopotamus was left lying injured on the side of the road for hours after making a panicked jump from a truck in Taiwan.

Conservationists have reintroduced the gibbons as part of an ambitious project for the "re-wilding" of Angkor Wat, a vast "temple city" that was once surrounded by forests.

The mine-strewn border between Iran and Iraq has become an unlikely sanctuary for one of the world's most endangered species of leopard.

Two youths have been charged after police found 22 sheep crammed in a van in Gisborne this morning.

Chow Chow dogs, painted and dyed to look like panda bears, have been seized from an Italian circus.

The move to grant an orang-utan in Argentina some legal rights enjoyed by humans could open the floodgates to thousands of similar cases.

A newly discovered beetle has been named after television naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

There are aliens living amongst us, not little green men but foreign animal species from ecosystems far away, writes Sally Hibbard.

An Argentine court has granted "habeas corpus" to a female orangutan at the Buenos Aires Zoo and recognised basic rights for her as a "non-human individual" to live in semi-freedom with other large primates.

A rare native bird has been released back into the wild a month on from a stormy rescue by a Hamilton police officer.

An Auckland woman who kept 50 cats living in disgusting conditions with serious infections and ailments has been sentenced for her neglect.

The firefighter who rescued a kitten trapped in the dashboard of a Tauranga car has been described as the "finest cat whisperer".

In the long story of the Hauraki Gulf, humans have been in the picture for mere moments.

There is an astonishing array of goods and services available for pets. With some trepidation, Sally Hibbard set out to find the strangest of them.

A far north Queensland community is grieving the death of an 18-year-old man who was attacked by a shark in front of shocked friends.

For those who didn’t know, Zooey Deschanel is an enthusiastic equestrian, who has competed in numerous competitions.

Losing a pet can be tough for both the animal and its owner, so the SPCA is once again pushing the importance of having pets micro-chipped.

A man whose dog was chased by police, pepper sprayed and unlawfully shot dead has received an official apology.

From potential taxes on sugary drinks to the ancestry of our kiwi, science has offered plenty of headlines this year.

Filming for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 could be delayed, all thanks to a bit of monkey business in Australian quarantine.

The most popular kitten names for 2014 have been revealed - with Bella and Oliver topping the list of most-loved feline monikers once again.

1. When did you first see Jaws?

Perth beachgoers are being urged to take extra care after a spate of shark sightings.

A shark attack expert says Western Australia's policy is like the Hollywood blockbuster movie 'Jaws'.