Latest fromPets & Animals

Now ear this - horses 'talk' to each other
Horses have more sense than many people realise, according to scientists who have shown the animals are able to communicate with one another by moving their eyes and ears.

Brian Rudman: Time to cull the human-attacking dog breeds
Let's not get sidetracked over whether or not Housing New Zealand's dog ban failed.

Talk to the Animals: Lizards: The new 'must have' pet?
When it comes to choosing a new pet, some people are opting for a beady eyed and scaly companion in preference to the traditional cat or dog.

WWI: NZ battle horses paid terrible toll
11:They served in horrific conditions, and many of those that survived years of war were rewarded with a bullet.

Time lapse: Tuatara hatching
With a face only a mother could love - a baby tuatara was captured on film as it hatched out of its egg at Victoria University of Wellington.

Boy mauled, despite dog ban
Housing New Zealand is to look into how a young boy was mauled by a dog on one of its properties, despite a dog ban being in place.

Black cats savaged in 'selfie' era
For centuries they have faced suspicion, hostility and even death as a result of the bad luck they are said to carry with them.

Talk to the Animals: Become a NZ animal expert
I really like old American cars - I like how they look and how they sound but please don't ask me anything about their inner workings.

Kerre McIvor: Time to get tough on owners of attack dogs
It's time the Govt got tough on the mongrels who choose to have dogs simply to intimidate and make a statement, not to love and care for and have as part of the family, writes Kerre McIvor.

Russian geckos going at it in space despite glitches
An orbital sex mission by five Russian geckos has gone from lust in space to lost in space.

Kitty transfusion saves pet
Remy the cat owes one of his nine lives to a popular neighbourhood tabby whose strong blood kept him alive.

Tyrannosaurs ran in gangs
Scientists in western Canada have discovered the fossilised footprints of three tyrannosaurs that suggest these fearsome predators may have hunted in packs.

Saving species may need controversial methods
Intensive and sometimes controversial forms of threatened species management may be needed to reverse the increasing rate of global biodiversity losses, a University of Otago zoologist says.

Talk to the Animals: Enforcing animal welfare - whose job is it?
There are three approved organizations in NZ that can act on animal welfare complaints: the police, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Royal NZ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RNZSPCA).

Hero cop stops vicious dog attack
A 17-year-old rescued by a mother-of-two and a police officer when his pitbull viciously mauled him believes the animal couldn't stop.

Malcolm Forbes, Ryan Anderson: Jagger a poster boy for Darwinian peacock theory
What is it that makes rockstars so attractive to the opposite sex? Turns out Charles Darwin had it pegged years ago - and it has a lot to do with peacocks.

Look what the storm blew in...
Roy May has found many curious things on the beach - but he's never seen anything like the creature that washed up in last week's storm.

Hungry seals a road hazard
A new hazard has appeared on Northland's roads and it comes with a bite - hungry, resting or abandoned seals are turning up along the coast.

Great white shark chokes on sea lion
Footage has emerged of the extraordinary moment a dying great white shark tried to beach itself in Australia after biting off more than it could chew.

Brothers jailed for fatally starving horses
Two brothers who starved horses so badly they had to be shot by animal welfare officers have been jailed and banned from owning horses for five years.

Crush NZ's seized ivory, petition asks
The Government is being urged to make an international gesture by destroying its stockpile of up to 800 confiscated ivory specimens.