The Auckland elephant that killed its keeper has found a new home at San Diego Zoo.

As beads of sweat slithered down his temples, Andrew Hamblin stared in wide-eyed wonder at the 1m timber rattlesnake he had thrust towards his congregation.

When Melissa Bachman posted a photo of herself posing with an assault rifle and a very dead lion, she must have known she was being deliberately provocative.

Our national bird may be shy and retiring, but here's a handful of places where you might be able to get close to them.

The DoC could be facing one of its worst possum infestations in decades, partly because workers who helped with pest control were sent to fight bushfires in Australia.

A gun woman watched over a three-hour dental procedure in Auckland yesterday in case the patient woke early from his anaesthetic.

A new Game Animal Council is to be set up to take a leading role in the management of game animals - deer, tahr, chamois and wild pigs.

The SPCA is reviewing its procedures around dogs after a volunteer was mauled by a "family" dog that had shown no hint of aggression until it attacked.

Lloyd Esler describes himself as a "cold hard sceptic", but even he is starting to believe otters may have made themselves at home in Southland.

Princess Anne has suggested people in Britain should consider eating horse meat as it would help to improve the welfare of the animals.

Dogs may be man's best friend but, on many New Zealand farms, they are also often their best employees.

Several of New Zealand's most cherished birds - among them the kea and two types of albatross - have been shifted to a more serious conservation status following a national survey.

For years, scientists have been dogged by this evolution question: Just where did man's best friend first appear?

Six fluffy blue ducklings will take their first outing, to an outside pool, for the first time this afternoon.

Shark finning will be banned in New Zealand waters under a government proposal announced today.

The SPCA has clipped the wings of a programme that looked after injured birds.

A runaway police dog named Zinny sparked an all-out search this week after bolting from a handler during a comfort stop.

Sequoia the dog is classified as a menace to the community, though she has done nothing wrong.

A giant wedge-tailed eagle has reportedly been blown off course from Australia and taken up residence on a coast west of Auckland.

Researchers studying the effects of climate change on polar bears are experimenting with the idea of crowdsourcing data as improving technology allows anybody with an internet connection to monitor the animals' annual migration in Canada.

Black swans run over by a boat, a pet sheep bashed and set on fire, and fowl found stuffed in a chest of drawers have topped the SPCA's 2013 List of Shame.

Sumeet Satishwar captured these incredible images of a dead shark's pups at Muriwai Beach.

SPCA launched its annual appeal today with two of its world-famous driving dogs 'digging deep' for bags of money on Auckland's Kohimarama Beach.

An actual party animal has become a worldwide sensation after his night out with a bunch of French revellers went viral.