A Russian capsule carrying mice, lizards and other small animals has returned to Earth after spending a month in space for what scientists said was the longest experiment of its kind.

New research from Oxford University shows the rate of global warming has been lower over the past decade than it was previously.

New Zealand in 2013 has the opportunity to take a bold step and introduce the best animal welfare laws in the world.

Extending a ban on set net fishing around the Otago Peninsula will stem the deaths of one of the rarest penguin species in the world

A second rare shark has been found washed up on Muriwai Beach in less than a week.

It was the death and unceremonious disposal of a guinea pig that sparked a business plan for Jane Bogust.

Auckland Airport biosecurity staff have avoided a nasty nipping after finding five live crabs in a Vietnamese passenger's luggage.

Dunedin Department of Conservation staff helped a wayward windfarer back on its flight path yesterday.

After having had each front toe amputated, could a 12-year-old takahe called Maroro resume a normal lifestyle? The answer is a resounding yes.

A North Canterbury forest lifestyle block owner facing animal welfare charges has now been charged with breaching a protection order and bashing 13 chickens to death.

Tallies from the annual Great Easter Bunny Hunt in Central Otago must have embarrassed the Otago Regional Council, as they revealed the ineffectiveness of its pest management, submitters said this week.

A Wairarapa man got more than he bargained for when he took his two dogs walking at Lake Domain.

The heli-hunting season on Department of Conservation land ends in late July and it is quite likely to be the last.

Plans to completely eradicate Stewart Island of pests have been unveiled by anti-cat crusader Gareth Morgan.

Bird catchers will be out in the Auckland suburb of Glendowie today after the runaway kokako was discovered a fortnight ago.

Residents of a leafy street in suburban Auckland are keeping their cats in at night and are helping Department of Conservation staff catch an adventurous and rare kokako.

Once the kids see Reptile Park's residents, they'll want to stay and stare, writes Dionne Christian.

Ingrid Newkirk compares factory farming to the Holocaust and SeaWorld to slavery. Carole Cadwalladr crosses swords with the founder of Peta.

The progress of a pair of rare New Zealand kokako will be tracked via radio transmitters when they are released into the wild this weekend.

The Otago SPCA says the dumping of nine kittens and two cats near a swede stand between Milton and Waihola yesterday was "disgraceful".

A Taupo dairy company's guilty plea of failing to provide sufficient food for hundreds of cows sends a "strong deterrent message'', Federated Farmers says.