A family got a little closer to nature than they bargained for when a bear opened their car door at Yellowstone National Park.

A Chinese village is overrun with monkeys after a plan to increase tourism in the area spectacularly backfired.

The body of toddler snatched by alligator at Disney resort has been found, says a source close to the investigation.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says some 50 people are now "working on recovering the body" of a 2-year-old boy snatched by an alligator at Walt Disney World.

This image of Diggy the dog went viral. Then his owner was visited by police and told if he didn't get rid of Diggy, he could be put down.

There were plenty of high-pitched squeals from Auckland zoo-goers as two cute new-born capybaras drew crowds.

Kiwi pop star Jamie McDell has written a song to bring to people's attention that only 55 of the protected species remain.

Auckland firefighters rushed to Pt Chevalier to rescue a 6-month-old guide dog puppy from a drain.

Emergency Services have successfully rescued a horse trapped by dangerously rising floodwaters in the Otaki River.

Husar, a 400-kilogram male manatee, arrived at his new home in the Paris Zoo Thursday morning after travelling from Italy. Source: AFP

And it smelt delicious, according to his rescuers.

A woman reviewing security camera footage at her home was surprised to notice a little boy sneaking into her garage. The footage revealed a boy riding past Hollie Breaux Mallet's home in Louisiana before jumping off his bike and running into her garage. But rather than being up to no good, he was captured playing with the woman's pet dog, Duchess. The footage then shows him leaving the garage and riding away.

COMMENT: Pigs with human organs may sound "yuck" but is just another case of swapping DNA, writes John Harris.

Bretagne responded to multiple natural disasters across the country, including Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

The policeman who jumped out of a second-storey window to escape a gunman during the Porirua seige has spoken about how he feared for his life.

Dog registration fees have risen this year but are cheaper if owners re-register their dogs during the "earlybird period".

For the past five years or so, Lesley Lowe and her 10 little ponies have been entertaining children with trail rides and lessons at the Tiny Trotters Animal Park in Redwood Lane, Tauriko, but since her lease ran out at the end of May they are looking for a new home.

Animal rights activists have called for the release of an orca whale filmed deliberately beaching herself and lying motionless at the side of the pool for several minutes after a show at Tenerife's Loro Parque zoo.

Heartbreaking footage shows a captive killer whale appearing to beach itself on a concrete slab following a show for tourists at a theme park.

Kiwi researchers have used drones to capture stunning footage of Bryde's whales foraging off Auckland's coast.

WATCH: Kiwi researchers have used drones to capture stunning footage of critically threatened Bryde's whales foraging off Auckland's coast.

Source: WOOD TV8 The parents of a 45-year-old who was fatally shot at home in the United State said they think his talking pet continues to relive the slaying.

Source: Youtube.com/indvdos The bizarre moment a monkey robbed a jewellery store for 10,000 rupees.

A false killer whale that had stranded north of New Brighton in Christchurch has now disappeared from sight - giving rescuers high hopes it will survive and rejoin its pod.

Mainland New Zealand's largest yellow-eyed penguin colony is in "dire'' need of protection from crowds of tourists

COMMENT: How do toddlers end up in gorilla cages? Probably the same way they end up behind cars in driveways.

Days after a young boy fell into the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati zoo - prompting the zoo's decision to shoot and kill a 17-year-old gorilla -- archived video has emerged showing a similar incident 20 years ago, with a very different outcome. Source: WGN-TV

They've said it before and it looks like they'll have to say it again - don't get too close to the animals.