Latest Animals News
Japanese fans bid farewell to beloved panda pair before their return to China
TOKYO (AP) — Thousands of Japanese fans bid tearful farewell to their beloved panda couple that made their final public appearance at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo on Saturday before returning to China for medical treatment. The pair, Ri Ri and Shin Shin, are the parents of Xiang Xiang, the...
A new pair of giant pandas gifted by Beijing arrives in Hong Kong
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong welcomed a new pair of giant pandas gifted by Beijing on Thursday with a lavish ceremony, raising hopes for a boost to the city's tourism. An An and Ke Ke are the third pair of giant pandas to be sent to the city from mainland China since the former...
A zoo in Finland is returning giant pandas to China because they're too expensive to keep
HELSINKI (AP) — A zoo in Finland has agreed with Chinese authorities to return two loaned giant pandas to China more than eight years ahead of schedule because they have become too expensive for the facility to maintain amid declining visitors. The private Ähtäri Zoo in central...
The EU moves to loosen protections for wolves as their population grows
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is moving toward backing plans to remove some of its protections for wolves on the continent as their population grows, in the latest political clash between farmers and environmentalists. Ambassadors of the 27 EU nations reached a qualified...
Movie Review: Visually stunning, emotionally powerful, 'The Wild Robot' is everything
In the opening scenes of “The Wild Robot,” a chirpy metal android with a state-of-the-art processing unit wanders around a forest asking confused animals if it can help them, offering discount codes and stickers for future customers. “Did anyone order me?” it asks. We did, it...
The chunkiest of chunks face off in Alaska's Fat Bear Week
An Alaska national park's yearly celebration of the beefy, brown and bristly is getting underway as some of the chunkiest bears on the planet fatten up for their long winter slumber. Fat Bear Week doesn't officially start at Katmai National Park and Preserve until Oct. 2, when fans...
Hawaii has gone down under for invasive species advice – again
A delegation of Hawaii lawmakers and officials recently returned from a more than $50,000 visit to New Zealand seeking ways the state could better shield itself from invasive species – advice it failed to heed almost two decades ago. The South Pacific nation had originally offered...
In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble
ON HUDSON BAY (AP) — Searching for polar bears where the Churchill River dumps into Canada's massive Hudson Bay, biologist Geoff York scans a region that's on a low fat, low ice diet because of climate change. And it's getting lower on polar bears. There are now...
Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over listing Texas lizard as endangered
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden administration officials for declaring a rare lizard endangered earlier this year. The dunes sagebrush lizard burrows in the...
Birds, bees and ballots: Swiss voters reject plan to better protect the country's biodiversity
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland, known for natural beauty like pristine lakes and majestic Alpine peaks, ranks among the world's richest countries whose plant and animal life is under the greatest threat. Environmentalists were seeking better protections for the country's biodiversity in a nationwide...
