Latest Animals News

Brazilian beef and leather companies fall short in tackling deforestation, a study finds

Dec. 11, 2024 06:48 AM EST

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The next United Nations climate conference, COP30, will be held in Belem, the capital of an Amazon region where widespread deforestation mainly driven by cattle farming has turned the surrounding rainforest from a vital carbon sink into a significant carbon source. ...

Greyhound racing is increasingly rare worldwide. New Zealand now plans to outlaw the practice

Dec. 10, 2024 21:40 PM EST

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand plans to outlaw greyhound racing because too many dogs are hurt or killed, the government said Tuesday, spelling an end to the practice in one of the few countries where it still operates. The racing of greyhounds as a betting sport was...

A fugitive gains fame in New Orleans eluding dart guns and nets

Dec. 10, 2024 17:33 PM EST

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A scruffy little fugitive is on the lam again in New Orleans, gaining fame as he outwits a tenacious band of citizens armed with night-vision binoculars, nets and a tranquilizer rifle. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero,...

Monarch butterflies to be listed as a threatened species in US

Dec. 10, 2024 16:42 PM EST

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision Tuesday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change. The U.S. Fish and...

Chinese gold mining threatens a protected UN heritage site in Congo

Dec. 10, 2024 10:09 AM EST

OKAPI WILDLIFE RESERVE, Congo (AP) — Scattered along the banks of the Ituri River, buildings cram together, cranes transport dirt and debris scatters the soil. The patches of trees are a scant reminder that a forest once grew there. Nestled in eastern Congo's Ituri province, the...

Gardening can be a four-season labor of love. Here's a look at some winter tasks and projects

Dec. 10, 2024 08:38 AM EST

I see you, sitting there by the fire with your cup of hot cocoa (or wine). Don’t get too comfortable. You might think you can rest on your laurels now that there’s a break in the mowing, weeding, sowing and planting action. But fall and winter are the best times to tend to your...

Takeaways from AP's report on Chinese gold mining threatening endangered protected site in Congo

Dec. 09, 2024 22:06 PM EST

OKAPI WILDLIFE RESERVE, Congo (AP) — For eight years, a Chinese mining company has been vastly expanding inside an endangered World Heritage Site, accused by locals and conservationists of decimating the environment. The Okapi Wildlife Reserve became a protected site in 1996, due...

Ukrainian man fleeing war rescued with his kitten on a perilous journey through Romanian mountains

Dec. 09, 2024 21:28 PM EST

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A Ukrainian man who embarked on a perilous journey fleeing his war-torn country into Romania was rescued from a deep mountain ravine in subzero temperatures with an unlikely companion: his months-old kitten named Peach. More than a dozen rescuers worked in...

Biden's approval of an oil lease sale will keep the door open to drilling in Alaska's Arctic refuge

Dec. 09, 2024 20:34 PM EST

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration has approved plans for a sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska that leaves open the door for drilling in a portion of the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The sale will be held Jan. 9, less than two weeks before President Joe...

Rescuers rush to save geese and ducks soaked in oil due to spill in Boston river

Dec. 09, 2024 17:22 PM EST

BOSTON (AP) — Wildlife rescuers were rushing Monday to tend to dozens of geese and ducks that were soaked in oil after a spill in a Boston river. Police and fire departments were dispatched to the Muddy River on the border of Boston and the town of Brookline a little after noon on...