The dedication and stamina of the worker ant were celebrated in Aesop's Fables - in contrast to the lazy, singing grasshopper.

An animal believed to have been extinct for four million years has been found near Picton.

American scientists are attempting to breed chickens that can cope with scorching heat as part of a series of government-funded programmes.

A "ghost snail", a tiny fringed fairyfly named Tinkerbell and a pale yellow sea anemone that is at home under a glacier are on an international list of the 10 top species discovered last year.

The more visitors within a five-metre radius of the koalas, the more vigilance behaviour koalas displayed, which puts them in an alert state.

The last remaining 55 of world's rarest species of dolphins could disappear within three decades if New Zealand doesn't act now, wildlife advocates say.

Eighty native birds have been caught on Little Barrier Island and delivered to a new wildlife reserve in the Hauraki Gulf.

A research breakthrough could net our economy $125 million each year by combining cutting-edge technology with something New Zealand famously has in abundance - sheep.

In NZ animals are afforded basic rights - including freedom and suffering. Except the 3 million made to take part in experiments, writes Sally Hibbard.

Polar bears may hold the answer to the obesity crisis in their genes, new research has shown.

A critically ill baby kakapo has been nursed back to health at Auckland Zoo. "Heather One", one of only six kakapo bred this season, was 10 days old and severely underweight when she was found on Little Barrier Island in late March.

A dog has killed a male kiwi that was living in the wild just north of Wellington.

Defenders of dogs, cats and rats are starting to feel that this could be their year. They've joined forces to make animal welfare an election issue for the first time.

A scientist is stepping back in time to solve the mystery behind a dramatic drop in the world's most threatened species of sea lion.

Members of New Zealand's navy were tasked with protecting nine very precious kiwi this week.

Murray McCully is warning against indulging in "triumphalism". He fears that if we denigrate the Japanese, this will hurt their national pride, writes Brian Rudman.

Scientists have used an underwater camera to count large snapper in Hauraki Gulf marine reserves.

For the past 15 years, a Kiwi marine explorer has been tracking great white sharks around the world, helping answer one of the biggest questions concerning great whites — their home range.

Everyday Kiwis could be recruited to help save New Zealand from a swarm of pests costing our economy billions and ravaging our cherished biodiversity, a new report suggests.

The Adelie penguin population in Antarctica's Ross Sea has boomed to an estimated 30-year high, despite signs that climate change is driving population declines elsewhere on the continent.

The familiar scent of its owner lingers like perfume in a dog's brain, US scientists claim.

Kaikoura's world-renowned wild marine environment will be better protected by a new marine reserve.

There's no signpost to say you're nearing New Zealand's subantarctic islands, but a welcome that's a little more dramatic.

How do you stop truckloads of unsaleable food from going to the dump - and turn it into something useful? Put a few thousand piggies in the middle.

Using advances in genetic science, a small research team are testing whether it is possible to make an evolutionary loophole work to the advantage of pest control.