Under a full moon and clear skies on an unseasonably warm evening in late June, I am hiking across Otata Island in The Noises.

A large diesel spill at Takapuna's Lake Pupuke has raised concerns for birds and wildlife.

Jennifer Layton was disqualified by the council of owning a dog for five years from October 2013, but after a third appeal that time has been halved.

Shocking footage has emerged of a shark being dragged out of the water so a group of tourists could take photographs with it.

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

COMMENT: How we treat animals matters, not just to animals, but to ourselves and overseas markets.

COMMENT: The dairy industry does not want the cheese-eating world-wide public to know about its disposal of unwanted bobby calves, writes Mandy Carter,

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.

COMMENT: The Government should be proactive and appoint an independent Commissioner for Animal Welfare, writes Catriona MacLennan. Not only to prosecute animal cruelty, but also comprehensive monitoring of animal welfare.

A major environmental group wants to see more money for conservation funding amid Thursday's Budget announcements.

In a new Reddit thread, rangers reveal "the stupidest things they've ever seen a tourist do in a national park".

Despite your best intentions, it's probably not a good idea to put a wild animal in the back of your car - even if you're concerned it might be cold.

Thanks to kindhearted vet staff, this curious kitten has found his feet again.

A Waikato piggery is facing cruelty charges after 25 pigs were left injured in the alleged overcrowded site, while three had to be put down.

COMMENT: As with all good stories there are two sides. In this case there is the duck and the hunter. I am interested in the duck's side, writes Lynley Tulloch.

Top travel website TripAdvisor has been accused of "profiting from the world's cruelest animal attractions" by an international animal welfare charity.

A farmhand did not face animal cruelty charges because a council wrongly said drowning possums was a humane way to kill them.

Warning: Content may disturb. Animal advocacy activists have released shocking undercover footage from a colony egg farm that shows dead hens rotting in their cages and dying hens trapped beneath perches.

Photos posted on Facebook generate debate about animals' welfare at annual Auckland event.

COMMENT: Instead of banning hen cages altogether, the Govt decided that battery cages would be replaced by "colony" or "enriched" cages, writes Catriona MacLennan. This is nonsense.

"Rodeos serve no place in New Zealand," say animal rights groups.

GALLERY: Injured turtles at Kelly Tarlton's.

Richard Robinson visited the sick and injured turtles being rehabilitated at Auckland’s Kelly Tarlton’s.

Nandi's deportation to NZ has been cleverly packaged, but the truth is that Nandi will leave her home and her family to become yet another spectacle for the public to gawp at, writes Mandy Carter.

A video of free range chooks streaming out of their barn at a Whangarei egg producer has now gone intergalactic after Star Trek actor George Takei linked it to his 9.5 million followers on Facebook. Source: Otaika Valley Free Range Eggs NZ

Animal rights groups are aghast this country is again being promoted as a premier destination for enthusiasts.

Trophy hunting is an industry that reportedly pumps tens of millions of dollars into the New Zealand economy each year.