Canterbury SPCA welfare investigators are run off their feet trying to catch up after a record month for complaints in December.

Washington and Tokyo have been drawn into an unexpected diplomatic spat over the annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji.

Department of Conservation rangers are checking beaches at Farewell Spit this morning for any signs that a pod of whales restranded overnight.

Crab fishers leaving a beach strewn with chicken carcasses have outraged residents and conservationists at Omaha.

'These whales have to get out today if they want to make it.' There's a dire warning for a pod of 50 whales stranded at Farewell Spit, as three more die.

A colony of ants have set up home in the International Space Station as part of an experiment to see how their behavior changes in an environment of low gravity.

Over 250 dolphins are being held captive in a cove on the coast of Japan, waiting for either a life in captivity, or slaughter.

A babysitter attacked by a dog wants the Dog Control Act reviewed after she was threatened with prosecution.

A large number of pilot whales refloated after beaching at Farewell Spit in Golden Bay are in danger once again.

More whales have stranded themselves at the top of the South Island days after nine were put down due to being beached at the same spot.

Kiwiboatbuilder Rob Innes has helped construct a line of supercharged vessels that look like sharks, dolphins or killer whales.

A pod of orca whales has been spotted near the entrance to Akaroa Harbour on Banks Peninsula.

'It could've been a child.' A man has been arrested and charged over an incident where a quad bike hit and killed a puppy on Haumoana Beach.

Eight pilot whales which have restranded themselves at the top of the South Island will be euthanised.

A small pod of pilot whales that beached on Farewell Spit yesterday is back in the water, but they leave behind five pod mates who died overnight.

Missy is a 2-year-old female staffie/boxer mixed breed dog that needs some company.

Time was running out tonight for a group of pilot whales to swim back out to sea on the high tide after becoming stranded at Farewell Spit in Golden Bay this morning.

A fisherman has become a phenomenon in his native Japan after catching a four-metre giant squid off the coast of Sadogashima Island.

Hundreds of dead red-billed gulls at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula are no cause for concern, the Department of Conservation says.

When some workers were battling the back-to-work blues after a summer holiday, biosecurity sniffer dog Zeta was tugging at the reins to get back on the job.

Emergency department nurse Kay Hamilton watched helplessly as the life drained from her fox terrier puppy after she was hit by a speeding quad bike.

Don't let his name fool you - this 6-month-old New Zealand white rabbit is a chilled-out dude.

"I can't see this behaviour of having sharks associate food with boats coming to anything good." Shark-cage diving isn't appreciated by some Stewart Is boaties.

This male Muscovy duck was brought in as a stray.

Shark season is in full swing as many species return to feed and frolic in our warm summer waters. Keen-eyed boaties and beachgoers have a good chance this week of spotting hammerheads, bronze whalers and even whale sharks.

Selfish or ignorant holidaymakers are threatening one of the world's most critically endangered birds by letting their dogs roam free within metres of nesting chicks.