Capturing the extraordinary behavior of Britain's mammals was one of the judging criteria in the Mammal Society's Photographer of the Year competition. Here are some of the winning entries...

The Veterinary Council is investigating a complaint against a vet who charged almost $4000 after operating on a cat only for it to die a week later.

Each year more and more imported pork makes its way into the food chain - writes Dita De Boni - mostly through our consumption of cheap processed meat such as luncheon sausage and cheerios.

Shark scientist Riley Elliott says people can swim with sharks without being attacked – they just have to know how.

A pilot programme at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison is saving dogs earmarked to be put down and giving them a "second chance" at life.

A Whangarei cat owner, who had her cat's leg amputated after it was shot with a pellet gun, fears someone is on a shooting crusade and targeting animals.

The greyhound meeting at Addington Raceway on Friday was raided by animal control officers from three councils in the first New Zealand blitz on unregistered dogs at a track.

A roadkill cat that has been stuffed and turned into a rug has sold for almost $1000.

Introducing new species is a valuable tool for controlling pests, but although there have been some stunning successes, it can go badly wrong, writes Jacqueline Beggs.

A Landcare Research scientist is urging those who carry out rabbit poisoning programmes to consider also getting rid of the feral cats that feed on them.

A researcher embarking on the country's biggest shark-tagging exercise says New Zealand is lacking scientific data about its rapidly declining shark populations

The owners of a seafaring cat who was presumed drowned after falling overboard were amazed to be reunited with their pet nearly five weeks later.

A pest control programme on land near Lake Wanaka has eradicated almost 700 pests - including a cat compared in size to a panther - in little more than a year.

A comprehensive study into the mass mortality of yellow-eyed penguins on Otago Peninsula this summer is needed if the endangered species is to survive on the region's shores, University of Otago Associate Prof Phil Seddon says.

Slaughterman Kent Sambells' workload was "hectic" last week as Waikato farmers called him in to destroy ailing cattle and take them away for processing into pet food.