A damp start to summer followed by a prolonged spell of dry weather has provided perfect conditions for biting insects.

North Shore residents say somebody is poisoning hungry sparrows and leaving them to die on roads and footpaths.

Liz Light visits Ralph Hotere's final Hokianga home.

Eco-tourism is popping up all over India. Liz Light goes birdwatching.

While the world is focused on the dramatic campaign to stop Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters, conservationists are focused on a less known threat to marine mammals. And this time the target is the US Navy.

An American proposal to offer more protection to polar bears by prohibiting trade in their skins has failed at a major conservation conference.

The Auckland Council says it will not tolerate people eeling in public parks after an eel trap was recently found at Western Springs.

A British university student who fried a hamster has been ordered to do 120 hours of community service.

Shark attacks have a profound effect on those who face the ferocity. After last week's shock death of Adam Strange, Amelia Wade talks to three survivors of ocean savagery.

Sharks are being slaughtered at an unsustainable rate, with a new study showing 100 million are killed a year.

A police dog known for his determination to get his man was back at work yesterday, days after being throttled by a man police were trying to catch.

The close-knit Muriwai community struggles to come to terms with the loss of a friend and surf club supporter, Adam Strange.

New Zealand's threatened species of rare native duck, the whio, is making a comeback after a bumper breeding season.

Swimmers are likely to be allowed back into the water at Muriwai Beach tomorrow, providing nothing "untoward" happens today.

A review of beach safety policies will be conducted in the wake of yesterday's horror Muriwai Beach shark attack, but Australia-style shark nets have been ruled out.

Friends and family members have paid tribute to Muriwai Beach shark victim Adam Strange, a "big-hearted man" who "lived for the water between his toes".

Great white sharks are no strangers to Muriwai and the warm weather this summer may have brought them closer to shore.

Gun shots slow down and lose power almost immediately after they enter water - and the shark would need to have been on the surface for hits to be fatal, experts say.

Award-winning film director Adam Strange, 46, was the victim of a fatal shark attack in Muriwai this afternoon.

A dingo sanctuary for Queensland's Fraser Island is one of the ideas being considered to protect the animals.

A rare type of frog that is critically endangered has, for the first time, been successfully bred at the Auckland Zoo.

Auckland Zoo hatched seven baby Archey's frogs, a critically endangered New Zealand species of frog, in December and they are continuing to thrive in their captive environment.

WARNING: Graphic content. SPCA staff believe a cat found drowned in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour on Sunday was lured into a lobster trap and left in the water to die.

Conservationists say our lack of protection measures for sharks is a source of global embarrassment but the industry argues the debate is clouded by emotion.

A New Zealand seabird, which was thought to be extinct for over 150 years, has been found breeding on Little Barrier Island.