Hamilton Zoo have had an early Christmas present this year - four meerkats from Auckland Zoo.

Lifeguards have closed Mt Maunganui beach after a surfer's close encounter with a shark.

A mother dog howled all night after she fished her six dead puppies out of an estuary after they had been dumped in a shopping bag.

A "cowardly" man left a woman bleeding from serious arm injuries after his dog attacked her in Kaiapoi near Christchurch this morning.

An elephant handler was sacked after being told that his charge, Jumbo, was 'lost', only to find she had been given away.

The family who adopted Trooper - the puppy that was rescued after being found outside the Gate Pa shops, in Tauranga, with its ears chopped off - say he is settling in to his new home very well.

In the end it wasn't very difficult at all. I simply went out to lunch, drank a few glasses of very good champagne and did it.

For years, families have dropped off chickens that no longer lay or are no longer loved at the State Highway 1 carpark. Now, cars are pulling up for another reason: to kidnap the wild chooks.

Warm sea temperatures are a blessing for swimmers in the western Bay of Plenty, but the warmer waters are also bringing unwanted guests closer to shore.

The Department of Conservation has condemned the massacre of more than 100 rare gulls found dead in Southland.

Jim Eagles enjoys the company of the rare birds that thrive on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

The Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is returning to normal this week after a spate of horrific shark attacks.

Inhabitants of the Sub-Antarctic Islands put on a rollicking show.