When Trina Hibberd woke up Monday morning, she found herself in a living nightmare after discovering a five-metre python draped around her living room.

An Amazon jaguar has been shot dead by the Brazilian army after participating as a 'mascot' for an Olympic torch ceremony.

The justice meted out to animal attackers varies by jurisdiction and species. But the default is to err on the side of human safety.

A New Zealand man’s been stabbed while walking along a beach in Thailand. Sushi has returned home after being missing for eight years, the moggy’s owner is over joyed.

New Zealanders have long been a nation of animal lovers, and now we're also a country that loves to post pictures of our pets online.

A large dolphin pod rides the waves at West Beach in Esperance, Western Australia. Source: Youtube / David Smith777

A little blue penguin found lethargic and emaciated at Moa Pt in Wellington has been returned to the wild after Wellington Zoo staff nursed it back to health.

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.

It's not just humans who battle weight issues - our dogs, cats and other pets all run the risk of obesity too.

Research has long shown that animals suffer psychological damage in captivity, yet we've always found a way to justify confining them to tanks and cages.

The woman discovered the animal on her 5-year-old son in their Colorado back yard.

It's morning in the Murchison, a desolate, sunbaked corner of the midwest of Western Australia, and a trio of wedge-tailed eagles are circling.

Melbourne Zoo's newborn elephant cannot stand, which leaves her future uncertain.

A woman in her 40s has suffered multiple bite wounds after being attacked by a dog in Hunterville, in the Rangitikei district.

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

A Chinese village is overrun with monkeys after a plan to increase tourism in the area spectacularly backfired.

The body of toddler snatched by alligator at Disney resort has been found, says a source close to the investigation.

There were plenty of high-pitched squeals from Auckland zoo-goers as two cute new-born capybaras drew crowds.

Kiwi pop star Jamie McDell has written a song to bring to people's attention that only 55 of the protected species remain.

Auckland firefighters rushed to Pt Chevalier to rescue a 6-month-old guide dog puppy from a drain.

Woman shares security footage of boy sneaking into her garage every day to cuddle her dog ... and then finds out the boy's own dog died from old age last year.

People have been trying to understand how living things know where they're going for more than 100 years.

Emergency Services have successfully rescued a horse trapped by dangerously rising floodwaters in the Otaki River.

Husar, a 400-kilogram male manatee, arrived at his new home in the Paris Zoo Thursday morning after travelling from Italy. Source: AFP

And it smelt delicious, according to his rescuers.

A woman reviewing security camera footage at her home was surprised to notice a little boy sneaking into her garage. The footage revealed a boy riding past Hollie Breaux Mallet's home in Louisiana before jumping off his bike and running into her garage. But rather than being up to no good, he was captured playing with the woman's pet dog, Duchess. The footage then shows him leaving the garage and riding away.

COMMENT: Pigs with human organs may sound "yuck" but is just another case of swapping DNA, writes John Harris.

Bretagne responded to multiple natural disasters across the country, including Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.