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.

A shiver of sharks spotted near Pauanui Beach on the Coromandel resulted in the popular beach closing for three hours today.

Tens of thousands of dead bats have fallen from the sky as a "catastrophic" heatwave hits parts of eastern Australia.

Sir David Attenborough has seen some horrific sights over his 60-year career, but nothing so bad as what a group of chimpanzees did to a pack of monkeys.

A diver who suffered a potentially fatal blow when struck in the chest by a stingray's barb is one of several people to have a close encounter so far this summer.

The finning of dead sharks will be completely banned by 2016, the Government has announced.

"Somehow he got flattened." The wife of a Tihoi farmer who suffered "bumps and bruises" after being sat on by a cow is still unsure how the accident happened.

Abandoned on the streets with a collar embedded in her neck, Zahara has recovered and is ready for a loving home.

"I guess social media is good for something." A puppy owner is grateful her pet Misty, stolen outside Grey Lynn Countdown, has been returned.

A fisherman stabbed by a stingray while hauling in nets at sea managed to cut the barb off while it was still embedded in his leg.

"I saw everyone running from the water." Swimmers and boarders at Papamoa Beach head for sand as bronze whaler swims through the shallows.

A cat caused a stir after being stuck in a central Auckland building shaft for four days.

It was a routine flea treatment, his family thought. But it was nearly a case of kitty-cide for Dexter who had a bad reaction to the product - which was for dogs.

Many dog owners have found themselves unable to resist treating a pet that makes "puppy dog eyes" and now scientists have discovered the cute expression taps into our subconscious.

Melissa and Charlie come as a pair, having lived together with a previous owner, and would like to be adopted.

An Auckland man and his friends thought they had spotted a whale when they glimpsed what turned out to be a giant manta ray.

"Cull pollies not sharks" urged one of the placards waved by the thousands of protesters who rallied at the weekend.

The SPCA was given 14 pigeons in September after their previous owner became dismayed at the rate they were breeding.

A twig snaps, a crow calls, but nothing moves in the dense pine forests of Spain's Guadarrama mountains.

A man filming his diving expedition in Northland caught more than crayfish when he came face to face with a pod of orcas.

Indy was given to the SPCA after her previous owners moved from a country property to a small central home where there was not enough room for her to play.

Do badly behaved dogs start out that way or are they are helped along by their owners? Animal behaviour expert Sally Hibbard tackles the question.

If there was ever a reason not to be nosey, then this video is it. And if you happen to be an arachnophobe, the scenes here are the stuff of your darkest nightmares.

A horse spooked by New Year's Eve fireworks in the Bay of Islands has died from a horrific leg injury.