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Walker Corporation had proposed 3,000 apartments, marina and shops for the site, which is a critical habitat for the endangered eastern curlew • Toondah Harbour: should a wetland home to endangered birds become $1.3bn worth of shops, high-rises and a marina?• To the moon and back with the eastern curlewThe environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, has announced she will reject an apartment and...

Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operationsThe private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China.A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling...

Monitoring station detects predatory species using artificial intelligence and sends alert so nests can be tracedAn early warning system designed to track and trace predatory Asian hornets using artificial intelligence has been unveiled by experts from a British university.Researchers from the University of Exeter have invented a system that draws hornets to a monitoring station. They land on a sponge cloth impregnated with food...

Meteorologist says bears were not aggressive but they fired signal gun to scare them awayKatarzyna Kudłacz was preparing a breakfast of scrambled eggs at a research station on Svalbard when she looked up to see she had three unexpected guests.Shocked and in awe, the meteorologist immediately alerted her colleagues to the female polar bear and her two cubs peering into the Polish research station...

Steven Miles urges authorities to enable magpie to be reunited with ‘devastated’ Gold Coast carers and its ‘best friend’, their Staffy dog PeggyGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastQueensland’s premier has thrown his support for a campaign to return an Instagram-famous magpie to its former carers and its dog best friend, after it was seized by the environment...

National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme aims to understand why population has declinedArtificial intelligence will be used for the first time to track hedgehog populations as part of a pioneering project aimed at understanding how many of them are left in the UK and why they have suffered a decline.Images of the prickly mammals snuffling around urban parks, private gardens, woodlands and farmland will be captured...

Four-metre shark euthanised after becoming beached on shore at Kingscliff on Tweed CoastFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA great white shark washed up on to a beach on the New South Wales north coast, shocking locals and attracting a crowd of beachgoers.The 4m shark was seen swimming close to...

Bears use ice to access food, but study of animals in Canada shows them struggling to adapt to more time on land amid climate crisisPolar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay risk starvation as the climate crisis lengthens periods without Arctic Sea ice, despite the creatures’ willingness to expand their diets.Polar bears use the ice that stretches across the ocean surface in the Arctic during...

At least 80 pairs recorded in 2023 after species began breeding again in 1979, having disappeared from UK in 16th centuryBritain’s tallest bird, the spectacular, wetland-loving crane bred in higher numbers last summer than at any point since they disappeared from the UK in the 16th century.At least 80 pairs of cranes were recorded in 2023, up from the previous high of 72 two...

Sawangjit Kosoognern charged with illegal possession after video showing animal being driven around Pattaya gains 2.6m viewsA Thai woman has been charged with illegal possession of a lion cub, police said on Friday, after a video of the animal cruising in a Bentley went viral online.The police ordered an investigation after a video showing a lion cub riding around the raucous Thai resort town...

Hunting by Kenyan lions impeded in ‘ecological chain reaction’ as big-headed ants fail to stop elephants stripping acacia trees – the cats’ ambush coverWhen a lion decides to chase down a zebra it seems as though nothing can stop it. But now researchers have discovered these enormous predators are being thwarted by a tiny foe: ants.Scientists have found the spread of big-headed ants in...

The first successful embryo transfer in a southern white rhino paves way for using technique to save rarer northern cousinsThe critically endangered northern white rhino could be saved from the brink of extinction after scientists performed the first successful embryo transfer in white rhinos.After the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in 2018, the disappearance of the species looked imminent. Just two infertile...

Footage of a tiger shark caught in drum lines being euthanised renews debate about shark control measures used since the 1960sFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMore than 700 marine animals – including nine dolphins – were killed by shark nets and drum lines off Queensland’s coast last year, according...

Two Siamang gibbons rescued from the illegal pet trade have been rehabilitated in a new Indonesian centreThe forest chorus of South Sumatra in Indonesia has some of its finest singers back: a pair of rare Siamang gibbons, rescued from the illegal pet trade, have been released into the wild.Siamang gibbons (Symphalangus syndactylus) are known for their distinctive large throat sacs. But their powerful, haunting...

Expert says if you see a snake you should leave it alone and call for a professional catcherWhen Tennille Bankes walked into a toilet cubicle in Goondiwindi, Queensland, she was greeted by the scaly tail of a spotted black snake peaking out beneath a closed lid.The wildlife carer and snake catcher was called by police to the public bathroom after a local, surprised by...

Photograph taken at wildlife reserve shows baby nestled with his mother after his return A baby elephant who was separated from his mother and the rest of his herd in a wildlife park in Tamil Nadu, south India, has been reunited with them by park officials.An aerial photograph taken by officials shows the mother and calf, three days later, enjoying a nap on a...

Temporary roadside barriers set up to channel tens of millions of crabs migrating to the coastlineThe welcome mat has been rolled out for scores of red crabs as they make their annual coastal dash on Christmas Island.Each year, the first substantial rain of the wet season triggers tens of millions of adult red crabs to leave their forest homes, in the interior of the...