Animals & Pets News

PARIS (AFP) - Some endangered species may face an extinction risk that is up to a hundred times greater than previously thought, according to a study released Wednesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan is ready to spare humpback whales from its Antarctic hunt for another year if international whaling talks make progress, a senior Japanese official said Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Hundreds of anti-seal hunt demonstrators held a protest outside European Union headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, demanding that the 27-nation bloc impose a total ban on seal products from Canada and elsewhere.

TACOMA, Wash. - Five Makah Indian whalers who killed a gray whale during an illegal hunt last September have been sentenced in federal court. The sentences include jail time for two men considered the leaders of the group.

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. - An Arkansas mayor who ordered 10 Humane Society dogs let loose in a national forest is wanted on animal cruelty charges after a special judge issued an arrest warrant.

SANTIAGO (AFP) - The International Whaling Commission ended its annual meeting Friday leaving unchanged both its long-standing row over commercial whaling and Japan's "scientific" hunting quota of 1,000 whales.

SANTIAGO, Chile - The International Whaling Commission ended its annual conference on Friday, leaving all the tough work on expanding or restricting whale hunting still ahead of it.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Anti-whale catching nations on Thursday thwarted a bid by Greenland to raise its annual aboriginal whale hunting quota by 10 humpbacks, deeply polarizing pro and anti-whaling lobbies.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Environmental and animal rights groups are lining up to oppose a lawsuit that seeks to let American sport hunters again import hides of polar bears shot legally in Canada.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese man who bought an emaciated pig who survived for 36 days under rubble after May's massive Sichuan earthquake and promised to care for it for life has been given an award by an animal rights group.

SANTIAGO (AFP) - Japan defended its practice of 'scientific' whale hunting at the annual International Whaling Commission meeting here on Wednesday, insisting it had yielded important scientific results.

WADAMACHI, Japan (AFP) - As pro-whaling and pro-conservation countries square off on the other side of the globe, curious Japanese schoolgirl Yuna Suzuki, 10, got a vivid first-hand look at the issue.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A video showing cattle being mistreated and tormented at a livestock auction in New Mexico was released on Wednesday by the Humane Society of the United States -- the latest evidence of what the organization claims is widespread abuse of livestock across the country.

WINDHOEK, Namibia - Seal hunters plan to club 86,000 seals in an annual hunt set to begin next week, as animal rights activists brace for a showdown with the government over a practice they regard as inhumane.

LONDON (AFP) - An animal rights group said on Wednesday it had gained assurances from Wimbledon organisers that they will stop using marksmen to shoot down pigeons.

OSLO (Reuters) - About a third of all types of fish and other marine life have been wrongly named by scientists, complicating efforts to conserve what could be a million marine species, experts said on Wednesday.

BEIJING - Pandas living in earthquake-hit southwest China are facing a food shortage and some have been evacuated to temporary shelters because of the threat of landslides and other hazards, an official said Tuesday.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The World Wildlife Fund cautioned Monday that the spread of so-called marine dead zones, where nothing can survive due to lack of oxygen, could cause the Baltic Sea ecosystem to collapse.

BEIJING (AFP) - China's famed giant pandas are being forced to diet after last month's earthquake devastated large swathes of bamboo forest in the nation's southwest, state media and officials said.

TOKYO (AFP) - As passions rise over whaling, a special envoy is on a quiet mission to calm the debate, convinced that the International Whaling Commission cannot be allowed to collapse.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia said Sunday it will push for strengthened protection for whales at an international meeting in Chile this week, but admitted it expected talks to be difficult.

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese court decided on Sunday to keep two Greenpeace members in custody for stealing whale meat in a bid to uncover corruption in Japan's whaling programme, the environmental group said.

TOKYO (AFP) - As controversy grows over Japan's whaling, the small coastal towns with a history of the hunt are sticking to their guns, fearing that their way of life is under threat.

Even as a youngster, Rollie looked older and wiser than his years. His white mustache sprouted longer by the month, until it flamed from his cheeks like a German kaiser's.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida said it intends to sue the Army Corps of Engineers for violating the Endangered Species Act, a move which could further complicate already strained regional relations over shared water resources.

LAS VEGAS - A Komodo dragon has arrived on the Las Vegas Strip, where the endangered species normally are limited to cheap buffets, 99-cent shrimp cocktails and single-deck blackjack.

WASHINGTON - The National Zoo says panda mother Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is showing a spike in hormone levels, a sign that she might be pregnant again.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Zoo has welcomed two new rare tigers.

TOKYO - Japanese police arrested two Greenpeace activists on Friday on suspicion of stealing about 50 pounds of whale meat that the environmentalists said had been illegally siphoned by whalers from government-backed hunts.