Hotels are now offering special packages for pampered pooches, writes Sarah Marshall.

Ever wanted to meet a kiwi up close? Auckland Zoo is offering a chance to do just that with a behind-the-scenes kiwi experience.

There's been a proliferation of pre-election political panels in the run-up to this election - more than I can remember, which is a healthy sign in our democracy.

The man killed by a shark at Byron Bay in New South Wales joked with his parents during their last conversation about the risk sharks posed.

The start of a war will be commemorated this week -- one waged not on foreign battlefields, but across our own offshore islands.

British ex-pat Paul Wilcox joked with his step-father: "I always wear a wetsuit and I use a lot of sun lotion. The sun's not the problem, the sharks are.”

A man risked his life as he entered blood-drenched water to try to save a swimmer being attacked by a shark at a popular New South Wales beach.

There are oodles of adorable animals making a mark on our Instagram account, Nicky Park has picked the eight that you need to be following.

Passengers on a flight to New Zealand got a scare when a large centipede scuttled up the leg of a first class passenger.

The father of a boy seriously injured in a dog attack has been charged as a result of the incident.

In a strange twist to an already bizarre tale, the half-sister of a baby girl killed when she was snatched by dingoes in Australia has become an advocate for the very animals that took her.

Michael Wheeler cannot imagine a life of independence without Friend - he pushes open doors, picks up fallen pencils and even fetches Michael's lunch from the refrigerator for him.

Tuatahi, meaning first in Maori, hatched at Kiwi Encounter at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua, on Thursday.

If you want to experience a close encounter with a lemur, you can now skip a trip to Madagascar and go straight to Wellington Zoo.

Weighing more than seven Tyrannosaurus rex, or a modern Boeing 737, and longer than a swimming pool, a newly discovered species of dinosaur would have "feared nothing" scientists say.

Crouch, touch, paws, engage. Outspoken anti-cat campaigner Gareth Morgan will this month meet his match in the founder of America's huge no-kill movement, Rich Avanzino.

About 100 Southland dairy cows have died or been destroyed after contracting lead poisoning from grazing on a gun club property.

A shark attack sent $12,000 worth of camera equipment down to the bottom of the ocean off New Zealand - and now a $5000 reward is being offered to get it back.

When Dominic Monaghan told his former boss, Sir Peter Jackson, that he was travelling to Laos to track down a new species of spider, there were serious questions raised about his sanity.

A badly cared for classroom pet has no benefit at all, least of all to the animal and only teaches children that animals have very little value, writes Sally Hibbard.

The controversial dolphin hunting season on Japan's north-west island of Taiji has started, according to officials.

New research has confirmed waters off Auckland are crucial breeding grounds for a keystone shark species.

From pandas pretending to be pregnant to birds that steal food, animals are sometimes just as deceptive than humans.

Wildlife biologist Nick Mooney says open cut mines in Tasmania could prove to be safe havens for endangered Tasmanian devils.

A new restaurant is taking the term 'farm-to-table' to a whole new level by letting diners watch baby farm animals being born in a purpose-built birthing room.