Divisions within the Baird government over its controversial native vegetation reforms are emerging, with a Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith warning they could trigger "further irreversible land degradation".

Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo has trumpeted its credentials as a conservation centre by announcing the birth of its first Asian elephant calf.

Baird government's decision to back a trial of shark nets "not based on data".

A potentially dangerous incident involving an escaped gorilla has ``concluded'' at the London Zoo, police say.

Study finds proposed loosening of NSW's land clearing controls expose much of the state's woodlands bulldozers.

National Geographic Magazine photographer Thomas Peschak specialises in cute, beautiful and arresting images of marine wildlife around the planet.

Western Australia is home to the only place on Earth where our ancient history could one day help us find life on other planets.

The United Nations has called for the shutdown of all legal domestic ivory markets as it looks to combat poaching and put pressure on countries that continue to trade in elephant tusks.

South Africa's Kruger National Park is littered in places with the trunks of trees uprooted and stripped of bark by a surging population of elephants, a frequent sight in the reserve.

The first ever comprehensive study into the sale of ivory and rhino horn in Australian and New Zealand auction houses has found trade of the product still takes place.

Zoological Society alarmed by new bill that abandons protection for three-quarters of native animals.

* Pangolins regarded as most poached animal on the planet

Animal rights activists have called for an investigation after one of two lions which escaped from their cage at the Leipzig Zoo in Germany was shot dead.

More polar bears are being shot dead on Norway's remote Arctic islands, where dangerous encounters with humans are getting more frequent as visitors increase and global warming melts the sea ice on which the creatures roam.

* Ivory poaching seen as main cause of decline

Resources and construction slump brings search for alternatives.

At 5.30am on a Sunday morning exactly 100 years ago, Jessie, a 3600 kilogram elephant sauntered through Sydney's CBD.

A concerted effort is underway to save the endangered golden shouldered parrot of remote Cape York.

I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw it: a white fuzz ball of a baby seal, snuggling in a snowdrift. You better believe I liked it ... then I read the caption.

Clearing land for the WestConnex motorway has begun - on National Threatened Species Day.

Reports set up by Abbott government threaten to expose vulnerable areas to commercial fishing, environmental group warns.

A largely unknown creature, the pangolin holds the undesirable title of being the most poached and illegally trafficked mammal in the world. Scientists believe more than 1 million have been killed in the past decade.

You'd think researchers who encounter some of the nastiest diseases affecting Australian animals would want to destroy them pronto. But that's not the case.

President Barack Obama is set to vastly expand a marine sanctuary northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, White House officials said Thursday, creating the world's largest protected marine area as he seeks to cement his environmental legacy in his last months in office.

A nationally significant koala population could be wiped out within a couple of decades.

US-based AMCI has proposed a mine that would encroach within about 900 metres of Forbesdale and a couple of kilometres of Gloucester.

In photos, 12-year-old Aryanna Gourdin is pictured posing with dead wild animals – an impala, a giraffe, a zebra – she hunted and killed on a recent trip to South Africa.

With two maimed front legs the American black bear manages to get around on his hind legs. His unusual condition has spawned coveted sightings and viral videos.

Scientist David Fernandez peered at the odd-looking critter,and hoped it was the real thing. He'd never seen one of these animals in its entirety before. No scientist ever had.