More than a month's worth of rain fell in hour just outside the regional city in state's north east.

Despite hundreds of new species discovered in Australia each year, the science of taxonomy relies ever more on volunteers and retired scientists.

With an elongated neck and a curved, beak-like mouth, this spider bears a striking resemblance to a pelican.

But the bigger worry is what will happen as more people crowd into big cities, a new report says.

Bull sharks are are more common in Sydney's waterways than you probably want to think about.

Businesses should seize a $6 trillion opportunity to invest in tackling climate change over the next two decades, the head of an Indian multinational said at Davos on Thursday.

An onlooker videoed the moment two of the giant mammals, also known as killer whales, approached the children.

Melbourne is set for an "insufferable" weekend, particularly on Sunday, as a combination of high temperatures and rising humidity lift heat stress to levels rarely seen in the city.

The footage was captured by Dog Meat Free Indonesia, a coalition of the animal welfare groups.

Authorities have closed off parts of the Royal National Park and advised holidaymakers to avoid some areas of the Blue Mountains over the long weekend as fires burn.

The swamp wallaby that made global headlines earlier this month has returned to the wild after recovering from his city-bound adventure.

Firefighters have been praised for their hard work fighting the fires and looking after wildlife.

Another heatwave forecast to hit Victoria has AEMO warning that the system will be under pressure, but the long weekend may ease the strain.

An unusually large cyclone has been buffeting the Antarctic coast this week, shifting sea ice that had already been tracking at record-low levels.

An expose on the culling and commercial exploitation of kangaroos in Australia has opened to strong reviews in the US.

This is the latest in a series of escalating conflicts between shark fishermen and other beach users over the past two years.

The infants are being bottle fed and are said to be growing normally compared with monkeys their age.

What happens when one native species is doing too well on a property bought to protect many vulnerable ones can be a problem.

Matt Tomkins felt the charge sawing on the air and knew the lightning was right above him.

The Turnbull government has opted out of an international pact to protect three species of threatened sharks, drawing accusations that it was undermining global conservation efforts.

A man will face court after allegedly shooting a dog in the head with a speargun on the Central Coast.

The Turnbull government's pledge of an additional $60 million to help improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef has been dismissed by environmental groups and scientists as insufficient and a "wasteful publicity stunt".

Perth Zoo went on cute-alert this week with their new Nepalese red panda cub passing its first health check with flying colours.

The mid-summer heatwave baking much of NSW has given parts of Sydney their hottest start to a year in at least decades and may have as long as another week to run.

The fire burnt more than 1800 hectares of bush over the weekend.

Environmentalists have called on politicians to stop using the Mornington Peninsula National Park as 'a political football'.

The plan, to cost about $60 million over the next 18 months, will include funding farmers to reduce sediment run-off and innovative research.

• Editorial

As Australians this week ponder whether to celebrate or mourn January 26, it's also a good time to consider the state of our environment.

Firefighters have worked tirelessly through the weekend to contain several bushfires burning across the state including a large blaze in the Royal National Park, just south of Sydney.