Wildlife officials believe a giant python skin may have been smuggled into Australia after it was found in a Queensland park, while in NSW the search is on for a boa constrictor on the loose 

One of the world’s rarest and most endangered monkeys has been born in Australia. The baby’s distinctive bright orange hair is making him a standout at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo

The fossilised bones of a winged reptile — nicknamed the Iron Dragon — which flew above Queensland during the age of dinosaurs has been uncovered in the outback

Filmmakers have recorded the dramatic colour changes of a sleeping octopus, suggesting it is dreaming about preying on a crab, catching it and then settling down to eat it

There’s a saying that a tiger never changes its stripes but it seems zebras can — a dotted zebra foal has been photographed for the first time at Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya

Critically endangered mountain pygmy-possums need your help to solve the mystery of the missing Bogong moths that have disappeared somewhere between Queensland and Victoria

If you see a rat disappearing around a corner one day, try not to freak out — scientists have discovered it may just want to play and could even be laughing at the fun of it all

For more than 250 years, we thought there was only one species of electric eel on Earth. Scientists have discovered two more species, one of which can shock its prey with 860 volts

Meng Meng placed the pink panda cub gently on her belly and warmed it lovingly with her big paws, warm breath and the soft fur of her cheeks. An hour later, its twin was born

Honeybees are being trained to do jobs too dangerous for humans and too difficult for sniffer dogs, detecting the smell of bombs and chemicals and helping test for life-threatening radioactivity

In our weekly series, award-winning cartoonist Mark Knight explains why he used the faces of innocent animals to measure the destruction of the Amazon fires

Seven eggs from the world’s last two northern white rhinos have been successfully fertilised artificially, giving hope for a future baby rhino that could save the species from extinction

World nations have called for giraffes to be added to the endangered species list as numbers in the wild continue to drop because of loss of habitat, drought and hunting

Fossil hunters have found a new species of the ferocious-looking, armour-plated stegosaurus, much older than previous finds and in a location that could lead palaeontologists to rewrite history

Scientists believe they have found the world’s oldest living vertebrate, a massive Greenland shark estimated to be up to 512 years old and described as a living time capsule

Microscopic tardigrades made the news for crash-landing on the Moon. Earth is teeming with other tiny creatures just as fascinating. Here are a few you won’t be able to stop looking at

Thousands of cuddly looking animals called tardigrades — sometimes called “moss pigs” or “water bears” — have been left on the Moon by a lunar lander that crashed on impact

Australian palaeontologists have discovered a toddler-sized parrot so tall it could poke an adult in the belly button and at least twice as big as the largest parrot alive today

The wind is ferocious and the temperature hovers close to zero, but Andrea Turbett has only warm words to describe her job on the remote, sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island as Australia's southernmost ranger

A tiny, wide-eyed koala has been named Australia’s cutest koala joey. And now she’s out of her mother’s pouch, her important work as an ambassador for her species’ conservation really begins

In a real-life version of the fairytale “The Ugly Duckling”, scientists have filmed a three-year relationship between a bottlenose dolphin mum and its adopted orphan whale calf

Humpback whales hunt with their mouths wide open and this one accidentally got a mouthful of sea lion. Fortunately for both animals, the whale noticed and set the sea lion free

It’s not quite 101 dalmatians like in the Disney movie, but a litter of 19 spotty pups born in Australia has set a new world record for the breed

There are 7.7 billion humans on Earth but many, many more animals of other species, so it's no wonder animals sometimes interrupt humans’ sports matches. And that can make for a great photo

Thirty endangered rufous hare-wallabies have been released in Australia’s Central Desert into a sanctuary created as part of a project building the world’s longest cat-proof fence

Big, beautiful barrel jellyfish in their hundreds are lurking off the UK coast and washing up on beaches. Marine experts say they have seen more in a week than in the past 15 years

In an amazing moment between man and beast, an injured manta ray has recognised an Aussie snorkeller and begged him for help to remove three fishing hooks from beneath her eye

With teeth gnashing and muscles rippling, two big Maasai lions wrestle in a dramatic fight for supremacy captured in a sequence of incredible images in Africa

A terrifying looking creature with one massive eye, three hearts, blue blood and moving by jet propulsion has been filmed lurking deep underwater in complete darkness

If you hate spiders, don’t click on this. But if you’re fascinated by Australia’s enormous creepy crawly carnivorous predators, then this is definitely a Kids News story for you

In an incredible, global expression of compassion for Australian farmers and their sheep battling drought, knitters have knitted thousands of tiny, colourful woolly jumpers for lambs

The head of a giant wolf that would have roamed the land alongside woolly mammoths has been found in Siberia, complete with perfectly preserved brain, shaggy hair and fierce teeth

Grunt is a local star but that hasn’t stopped the council from banning the pig from walking on a lead like a dog would around the streets where he lives

Scientists have solved the mystery of the invisible teeth of the monstrous, ferocious, glow-in-the-dark dragonfish that lives in the dark in the deepest parts of the ocean

Scientists have been stunned after an entire herd of 100-million-year-old dinosaurs was discovered in Lightning Ridge in outback Australia

As whale watching season begins in Australia, everyone is on the lookout for a very special white humpback whale who has been cruising the east coast every year for up to 30 years

It’s a photography contest that aims to inspire the viewer to protect life on Earth and the winning entries are nothing short of breathtaking

Bucky, Calamity, Bella, Zippy and Jet the dolphins are the subjects of an Australian-first study to discover if they are happier in their pool or in a sea pen

Hasani was born with wonky back legs, so everyone at his zoo worked together to make a pair of strong shoes to help the giraffe walk until he’s as good as new

The ACT could become the first state or territory of Australia to recognise in law that animals have feelings and that humans should care for their physical and mental wellbeing

Big cat keepers are feeding lions glitter. But it’s not because anyone is having a party. It’s a safe and stress-free way to check a lion’s poo and their health

Soldiers on an expedition in Nepal have found and photographed large footprints in the snow they believed to belong to the Yeti, or abominable snowman

Hermit the joey koala has been saved by a vet and a surrogate koala mother named Crumble in a daring medical procedure at an Australian wildlife sanctuary

Scientists have uncovered fossils of an ancient four-legged whale that walked on land and swam in the sea 43 million year ago

An Australian fisherman pulled in what he thought was an enormous shark, only to find it was just the head. His gruesome discovery has intrigued the world

A massive, fierce dinosaur nicknamed Scotty has been dug from sandstone. Its leg bones are so big it is thought to have weighed 8800kg when it roamed the Earth

An Australian woman has found a lone kookaburra for sale in a cage in a US pet shop. Unfortunately, she’s not allowed to bring it home to its native habitat

We’ve compiled an incredible collection of photographs of creatures big and small interacting with the world in amazing ways. Which photo do you like best?

A heat lamp, a feather duster and lots of expert care has helped nine precious plains-wanderer chicks hatch and thrive, an important species-saving step

A rare albino penguin has made its first public appearance at a Polish zoo. Normally other penguins reject albinos, but this bird is feeling the love from its parents and two special friends

An Australian woman has filmed extraordinary video of a fight to the death of two snakes of different species, with one getting a big meal for its efforts

A group of friends thought they saw a massive rock on the sand, but we now know it was an ocean sunfish, one of the world’s biggest fish and very rare in these waters

An Australian citizen scientist has discovered three beautiful new species of disco-dancing peacock spiders. Arachnophobes needn’t worry: they’re the size of a grain of rice

Rainer Schimpf didn’t realise he’d been swallowed by a 15m whale until everything went black. Luckily, it didn’t like the taste of him and spat him out. This is his amazing survival story

Researchers from several Australian universities have determined the dingo is not a dog but a unique native species of its own

She was the face of animal rights campaigns and suffered from depression, and now, Flavia the elephant has died after being kept on her own for 43 years in a Spanish zoo

Scientists have rediscovered a giant bee, nicknamed the ‘flying bulldog’, on a remote Indonesian island after thinking it had been extinct for 30 years

Scientists have rushed to examine an 8m humpback whale found in thick mangroves in the Amazon jungle, a long way from its natural habitat

It’s a question everyone asks — why do zebras have black-and-white stripes? Now scientists have found the answer and it’s all about blood-sucking insects and protection from diseases

Three rare otter pups have passed their first hands-on health checks by vets at Perth Zoo, a big milestone in the international program to save the species from extinction

Adelaide Zoo’s giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni have failed to have a baby panda and will be sent back to China unless the Australian government steps in

An Australian study has found that despite having tiny brains, bees can learn to add and subtract 

Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir has been banned from training racehorses for 4 years after he was found with electronic devices linked to animal cruelty and cheating

A new study of Tasmania’s forests found that the many small native animals that live there have a vital role to play in reducing the impact of bushfires

After a day of building sandcastles and collecting shells on a Western Australian beach a young girl unknowingly took home a very dangerous creature

Giant Australian steer Knickers is so big his story has gone viral around the world. Back on the farm, Knickers is just getting on with his job of coaching his herd of 20,000 much smaller bovines

Mystery surrounds the details of how long these strange creatures live underground and why they hatch when they do, but we know for sure when cicadas are up and about by their deafening noises

Pyrosomes this big are rarely seen, but this one put on a show for two shocked divers who watched it drifting by in the ocean. It was at least four times as long as each of them.

Mukulu, the famous giraffe who helped protect his species from extinction, has died peacefully at his home. We look at the important giraffe breeding programs all around Australia

A thrilling video of a baby bear’s big climb up a snowy mountainside is amazing to watch, but a good reminder that we need to keep a respectful distance from wildlife

With the 2018 Melbourne Cup upon us, we look back at the history of Phar Lap — one of the greatest winners of the Cup and a horse that captured the imagination of the nation

Two police officers have performed a daring rescue to pull a struggling kangaroo from the surf. They even performed chest compressions to save its life. Watch the amazing video

Australian scientists exploring the depths of the Southern Ocean off Antarctica have filmed one of the weirdest sea creatures ever

Trainer Chris Waller has declared Winx ‘already the greatest of all time’ regardless of whether she wins the Cox Plate to extend her winning streak to 29

Nikon’s 2018 photomicrography competition — photos taken through a microscope — offers a glimpse into the fascinating and unseen world of tiny life forms

A family in Queensland was watching carefully for a crocodile they could see from their little boat. But then they were surprised by a big, scary creature of another species

Insects are the latest food trend popping up on Australian plates as diners and chefs embrace the health and sustainability benefits of creepy crawlies