Latest Animals stories and videos

Strangford Lough has received surprise visitors - 5,000 of them to be exact - all the way from Greenland.

The body of a dog has been found by firecrews dealing with a deliberate blaze in an industrial estate in Derry.

A dog's work is never done for one special spaniel who can pick up letters, answer phone calls and do the washing for his owner in Ballymena.

An animal rights charity has offered a reward of up to £1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting fire to a dog in Maghaberry, Co Antrim.

Police investigating the attack on Cody, the family pet who was set on fire, believe two people leaving a house party may know more about how the dog was injured.

Cody the collie, who was deliberately set alight at the weekend, could be back with her family within a week, the vet who is treating her told UTV.

A Lisburn family have said their friendly collie dog will never be the same again after she was set alight by teenagers.

The traditional Auld Lammas Fair got underway with a difference on Monday as restrictions were placed on horse trading for the first time.

An overnight hunt for what was believed to be an escaped lion has been called off by police in the Essex area of England, nearly 24 hours after causing a stir across social media networks.

Ever taken the dog for a long walk up a hill and then wished you didn't have to walk all the way back down? For one paraglider from Craigavon in just such a fix, there was an obvious solution ...

The family of a schoolgirl who died in a horse riding accident have described her as a special girl who was committed to the sport she loved.

The death of a stranded whale, after three days trapped in a harbour in Cork, has prompted discussion around the option of shooting creatures that endure similar suffering in the future.

Five pet rabbits have been killed at a house in Newtownabbey.

A badger was torn to shreds by dogs as a group of men cheered on the pitbulls, the High Court has heard.

Bad weather has stalled the recovery in red grouse numbers in one of the bird's last remaining refuges in Northern Ireland.

A car and a dog have been stolen in Whiteabbey.

Dinosaurs on display will meet their real live reptilian descendents at the Ulster Museum next month.

A man and a woman each face 19 charges in connection with animal cruelty.

Police believe that Peregrine falcons which went missing in the Ballymena area of Co Antrim earlier this month may have been shot dead.

More than 100 sheep have been stolen from a farm in the Broughshane, days after rustlers took around 200 from another north Antrim farm.

The theft of more than 200 sheep from a farm near Ballymoney in Co Antrim is believed to be one of the biggest cases of rustling in Northern Ireland.

Three men - aged 18, 20 and 33 - have been charged with a total of 58 offences related to animal cruelty.

First Minister Peter Robinson has taken to Twitter to condemn the destruction of Lennox, the dog put to sleep at the order of Northern Ireland's highest courts after being deemed to be a pitbull-type and dangerous to the public.

Belfast City Council has contacted the police after receiving threats from supporters of a campaign to save Lennox, the dog branded as dangerous by Northern Ireland's highest courts, from destruction.

Lennox, the dog deemed to be a pitbull-terrier type breed by Belfast City Council officials, is to be destroyed this week.

Supporters of Lennox - the dog condemned to destruction after being judged a dangerous, pitbull-type breed - have held a protest in Belfast.

The owners of a dog ruled by the highest courts in Northern Ireland to be a dangerous pitbull-type breed have admitted defeat in their battle to save Lennox from destruction.

Belfast Zoo has celebrated its tallest birth of 2012 with the arrival of a baby giraffe.