SeaWorld shares sank to a record low on Thursday after the controversial aquatic theme park company reported further falls in attendance and profits. The company, which induces killer whales, dolphins and sea lions to perform tricks to entertain the public, said 494,000 fewer people visited its parks in the three months to the end of June compared with the same period a year earlier. The 7.7% drop in attendance, from 6.5 to six million, knocked more than $16m off SeaWorld’s quarterly earnings and spooked analysts...

New environment secretary has also previously admitted being confused about whether climate change is a reality. By Rowena Mason, Jessica Elgot and Adam Vaughan.

Arturo the polar bear has died at the age of 30 after a life spent in captivity and displaying signs of stress, according to campaigners. Known as the "world’s saddest polar bear" and the last captive bear in Argentina, Arturo died at Mendoza Zoo, four years after his longtime companion Pelusa died of cancer. Visitors reported the bear pacing up and down inside his concrete enclosure, rocking from side to side, displaying his teeth and other signs of discomfort as temperatures would rise above 40C.

Festival-goers are marking the start of summer solstice by gathering as communities to celebrate over barbecued meat. This could be a scene from anywhere in the world, but the one making headlines is from Yulin, China – because the animals on the barbecue will be dogs. The annual summer festival in Yulin has been widely criticized, mostly by Westerners who aren’t used to thinking of dogs as food. Images and footage of filthy dogs crowded into cages and being brutally slaughtered...

Judge in Wake County, N.C., on Friday found a Florida woman guilty of animal cruelty for wrapping duct tape around her dog’s muzzle. A photo of the dog posted to Facebook by Katharine Lemanksy unleashed a viral reaction that ended with two Cary, N.C., police officers charging her with being cruel to the dog. The officers testified that the dog, named Brown, was otherwise well cared for so they did not remove it from the Cary home where the incident occurred.

Ben, an injured bull elephant - thought to be 30-years-old - gave staffers at the Bumi Hills Safari Lodge in Kariba, Zimbabwe the surprise of their lives when he appeared to ask for help.

HOUSTON – Two teens were arrested Thursday and charged with a horrific case of animal cruelty.

Hanoko, which means “flower child,” lived almost her entire life at Tokyo’s Inokashira Park Zoo. By Christopher Brennan. (May 26)

The man in the orange vest appeared in Mike Willcox’s back yard without warning. By the time family members inside his Kingwood, Tex., home noticed the random figure striding past the backyard pool, it was too late. A large metal pipe wrench was already raised above the man’s head and he was swinging it wildly at the Willcox family’s two dogs. Willcox’s terrified 4-year-old son watched the March 23 incident unfold a few feet...

Two Chinese   poachers were yesterday sentenced  to 30 years in jail each or pay a record Sh108.7 billion fine in one of the heaviest sentences aimed at curbing the illegal trade.

‘No kill’ animal shelters have unleashed an epidemic of suffering. Is a life of misery any better than a quick death? In March 2013, my husband and I were on our way to a museum when we saw a sign advertising an adoption event at the Petco pet store on the Upper West Side in New York City. ‘Should we adopt another cat?’ my husband asked. We’d got our scaredy-cat Gilbert from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty...

Ask almost any American child to draw a farm, and she will likely sketch a picture of happy animals in a sunny, green field next to a red barn. This is the fairy-tale image of agriculture we spoon feed children before they’re even old enough to read. Ask the fifth-grade students of Michael Fields, a science teacher in Arenac County, Mich., to draw a farm, and you might get a different image. Last month, Fields came under fire from parents and...

Germany has just become the first country to outlaw the practice of ‘chick shredding’. Every year millions of male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated by the commercial egg industry. This is because male chicks don’t grow up into egg-laying chickens, and they’re not considered suitable to be slaughtered for meat. Around half of all chicks born into the egg industry are male, and end up being ‘shredded’ right after hatching.

Kenya will set ablaze 120 tonnes of ivory worth $270 million, the biggest to be burned by any country in one go, in April this year. The event will be attended by Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman along with several other celebrities.

In the wake of the possible murder of a prized Irish setter, Mark Seal examines the impassioned personalities who devote their lives to dogs, and the tense rivalries that can become sinister.

WARNING: The following video includes disturbing content A farm in Pennsylvania that supplies animals to PetSmart and Petco has been slaughtering animals by the hundreds...

In a move seen as a big win for animal rights activists, the FBI has added animal cruelty to its list of Class A felonies, alongside homicide and arson. Cases of animal cruelty fall into four categories — neglect; intentional abuse and torture; organized abuse, such as cock and dog fighting; and sexual abuse of animals — and the agency is now monitoring them as it does other serious crimes. Starting January 1, data is being entered into the National Incident-Based Reporting...

It was more than 10 years ago that Mary Lou Randour realized she couldn’t answer what should have been a simple question: Was cruelty against animals on the rise or in decline? Randour, a psychologist who switched careers to devote herself full time to animal rights advocacy, found there was no one keeping track of animal-abuse crimes. Even the most egregious cases, like dogfighting, fell under the category of “other” when local police agencies...

A Wyoming judge allowed a case to go forward this week challenging the state's two new data trespass laws, saying he had 'serious concerns and questions about the constitutionality of various provisions.' By Warren Richey.

This year, a Chinese company plans to open a massive factory to clone 100,000 cows. Just how far will this mass reproductive technology go? By Abby Haglage.