One of only four northern white rhinos believed left in the world died Sunday at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Nola, a 41-year-old female who has been at the park since 1989, was euthanized after her health took a turn for the worse, a zoo statement said. The geriatric rhino had arthritis and other ailments and was being treated for a bacterial infection linked to an abscess in her hip.

Hanako the elephant has been living in a concrete cell for 61 years. And now people are saying that's enough. At 68 years old, Hanako is the oldest elephant in Japan. She's spent the past six decades at Tokyo's Inokashira Park Zoo, where she lives alone in a barren enclosure. There's no grass or trees — only concrete floors and walls. It's unclear when she last saw another elephant. For the love of animals. Pass it on.

The fight that erupted between the female baboons prompted a brief closure of the zoo’s exhibit. Medical records show injuries ranging from deep lacerations near their eyes to hair ripped out and tail injuries. By Liam Casey.

After the matriarch died last year, a vicious battle erupted among the female baboons at the Toronto Zoo for her throne that endured for months, prompting a brief closure of the exhibit and providing a fascinating glimpse into the animals’ behaviour. Medical records show numerous injuries among five of the six female olive baboons, from deep lacerations near their eyes to hair ripped out and tail injuries. At least two required surgeries to close deep gashes.

Cute little trick, great reaction from the monkey.

This 14-year-old female Orangutan builds a hammock all on her own. Which is incredible, but how tragic for such an intelligent animal to be trapped in a cage. For clarification: we are not affiliated with the zoo where this orangutan is kept.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved an application from zoos in Dallas, Wichita and Omaha to import 18 wild elephants from Swaziland.The transfer involves 15 female and three male elephants estimated to range from six to 25 years old. The permit allows a partnership formed by the zoos to import the elephants from Big Game Parks, an independent nonprofit that manages several wildlife parks in the Southern African Nation.

A meerkat enjoys the warmth of a heat lamp while standing in the meerkat enclosure at wildlife park "Opel Zoo" in Kronberg, Germany, March 20, 2016.

A zookeeper has been mauled to death by a tiger at a zoo in Florida. Stacey Konwiser, 38, known as a "tiger whisperer" because of her skill in dealing with the animals, suffered a “severe bite” while performing basic tasks in the tiger enclosure at Palm Beach Zoo. She had reportedly been preparing for a 'Tiger Talk’, a regular show for zoo visitors that she carried out daily, when the incident occured. She was rushed to St Mary's Medical Centre but later died from her injuries.

The Cincinnati Zoo shot and killed a western lowland gorilla on Saturday after a 4-year-old boy slipped into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said at a news conference. Harambe, a 17-year-old, 400-pound gorilla, carried the boy around its habitat for about 10 minutes in what the zoo's dangerous animal response team considered a life-threatening situation, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said at a press briefing. After the gorilla was shot with a rifle, the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, CNN affiliate WKRC reported.

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

Are zoos really effective at education and conservation? Anthropologist Barbara J. King offers her top reasons why it's time to rethink the role of zoos.

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.

Animals by the hundreds are being set free as Buenos Aires closes its 140-year-old Palermo zoo. Among the first to leave will be birds of prey like owls and chimangos, destined for a reserve along the shores of the Rio de la Plata south of the capital. They will be placed there in larger confines that will give them room to stretch and strengthen their winds before they're ready for the wild. Others among the 1,500 animals at the zoo are destined for reserves in Argentina and abroad as their old home is transformed into a park.

A small bog in Lancashire is once again home to a rare species of butterfly, for the first time in 100 years. By Jonathan Webb.

Some 50 animals have starved to death in the last six months at one of Venezuela's main zoos, according to a union leader, due to chronic food shortages that have plagued the crisis-stricken South American nation.

A Cincinnati school has made a gorilla the new mascot for its football team in an apparent tribute to killed primate Harambe. Cincinnati Zoo’s male silverback gorilla was shot dead in May after a three-year-old child fell into his enclosure, prompting widespread grief and anger. And video and pictures from a local school football game have emerged, showing a person dressed in a gorilla outift chasing after somebody in a banana costume who is carrying a sign that reads: “RIP Harambe”.

A naming contest held for a baby gorilla at Jinhua Zoo, located in China’s central Zhejiang province, has announced the winning entry – which captured over 93% of all votes cast online – as “Harambe McHarambeface”. According to a report filed by Chinese-language media, up until last week the most-popular option for the newly-born male gorilla was 黑金 (Heijin), which had received several hundred votes. However, after a link to the zoo’s website was shared on social media in the US, thousands of users added new name suggestions...

London Zoo was put on lock-down for several hours after a gorilla escaped from its enclosure on Thursday afternoon. Armed police were called to the attraction and visitors were evacuated as keepers searched for the animal. Others were locked inside buildings at the zoo, which is one of London's top tourist spots. The gorilla was eventually recaptured after being subdued by keepers using a tranquiliser dart.

The miracle of the great Zanesville zoo escape—which began last fall when a depressed, desperate man named Terry Thompson set free his vast collection of exotic animals—was that not a single innocent person was hurt. The incident made global news. It also thrust into daylight, if only for a brief moment, a secret world of privately owned exotic animals living off the grid, and often right next door. We sent Chris Heath to Zanesville, Ohio, to find out where the wild things are—and what the hell they're doing there