Animals | featured news

Behold the "bionic dog." (View video, below.) At just five weeks old, Naki'o was abandoned by his owners and wandered into an icy puddle, getting his paws stuck in the frigid water. All four frostbit paws had to be amputated, but in a "heartwarming" twist, the malnourished red heeler puppy was rescued by an animal shelter where, a veterinary technician raised funds to fit him with two prosthetic hind legs. Naki'o took to the prosthetics so "enthusiastically" that the organization Orthopets threw in the other two prosthetics for free. "Naki'o can now not only chase after a ball with other dogs," says vet tech Christie Tomlinson, as quoted by Incredible Features, "but he can beat them to the catch!"

Vietnamese authorities are on alert for animal smugglers after four bags of deadly snakes were found on a train from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, according to local press reports.

Life after the military is looking brighter than ever for America's four-legged veterans since one of their own helped in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden....

Current extinction rate projections may be overestimating the role of habitat loss on species, a study suggest... Writing in the journal Nature, they said present figures overestimated rates by up to 160%, and called for updated, more accurate calculations.

There may be some terrible news to report out of Florida today, depending on how the state's residents have collectively decided to apply the basic science of biological classification to their lives. Last week, we noted some good news: The Florida legislature had finally passed a law that would outlaw bestiality and preserve the innocence of Florida's native fauna.

About a third of leprosy cases each year in the United States are a result of contact with infected armadillos.

Dolphins and sea lions that have died along the Southern California coast in recent weeks may be victims of a deadly neurotoxin produced by a ...

Legislation would make it a crime to produce or distribute photos and videos taken secretly at agricultural facilities, a practice animal rights groups oppose.

A highly venomous Egyptian cobra that went missing at the Bronx Zoo was found today after nearly a week on the lam, zoo officials said.

A venomous Egyptian cobra went missing from New York's Bronx Zoo, prompting the closure of the zoo's reptile house until further notice.