Animals

As Israeli owners struggle from daily Iranian attacks, pets pay the price of war

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS: Those giving up pets for war-related reasons often do so because they know they will not be home to provide the love and care their dogs deserve.

WITH AN average of 25 calls a day seeking to return or surrender animals to its shelter in Kfar Ruth, and 258 dogs and 186 cats already waiting for homes, Let Animals Live has begun working to raise awareness on how to maintain an element of routine for animals so they don’t develop behavior issues.
Stowaway possum.

Video: Stowaway possum spotted camouflaging among plushies at airport shop

 Study reveals Stone Age methods of extracting animal teeth for jewelry. Illustration

Dressed for the afterlife: What 7,000-year-old grave soil reveals about Stone Age clothing - study

The first "smartphone" for pets unveiled in Barcelona

The first "smartphone" for pets unveiled in Barcelona


Haifa beaches to reopen Saturday after sightings of rare whale shark

At adulthood, the species can reach 12–14 metres and weigh more than 20 tonnes, making it the largest fish on Earth.

Whale shark swimming. (illustration)

Honoring 'The Last Samurai': Fallen soldier Adi Tzur remembered with new home for abandoned dogs

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS: After St.-Sgt. Adi Tzur was killed defending Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, The Magic House, a shelter helping stray and abused dogs find homes, was founded in his honor.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE warmth and support surrounding The Magic House, adoptions and donations have dropped sharply, even as more dogs are being abandoned. In a typical year, Lives of Others manages to place around 250 dogs in homes. This year, that number fell by more than half, to just 120.

​​Illegal cockfighting ring broken up by Israel Police, 150 cockerels rescued

The territorial animals were forced to fight each other while patrons gambled on who the winner would be.

 Chickens are seen in cages to be used as game cocks in illegal cockfights in Israel.

New scans challenge the idea that Indigenous Australians hunted giant animals to extinction

A study in Royal Society Open Science by Professor Mike Archer shows no evidence that humans hunted or butchered megafauna in the fossil record.

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How Taylor Swift's vintage tee choice is helping to save orphaned, wounded sea otters

Averaging $100,000 in sales every 15 minutes, the successful fundraiser collected funds to help injured and orphaned otters.

A person wears a sea otter T-shirt, originally produced in the 1990s by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, recently popularized by Taylor Swift and now featured in a fundraiser for the aquarium, in Monterey, California, U.S., October 17, 2025

Polar bears take over abandoned research station in Russian Arctic

Scientists left the research station, which is in an abandoned village, soon after the Soviet Union's collapse over three decades ago.

A polar bear reacts at the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia's far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video.

Study: Petting your cat sends an oxytocin wave through both of you

A cat's low-frequency purr can lower human heart rate and blood pressure, studies find.

Study: Petting your cat sends an oxytocin wave through both of you.

Feathered foes: The hidden dangers of urban pigeons


Israeli study: Movement of wild animals can help us predict next pandemic

A study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem suggests that tracking animal movement and behavior in near real-time could detect dangerous pathogens.

A jackal is seen at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, September 3, 2022

'Palm-sized predator' with outsized teeth rewrites lizard origins

Scientists used the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility to X-ray the tiny fossil and reveal high-resolution details.

An illustration of the newly discovered lizard ancestor.