Protected birds earn reprieve after sudden U-turn

Glyndebourne's dreadlocks-and-driftwood Janacek misses the Slavic touch, while Harrison Birtwistle's 'opera' is simply loathsome

Street lighting is changing insect ecosystems in towns and cities, a study has found.

A man who urged his dog to attack and kill badgers kept footage of the brutal fights on his phone, a court heard today.

Vietnam's rare mammals may be sliding towards extinction, but Britain's rarest butterfly is going from strength to strength, a series of contrasting announcements makes clear today.

A judicial review is to be held into the Government's decision to allow badgers to be killed in England to halt the spread of bovine TB.

I went off Donna Leon several books ago – not enough plot, too much pasta, too much family stuff, above all, an excess of the tiresomely perfect Signorina Elettra, paragon of the Venetian cop-shop. But this is a return to form. Commissario Brunetti exerts himself with a lot more policing, plus the book is written with that depth of thought about crime and humanity that characterises the best of Leon's work.

Inspired by a surge in interest in taxidermy, Genevieve Roberts learns to stuff a mouse called Derek... to wear as a brooch

Much of Britain's wildlife, from dragonflies to water voles, face a difficult summer because of the drought, the Environment Agency has warned.

Exceptional dry spell threatens species from trees to tadpoles

Conservation thriller with no end of rats

Vital medical research is being "choked off" because airlines and ferry companies are refusing to bring animals into the country for testing in the face of pressure from animals' rights activists, a former science minister has warned.

Our writer finds in the story of the police horse lent to Rebekah Brooks a Swiftian satire that highlights animal nobility and human awfulness