Long reads for curious minds

Stories from the animal world

Look closer at how animals think, feel and live—and discover gentle ways people can become better friends to them.

A dark grey axolotl facing the camera in an aquarium, with its broad head, small eyes and feathery external gills visible.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Axolotl: The Underwater Salamander With Feathery Gills

Meet the axolotl, a remarkable salamander of Mexico City’s waterways that keeps its gills, lives underwater, and needs clean canals to thrive.

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An orange-and-white ocellaris clownfish swimming among the tentacles of a magnificent sea anemone on a reef.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Clownfish: The Tiny Reef Neighbour With a Stinging-Flower Home

Meet the clownfish, a bright reef fish whose closest neighbour is a sea anemone—and whose family life holds a remarkable surprise.

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A brown European garden spider in its web, with the pale cross-shaped markings clear on its rounded abdomen.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

The European Garden Spider: A Wheel-Weaver at Work

Meet the European garden spider, a patient orb-weaver whose pale cross and round silk web can turn an ordinary garden corner into a tiny theatre of nature.

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A laughing kookaburra perched on a silver wattle branch, showing its large beak, dark eye-stripe and blue-green wing feathers.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

The Laughing Kookaburra: A Big Voice in the Treetops

Meet the laughing kookaburra, a large land-hunting kingfisher whose famous chorus rings through Australian woodland, parks and gardens.

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A great white shark swimming through clear blue water among a school of smaller fish, with sunlight rippling across its grey back.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Great White Sharks: The Ocean’s Powerful, Misunderstood Neighbours

Meet the great white shark, a warm-bodied ocean traveller with remarkable senses, a constantly renewing smile, and a vulnerable future.

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An adult and a young red kangaroo standing together among low scrub in Sturt National Park, New South Wales.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Red Kangaroo: The Evening Hopper of Australia’s Open Country

Meet the red kangaroo, the world’s largest marsupial: a powerful plant-eater whose remarkable journey begins as a jellybean-sized joey in a pouch.

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A buff-coloured domestic hen running across grass, with her red comb and outstretched legs visible against the motion-blurred background.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Chicken Conversations: Meet the Clever Friends in the Flock

Chickens are alert, social birds with friendships, family calls, and a lively way of exploring the world.

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A western honey bee using its proboscis to collect nectar from the yellow centre of a purple aster flower.

Animal story · 14 July 2026

Western Honey Bees: The Flower-Finding Friends of the Hive

Meet Apis mellifera, the western honey bee: a small, striped insect whose busy colony life links flowers, food, and careful communication.

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