Animal and Wildlife Pictures

Twelve towering pyres of elephant tusks will be set alight in the largest single destruction of ivory in history.

The dogs had been confined in their cages from birth and the farm is just one of thousands in the country.

The Harry Hedgehog Café is home to between 20-30 hedgehogs, giving customers the chance to spend time with the prickly mammals

Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, populations of some wildlife – such as wolf, elk and boar – are booming in the vast exclusion zone around the former reactor.

The ivory that has been secured is being held in a stock room in Nairobi, and will be torched on 30 April.

Giant rats have been trained to sniff out explosives in Africa, and they are now also being used in Cambodia.

Photographer Will Burrard-Lucas has published a new book on the places every wildlife enthusiast should visit.

Should you kiss on the first date? Yes – if you are a pygmy hippo.

Almost 22,000 dogs are heading to Birmingham to compete at Crufts 2016, the 125th anniversary of the world's biggest canine show.

The cute bundle of white fluff followed her mother Valeska out of their cave at the Bremerhaven Zoo.

IBTimes UK takes you backstage at Madison Square Garden as dogs are groomed for success.

Study used 2.5 million photos to assess population numbers of tropical animals, including plenty of selfies.

Performances by exotic animals were banned by Chinese government in 2012 but the ruling had little effect.

Camels are dressed up for a beauty pageant before battling it out in a fight.

There's a new kid on the block: Fusilier Llywelyn, the Royal Welsh's new regimental goat.

A unique insight into the daily routine of Japanese Macaques who reside in the valleys of the Yokoyu-River during the winter months.

Viral pic of kangaroos mourning a female was not what it seemed as the male was 'sexually frustrated'.

Every year, keepers at London Zoo face the challenging task of tallying up every creature from among more than 750 species.

Twenty-six dogs and puppies have been rescued from a South Korean dog meat farm.

Taronga Zoo in Sydney is celebrating the birth of a bright orange Francois' langur, one of the world's rarest monkeys.

Halloween costume ideas include a dog dressed as Marty McFly in the Back to Future and a doggy tribute to Sarah Jessica Parker.

Climate change can be good for some species but which will be the winners?

In their book Africa On Safari, Kym and Tonya Illman reveal how they captured their wildlife photos.

Bloody photo of a fight between a red fox and an Arctic fox wins this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Some of the apes were seized from smugglers, but most were confiscated from entertainment businesses.

Tim Flach's portraits show how humans attribute emotions and thoughts to animals.

Giant rats imported from Africa are being trained to detect unexploded landmines in Cambodia.

As many as 10,000 dogs, many of them stolen pets, are slaughtered for the Yulin dog meat festival.

Malnourished sea lion pups are getting stranded on California beaches in record numbers.

Meet Sparklemuffin, Skeletorus and other cute members of Australia's colourful Maratus genus.