BEIJING, March 27, 2008 (AFP) - A tortoise that smokes and appears to be addicted to nicotine has been discovered in China's northeastern province of Jilin, state media reported on Thursday.

The animal is the pet of a man, identified by his surname Yun, who is himself a smoker, Xinhua news agency said, quoting a local newspaper.

NAIROBI, March 24, 2008 (AFP) - Villagers in central Kenya killed nine elephants that strayed into their farmlands over the past year, a wildlife official said on Monday.

The elephants were killed as they strayed from Aberdare National Park, the park's senior warden Catherine Wambani told state-run Kenya News Agency.

BANGKOK, March 23, 2008 (AFP) - Thai wildlife police have arrested two vendors and seized more than 200 rare animals including endangered tortoises during a raid at Bangkok's popular weekend market, police said Sunday.

BANGKOK, March 23, 2008 (AFP) - Thai wildlife police have arrested two vendors and seized more than 200 rare animals including endangered tortoises during a raid at Bangkok's popular weekend market, police said Sunday.

GOMA, Dr Congo, March 18, 2008 (AFP) - A senior manager at a world heritage African wildlife park was arrested Tuesday as an investigation into the killing of 10 rare mountain gorillas gathered pace, a government minister said.

Honore Mashagiro, a member of the Congolese nature conservation institute, was arrested in Goma, Nord-Kivu, Environment Minister Felicite Kalume told AFP.

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, March 16, 2008 (AFP) - The road sign depicts a white polar bear against a black background, a vivid reminder of the danger the animals present in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, where bears outnumber people and encounters sometimes prove fatal.

MANILA, March 12, 2008 (AFP) - Philippines authorities have rescued venomous snakes, endangered eagles and scores of other rare wildlife in a raid on a pet market in Manila, the environment department said Wednesday.

The team swooped down on the Cartimar market in downtown Manila on Monday and recovered 94 birds and animals which are considered either threatened or vulnerable.

WELLINGTON, March 11, 2008 (AFP) - A dolphin guided two stranded whales to safety after human attempts to keep the animals off a New Zealand beach failed, a conservation official said Wednesday.

'I've never heard of anything like this before, it was amazing,' Conservation Department officer Malcolm Smith said.

MOUNT APO, Philippines, March 10, 2008 (AFP) - Chick Number 22 chirps in delight as a feeder thrusts a talon-shaped puppet through a hole in a blind and offers it a full-grown mashed quail complete with bones and feathers.

Still in its birthday suit of fluffy white down the 44-day-old Philippine eagle is already bigger than a rooster, weighing 3.55 kilograms (7.8 pounds).

CHURCHILL, Canada, March 8, 2008 (AFP) - It's 3:00 am and there's a polar bear in your yard. Who you gonna call?

In Churchill, a town of some 1,000 people on the western shore of Hudson Bay, it's the Polar Bear Alert Team.