The global coronavirus pandemic has been hard to endure for humans, but other species on the planet seem to be doing just fine. Odisha’s beaches are being reclaimed by the rare and endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle. In another Indian city, a small Indian civet was spotted crossing a street.

After the swans in Venice, videos of dolphins being spotted off the Mumbai coast are doing the rounds of social media. But before you get too excited, here’s something you should know...

Being stuck indoors for weeks due to the coronavirus quarantine isn’t easy, but animal videos – like the fluffy white dog walking itself with a drone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s adorable pets – are like a soothing balm for the soul.

A 17-year-old dog, suspected to have caught the coronavirus, died two days after being released from quarantine.

If there’s one video you should be watching today, it’s this. Wellington, the Penguin takes a tour of the Chicago aquarium which has been closed amid coronavirus fears and he’s transfixed by a school of fish.

Monkeys have taken to the streets in Thailand’s Lopburi province and are fighting over food. The number of tourists, who regularly feed the primates, has dropped significantly because of the coronavirus scare, leaving the animals hungry and desperate.

Dogs and I have never gotten along, whether it was a goofy labrador or a ferocious German shepherd. Even so, I had to vow to take my husband – and his 10-year-old Beagle – in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

Last year, a guide from Ranthambore National Park was suspended for pelting stones at a sleeping tiger. At Periyar Tiger Reserve, safari vehicles were found entering the core area unaccompanied by authorised guides, setting fires and littering. Our insatiable appetite for spotting a tiger in the wild is threatening the existence of the very creature it is meant to protect.

A month after our dog Poncho died, I went for the PTA to my daughter’s school. The class teacher told me she would blank out for long periods and sit in a corner weeping while her best friend hugged her. I had failed to address a significant milestone in her life – her first experience with death.

You’re not a cat mom, dog dad, cat person, or even an animal person. You’re just an empty person, trying to fill a void in your life by forcefully trying to rid an animal of its basic instincts.

Two students from a medical college in Kolkata killed 16 puppies and paraded their carcasses for all to see, as some kind of a trophy. But what probably makes the incident even more disturbing, is that the people who are justifying the murder are as vocal as those condemning the act.

Avni’s fate was sealed the moment she first came into conflict with humans. But there is no glory to be gained in hunting endangered animals, even if they’re supposedly man-eaters, and each life lost is a sign of the failure of our conservation efforts.

We are under attack. Almost every minute a bomb goes off. From the window I can see children with guns and soldiers running around yelling code words at each other, “Happy Diwali! Happy Diwali!”

Dog is a man’s best friend, and a biker’s worst enemy. Stories about being chased by dogs is to motorcyclists what having famous parents is to Bollywood debutantes – Can you even call yourself the genuine article if you don’t have any?

I am surprised at the number of perfectly rational people who display phobias like the fear of household lizards and heights. And I was perfectly rational too… until a bat entered my room, looking like a mini dragon, while I watched Game of Thrones.

The humble rat has proved that he is a Mumbaikar to the core. He’s got it all – the die-hard spirit, the indifference to unhygienic surroundings, the apathy to the din of construction and an immune system that quaffs anything edible, and lives to tell the tale.

I took in a two-month-old spaniel to impress my girlfriend when I was 16. Sure, that relationship ended soon after. But Zippy has been my pillow, a silent yet effective shoulder to lean on. And seeing her age, is more painful that any heartbreak I’ve ever experienced.

Some of Mumbai’s many stories reside with its stray dogs. A new picture book on our canine compatriots, gloriously named Tamatar or Periappa or Whiskey, tells us a lot about the city’s streeties – and a fair bit about us.

Dogorrhea is a medical condition that affects one in every twenty humans on the planet. If you are a dog owner, you are most likely already infected. Dogorrhea makes people believe that anyone who isn’t besotted with canines is an asshole. And anyone who isn’t a canine is an idiot.

I’ve realised the sound logic behind the reason why people choose to be either cat or dog people. Living with the two is like being the referee at a tennis match. Actually, it’s like being the tennis ball.

Gajendra is the senior-most elephant in the famous Mysuru Dasara procession. We take you behind the scenes as he prepares for D-Day.

हरियाणा की एक अनोखी प्रेम कहानी: नरेंद्र सिंह पूनिया और उनका भैंसा शहंशाह।

Narendra Singh Poonia, a dairy farm owner from Panipat, is a doting father to his 1,500-kg Murrah bull. He sleeps near Shehenshah every night to make sure he doesn’t go hungry.

Manjiri Latey believes in communicating with animals. She claims to have helped scores of animal lovers find their lost pets.

My Lab taught me to cope with the unpredictability of life and relationships. We grew up together as feisty and spontaneous girls.

Mumbai’s Byculla Zoo got eight penguins Humboldt/Dory has passed, and our hearts have got a jolt

In inhospitable Kargil, my only solace was two canine friends who lived on scraps of the unit kitchen. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to them, recounts a young army captain

We are blissfully unconscious of the fact that when we leave the lights on for longer than required, our actions could cause a Himalayan black bear to manifest in someone’s garden.