The plan will endanger 300 animal species living at the refuge, which has until now remained a protected landmark.

Owners are being forced to give up their dogs amid national food shortages, with pets being sent to restaurants and state-run zoos.

Lolita, the main ‘attraction’ at Miami Seaquarium for the last 50 years, lives in a tiny concrete tank, displays neurotic behaviors, and hasn’t seen another orca since 1980.

The Oklahoma zoo made famous by the Netflix documentary has closed for good, following a damning USDA inspection, and mounting pressure from animal rights groups.

A two-year undercover investigation has found that thousands of cubs are bred each year, either to be shot and killed by trophy hunters, or skinned, deboned and boiled down for ‘medicinal’ consumption.

Conservationists are celebrating a record year for elephant births at the Amboseli Trust, where elephants - who have a long gestation period of 22 months - are giving birth in huge numbers.

The mother and her calf were found “in a skeletal state after being killed by armed poachers.”

The 40-hectare bay will provide a “retirement home” for ageing beluga whales and orcas.

Nearly 20,000 wildlife farms have shut down under the “monumental” ban.