Animals

There’s no pick-me-up quite like looking at cute animals on your computer—or in real life. After all, animals (like cuddly koalas and wallabies) draw hundreds of thousands of local and international visitors to Queensland’s Australia Zoo every year, while a newborn panda cub helped attract nearly three million visitors to Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo in 2016. Travel + Leisure understands the appeal, from the adorable or the awkward to the very, very, funny. That’s why we keep track of the best animal travel stories across the globe, including a Japanese ice rink embedded with frozen fish (a grim “aquarium on ice”) to the perennially satisfying footage of fainting goats (that’s a thing). Of course, we also report more pressing stories about conservation and climate change, paying attention to the severe outbreak of coral bleaching damaging our planet’s reefs—and informing our readers about the harmful practice of big game hunting.For travelers who just want to know how to bring their favorite pets along on vacation, we provide definitive guides for traveling with your pets.Animal VideosWhether you’re interested in watching a whale breach in dramatic 180-degree footage, or just a 31-pound cat roll around the floor of a New Hampshire Best Western, we’ve got you covered. Animal videos highlight the majestic just as often as they profile the planet’s goofiest creatures: And both leave you feeling a little happier. Videos may present an angle never before captured on film before, or replay a hilarious moment for repeat viewings. Whatever you pleasure, take a break, click through, and check back often for our latest offerings.Animal NewsAnimals shape the way we travel, and travel shapes the way animals live. In New York City’s Central Park, for example, opportunistic raccoons (like any good New Yorkers) have become a veritable tourist attraction, happy to star in keepsake photos in exchange for a meal. Meanwhile, across 600,000 square miles of the Antarctic Ocean, 24 countries are establishing the largest marine reserve in the world. But in less uplifting news, Africa’s elephant habitats have been devastated by the poaching industry, which is also subtracting upwards of $25 million dollars a year in tourism revenue. For the latest stories on the intersection of travel and animals, Travel + Leisure has you covered.