Do you treat your pet like a person? Then you’re setting yourself, and them, for failure.

A pond in Hawaii has turned so bubble-gum pink it could be from the set of "Barbie," but the bizarre phenomenon is no cause for a dance party.

Drought may be to blame for the strange hue, scientists say, and they're warning against entering the water or drinking it.

Staff at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge on Maui have been monitoring the pink water since October 30.

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"I just got a report from somebody that was walking on the beach, and they called me up like, 'There's something weird going on over here,'" said Bret Wolfe, the refuge manager.

Wolfe was concerned the bright pink could be a sign of an algae bloom, but lab tests found toxic algae was not causing the color. Instead an organism called halobacteria might be the culprit.

Halobacteria are a type of archaea or single-celled organism that thrive in bodies of water with high levels of salt.

The salinity inside the Kealia Pond outlet area is currently greater than 70 parts per thousand, which is twice the salinity of seawater.

Wolfe said the lab will need to conduct a DNA analysis to definitively identify the organism.

Maui's drought is likely contributing to the situation.

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Normally Waikapu Stream feeds into Kealia Pond and raises water levels there, but Wolfe said that hasn't happened in a long time.

When it rains, the stream will flow into Kealia's main pond and then into the outlet area that's now pink.

This will reduce the salinity and potentially change the water's color.

"That might be what makes it go away," Wolfe said.

No one at the refuge has seen the pond this color before — not even volunteers who have been around it for 70 years.

The pond has been through periods of drought and high salinity before, though, and Wolfe isn't sure why the color has changed now.

Curious visitors have flocked to the park after photos of the pink pond appeared on social media.

"We prefer that they come to hear about our our mission conserving native and endangered waterbirds and our wetland restorations. But no, they're here to see the pink water," Wolfe joked.

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"If that's what gets them there, it's OK," he said. "It is neat."

The wildlife refuge is a wetland that provides nesting, feeding and resting habitat to the endangered Hawaiian stilt, known as aeo, and the Hawaiian coot or alae keokeo.

It also hosts migratory birds during the winter.

The water doesn't appear to be harming the birds, Wolfe said.

As a wildlife refuge, people aren't supposed to wade into the pond or let their pets in the water regardless of its color.

But officials are taking an extra precaution to warn people not to enter the water or eat any fish caught there because the source of the color has yet to be identified.

Kwok was set to have a long holiday with his family after his birthday and last shift.

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The death of two toddlers, who were found in a car in a remote Queensland town, has been described by Queensland Police as a "tragic accident".

Emergency services were called to a private property at Woorabinda, about 170 kilometres west of Rockhampton, where they first found an unresponsive two-year-old about 7.48pm last night.

The child was taken to Woorabinda hospital and was pronounced dead.

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Emergency services returned to the scene where they found a second three-year-old child in the same car at 9.15pm, who was taken to hospital and also pronounced dead.

Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow said residents found the two-year-old unresponsive sitting on the rear seat but the three-year-old wasn't initially found.

"The second child was laying down in the rear foot well of the vehicle and wasn't seen by the residents when they located the first child," Shadlow said.

Shadlow confirmed the children were related but were not brothers.

"The vehicle was in the rear yard of the residence so it appears it is a tragic accident with the children who have somehow gotten into the vehicle and have been there for some time.

"We will examine the vehicle meticulously in relation to the locks on the doors, all of that kind of thing.

"It is not a used vehicle so there was no electronics for the windows or anything like that."

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Although it is too early to know the cause of death, Shadlow believes it could be from heat-related stress after initial investigations.

He confirmed people were home at the residence when the children were found.

"It is a tragic event for the community and also for the hospital staff and the first responders."

Police have established a crime scene at the property.

Investigations are ongoing.

Two teenagers have died and three others have been hospitalised after a single car crash in NSW's north.

Emergency services found a Volkswagen Tiguan had hit a tree on on Plains Station Road in Tabulam, about 60km west of Casino about 3:20am.

"Two teenagers were declared deceased at the scene. They are yet to be formally identified," NSW Police said in a statement.

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"Three teenagers were taken to hospital, with one in a serious condition while the two others are being treated for minor injuries."

Investigations are ongoing.

Paul Mackenzie, the Kenyan preacher at the centre of a doomsday cult in the country that led to the deaths of more than 400 people, was on Friday found guilty of operating a studio and distributing films without a licence.

The senior resident magistrate in the town of Malindi, Olga Onalo, found Mackenzie guilty of exhibition of films through his Times Television without approval of the Kenya Film Classification Board.

The preacher has been in police custody for more than six months now since he was arrested in April, following the discovery of hundreds of bodies in mass graves in a forested area across his 800-acre property in the coastal county of Kilifi.

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Prosecutors say Mackenzie ordered his congregants to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.

However, he has not been formally charged over the deaths, despite being arraigned in court on numerous occasions since his arrest.

On Friday he was acquitted of additional charges of influencing children to not attend school and using radical preaching to incite Christians against Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims.

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He will be sentenced for the film-related offenses on December 1 and could face up to five years in prison.

On Thursday, prosecutors applied to have Mackenzie held in custody for six more months to allow police to complete their investigations which include the search for dozens of people still missing.

Since his arrest, there have been growing calls for the government to regulate churches in Kenya.

A man has been charged with murder and another other has been charged with firearm offences after a "series of shooting incidents" on NSW's Mid North Coast.

Police responded to multiple shootings along the Pacific Highway between Nabiac and Kundabung on Thursday about 1.40am.

Officers then located Sam Dieter Liszczak, 30, who was found dead with an alleged gunshot wound at a property on Fernbank Creek Road just outside Port Macquarie about 5.40am.

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NSW Police will allege in court two men travelled from Victoria in a ute together before shooting Liszczak to death after a "falling out".

Detectives said they seized a vehicle "wanted over the series of shooting incidents" at Wayne Richards Park in Port Macquarie about 10.30am later the same day.

It triggered a "large scale" police operation to locate those involved.

"Officers attached to State Crime Command's Homicide Squad commenced an investigation into the deceased male, which police established was linked to the shooting spree," NSW Police said in a statement.

"About 3.15pm, two men – aged 26 and 32 – were arrested behind Geoffrey Debenham Street in Kempsey."

The 32-year-old was charged with murder and six firearm related offences after he was released from Kempsey Hospital.

The 26-year-old was charged with three counts of both discharge firearm intend cause grievous bodily harm and fire firearm in or near public place.

They were both refused bail and are expected to appear at Kempsey Local Court today.