-
A spotted owlet is seen on a tree branch in Kathmandu.
Photograph: Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images
-
An Angolan lion looks on from its enclosure in the Attica zoological park in Spata, near Athens, in January. After almost three months of closure due to Covid-19, Greece’s only zoo could be approaching extinction. With no paying visitors or state aid big enough for its very particular needs, it still faces huge bills to keep 2,000 animals fed and healthy.
Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP
-
Common starfish and sea anemones on ross worm at Dogger Bank in the North Sea. Government proposals to ban bottom trawling in Dogger Bank could be a first step to the recovery of a rich array of wildlife, conservationists have said.
Photograph: JNCC/PA
-
Migratory birds fly above the frozen waters of a wetland in Hokersar, north of Srinagar, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Wildlife officials have been feeding birds to prevent their starvation as the weather in the Himalayan region deteriorates following two heavy spells of snowfall since December. Temperatures have plummeted to -10C.
Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP
-
-
Brown hares on arable farmland near Kelso in the Borders. Hares are a symbol of fertility and perform superconception, carrying a second litter of leverets before giving birth to the first. The start of February is the pagan celebration of Imbolc and the fertility goddess Brigid.
Photograph: Chris Strickland/Alamy
-
A gang of roe deer frolic in the snowy fields of the commune Stare Czarnowo in the West Pomeranian voivodeship, Poland.
Photograph: Marcin Bielecki/EPA
-
A bee sits on an almond blossom on a tree near the West Bank city of Jenin.
Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA
-
A tree covered with hoarfrost casts a shadow on a snowy field, shot with a drone in Sieversdorf-Hohenofen, Germany.
Photograph: Patrick Pleul/dpa
-
-
A still from an RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch TV ad showing artist Angela Hennessey painting birds while taking part in the event in Bristol. Watching birds and listening to birdsong have helped people during the pandemic, polling suggests.
Photograph: Eleanor Bentall/RSPB/PA
-
An African bush elephant at the African Safari ecological park in Puebla, Mexico. The park is part of a nature reserve where a wild animal conservation project is restoring numbers of various species.
Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images
-
Under the dim glow of less-intrusive red lighting, visitors gather on the beach to watch the release of leatherback sea turtle hatchlings into the sea in Phang Nga, Thailand. With limited tourism activities along the Andaman coast of Thailand, this highly threatened species of sea turtle is returning to nest along the sandy beaches of Phang Nga and Phuket in record-breaking numbers, with at least 17 nests, the highest recorded in one nesting season for over a decade.
Photograph: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images
-
A three-striped squirrel snacking in the Rmna Park area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. About 279 species of squirrels and marmots are known worldwide.
Photograph: Monirul Alam/EPA
-
-
A flock of spotted geese at the Caohai national nature reserve in Bijie county in Guizhou province, southwest China. Caohai was listed as a national nature reserve in 1992 and is an important wintering ground and migration transfer station for birds such as black-necked cranes, grey cranes and spotted geese. Guizhou has vigorously promoted comprehensive measures and wetland restoration in the Caohai reserve, and more than 100,000 birds come to overwinter every year.
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
-
A coypu, also known as nutria, is seen in Edirne, Turkey. The coypu lives in burrows alongside stretches of water, and feeds on river plant stems. Native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has been introduced to Europe and Asia, primarily by fur farmers.
Photograph: Gokhan Balci/Anadolu/Getty Images
-
A kestrel is attacked by a hooded crow on Tempelhofer Feld, part of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin.
Photograph: Hauke Schroder/dpa
-
An employee from Chile’s fisheries and aquaculture service measures dead fish washed up on shore in Horcones.
Photograph: Jose Luis Saavedra/Reuters
-
-
Police officers count seized dried seahorses in Daishan county, Zhoushan city, Zhejiang province, China. Seahorses are a rare and endangered wild animal.
Photograph: Zou Xunyong/Alamy
-
A pair of common cranes in flight in a photo issued by the RSPB. Cranes, which went extinct in the UK 400 years ago, have continued their recent comeback with a new high of 64 pairs recorded in a survey in 2020. The bird vanished from Britain in the 1600s as a result of hunting and declines in wetland habitat.
Photograph: Nick Upton/RSPB
-
Cheetahs work together to bring down a zebra in Kenya. The doomed escape sequence captured the zebra fleeing from the predators’ stealthy pursuit and delivering an epic karate kick blow in their direction in a desperate attempt at self-defence. The equine’s escape was all in vain as the group of cheetahs swarmed in and dragged their meal to the ground.
Photograph: Yarin Klein/Mediadrumimages
