Week in wildlife in pictures: a new shrew, itchy deer and tortoises on rafts

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Main image: The tiny, previously unseen Mount Lyell shrew, California. Photograph: California Academy of Sciences

  • Kenny, a seven-year-old fallow buck, and friend use a donated Christmas tree as a scratching post at Auchingarrich Wildlife Park, Crieff, UK. The park asks people to drop off their trees in return for a free hot drink. The trees are then used around the park in many ways – as food, climbing frames, enrichment, bedding, woodchip and more
    Kenny the seven-year-old fallow buck enjoying thrashing and marking his territory on a Christmas tree at Auchingarrich Wildlife Park, UK with the fallow deer herd. Auchingarrich ask for people to donate their Christmas trees and get a hot drink in return. The trees are then used in many ways throughout the park

  • Leaf-cutter ants take their haul back to their nest at the Metropolitan Natural Park, a protected area in Panama City
    Ants take their haul back to their nest at the Metropolitan Natural Park, a protected area in Panama City

  • A newborn albino red-bellied short-necked turtle resting next to its sibling at the Ferme aux Crocodiles in Pierrelatte, south-eastern France. The birth of an albino individual of this aquatic species native to Australia and New Guinea is an extremely rare phenomenon
    An albino red-bellied turtle resting next to a sibbling at the Ferme aux Crocodiles, in Pierrelatte, France . The birth of an albino individual of this aquatic species native to Australia and New Guinea is an extremely rare phenomenona

  • Wild boar roam the streets near Calpe, Spain. The boar are causing problems for the tourist hotspot: thousands of the animals have come down from the hills to the towns of the Costa Blanca. Calpe has even hired wildlife experts to round up the boars and remove them
    Wild boar roam around Calpe, Spain. A Spanish tourist hotspot has become besieged by wild boars with thousands of the animals are roaming the Costa Blanca. They have come down from the surrounding rocky hills and are strolling through the streets. The situation is so bad that the town has hired wildlife experts to round up the boars and remove them from the town before they eat all the crops or start spreading diseases

  • An endangered tortoise clings to a floating branch in a flood in southern Madagascar. During Cyclone Dikeledi, thousands of critically endangered tortoises were swept away from the Lavavolo Tortoise Center, where they had been confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers, and were left swimming for their lives …
    An endangered tortoise that was washed away from the Lavavolo Tortoise Center in southern Madagascar during flooding due to Cyclone Dikeledi

  • … Sanctuary staff, local volunteers and even police officers joined together in a rescue operation, wading through the floodwaters with large baskets to collect the bewildered tortoises. Some rescuers converted damaged building structures into makeshift rafts for the tortoises to ride on as they moved around to find others. They believe they managed to save more than 10,000 tortoises
    Volunteers rescuing some of the thousands of endangered tortoises that were washed away from the Lavavolo Tortoise Center in southern Madagascar during flooding. Sanctuary staff, members of the community and even police officers joined together in a rescue operation, wading through the water with large containers to collect the bewildered tortoises. Some rescuers converted damaged building structures into makeshift rafts for the tortoises to ride on as they moved around to find others. They believe they managed save more than 10,000 tortoises

  • Valentine’s day may yet be a happy one for the greater mouse-eared bat: this female, found hibernating in the South Downs, joins Britain’s loneliest bat as very nearly the only members of their species in the UK. The male, who is elderly, spends the winter in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex. Ecologists believe population recovery is possible if the two of them can only get together
    Greater mouse-eared bat was declared extinct in the UK but ecologists now believe population recovery is possible after a second species member was discovered. For 21 long winters, Britain’s loneliest bat hibernated alone in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex, UK, but a second bat has also been found at Dover Castle

  • A robin perched on a tree sings out, his breath visible in the crisp air in Kidderminster, UK
    A robin perched on a tree sings out, his breath visible in the crisp air in Kidderminster, UK

  • Introducing the Mount Lyell shrew, the only known California mammal never photographed alive, until now. Three young scientists caught five of the tiny shrews in their pitfall traps overnight (all were quickly released). The furry creatures are less than 4in long, and weigh only a gram and a half – about the same as two paperclips
    Mount Lyell shrew, the only known California mammal never photographed alive, until now. Three young scientists set traps to capture and film species of special concern in move that can help conserve the shrew

  • A red fox hunts for mice on a snowy field in Kars, Turkey
    A red fox hunts for mice on a snowy field in Kars, Turkey

  • A baby cream-bellied thrush waits to be fed in its nest in Asunción, Paraguay
    A featherless baby bird with open beak waits to be fed in the nest, during hot sunny day, in Asuncion, Paraguay. The nest belongs to the cream-bellied thrush

  • Yoko, a baby swell shark, surprised marine researchers in Louisiana, US, by hatching from an egg laid in a tank inhabited by female sharks that had not had any contact with males for three years. Biologists were unsure whether the egg was produced by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) or delayed fertilisation
    Yoko the swell shark was born to a female that had not had contact with male sharks for three years, Louisiana, US. The shark born in a Louisiana aquarium that houses only females has flummoxed marine experts and raised the possibility that the species may not require such earthly pleasures to produce offspring

  • Deer play at Nara Park, near Osaka, Japan
    Deer play at Nara Park in Nara, Japan

  • Earlier this week a young minke whale swam up to a ferry approaching Sydney, Australia – a rare sight, since these whales usually stay in Antarctic waters. Scientists were unsure why it had come so far north. A wildlife researcher said it could just be a case of “misnavigation”. “The good thing is it looks in good condition, and it was observed going out to [sea], which is a good thing,” she said. “If we’ll see it again, I’m not sure”
    A young minke whale swam up to a ferry approaching a wharf in Sydney, Australia

  • A pelican patiently waits close to fishing boats, hoping to feast on leftover fish from the day’s catch in Balıkesir, Turkey
    A pelican patiently waits close to fishermen hoping to feast on leftover fish from the day’s catch in Balikesir, Turkey. Lake Kuş or Bird Lake serves as a vital ecosystem supporting diverse bird species, aquatic plants, fish populations, and various reptiles. This unique habitat is particularly important for piscivorous birds. During winter months, when fish activity decreases, pelicans are frequently observed along the lake’s shoreline, strategically positioning themselves near areas where they wait for the fishermen to return from the hunt

  • A giraffe walks past golfers during day one of the SDC Open in Bela-Bela, South Africa
    A giraffe walks past golfers during day one of the SDC Open 2025 at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa on in Bela Bela, South Africa

  • Migrating gray cranes roam the Agamon Hula conservation lake near the Lebanon border, northern Israel. Hula Lake nature reserve, home for thousands of migrating birds in the autumn and spring, reopened to the public in December 2024 after being closed for more than a year due to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
    Migrating gray cranes roam the Agamon Hula Conservation Lake, a major stopover for migrating birds near the Lebanon border, northern Israel. Hula Lake nature reserve, home for thousands of migrating birds in the autumn and spring, reopened to the public in December 2024 after being closed for more than a year due to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah

  • Monarch butterflies alight on the branches of an oyamel fir tree in the Piedra Herrada sanctuary, Temascaltepec, Mexico. The monarch butterfly biosphere reserve was declared a Natural World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2008
    Monarch butterflies on oyamel trees of Piedra Herrada, one of the sanctuaries of the monarch butterfly, is located in the municipality of Temascaltepec,Mexico. This place is part of the monarch butterfly biosphere reserve declared a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008
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