Week in wildlife – in pictures: a rare blue frog, a cheeky heron and climbing bears
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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A jay and a juvenile starling appear to be squabbling in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Jays are known to be aggressive birds, especially during the breeding season or when they feel threatened. They are very territorial and this one might have perceived the starling as an intruder. [• This caption was amended on 12 July 2024. An earlier version said the starling was a young sparrow]
Photograph: Mediadrumimages/Martin Goff
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A mountain lion is measured and tested for vitals by members of the California Fish and Wildlife Department at the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center in Ramona before his release back into the wild later that day. ‘Mountain lions are one of the many species that are threatened by urban expansion,’ said Andy Blue of Ramona Wildlife Center.
Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images
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A sea lion yawns on Sandfly Bay beach in the Otago peninsula on the outskirts of Dunedin, New Zealand. The New Zealand sea lion is one of rarest species of sea lion and is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of threatened species
Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images
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A very rare blue-coloured tree frog, which is normally known for its green colour, holds on to a leaf in the Karacabey district of Bursa, Turkey
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
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Bear cubs play and climb up a tree in the serene wilderness of Martinselkonen, Finland
Photograph: Valtteri Mulkahainen/Caters News
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A northern Pacific rattlesnake curls into a defensive position in the tall grass of a pasture along a country road near Elkton in south-western Oregon, US
Photograph: Robin Loznak/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
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Wild elephants feed in the jungle in Galgamuwa, Sri Lanka. Local people are mourning the death of one of the elephants, which succumbed to injuries inflicted in a human-wildlife conflict, underscoring the challenges faced by animals in the region. The death emphasises the urgent need for sustainable practices to protect Sri Lanka’s elephants and their natural habitats
Photograph: Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
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A cheeky heron hitches a ride on a hippo’s back to go fishing in Kruger Park, South Africa
Photograph: Chris Hadfield/Caters News
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A red deer fawn is cared for at an animal care centre in Ankara, Turkey after being injured in a local forest. The animals are released back into the wild after being fed and cared for by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
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A colourful fluffy coot chick swims in a lake near Rottweil, Germany. The coot chick’s bright plumage is a method of survival because parents tend to feed the brighter more vibrant chicks rather than the less colourful ones
Photograph: Silas Stein/DPA/Cover Images
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A wild monkey sits in a forest in Sundarbans, Bangladesh
Photograph: Abu Sufian Jewel/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
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Atlantic dolphins leap out of the water off Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island in the Azores archipelago, Portugal
Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters
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A moose strides among bushes and trees in a national park in Alaska, US. The Alaskan moose, the largest of its kind, has been observed in Alaska’s national parks and the state is home to one of the world’s biggest moose populations, with an estimated 200,000 to 250,000. Moose are often seen near rivers and lakes due to their ability to swim long distances
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
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Three barn owl chicks perch in a tree near Carlby in Lincolnshire, UK. The parent laid her eggs in the hollow of the tree and the owlets will not be able to fly for about another 10 days
Photograph: David White/pictureexclusive.com
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A rose chafer. The beetles are often seen on flowers in the garden and are sometimes maligned for munching their way through these plants. However, they are an important detritivore as they feed on dead and decaying matter and recycle its nutrients, which makes a helpful addition to any compost
Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock
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A six-week-old osprey is marked with a coloured ring of origin and the numbered ring of the Hiddensee ornithological station, Germany. Bird experts are currently ringing the young birds, which hatched a few weeks ago. There are 270 breeding pairs of ospreys in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which raise about 400 young each year
Photograph: Jens Büttner/DPA/Cover Images
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A bee collects pollen from lavender flowers on a sunny day in the Bohemian Paradise nature reserve in the Czech Republic. To collect pollen, female bees visit the ends of the stamens, which contain lots of yellow pollen
Photograph: Slávek Růta/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
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Indian star tortoises rescued during a raid on a house in Ampang in Malaysia’s Selangor state. Authorities have arrested six members of an international crime ring known as the Ninja Turtle Gang and seized about 200 smuggled tortoises and turtles
Photograph: Malaysia Department of Wildfife and National Parks/AFP/Getty Images
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A squirrel holds a walnut in its mouth on a tree branch in Cukurca district of Hakkari, Turkey
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
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A one-horned rhinoceros wades the flooded Pobitora Wildlife sanctuary in the Morigaon district of Assam in India
Photograph: Dasarath Deka/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
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Phillipi Dutra, a technician at the Jacare Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, carries a broad-snouted caiman as part of the work of preserving and rescuing caimans native to the Jacarepagua lagoon complex, which are endangered due to urban expansion and sewage pollution,
Photograph: Pilar Olivares/Reuters