Week in wildlife – in pictures: a hungry jackal, a cat with webbed feet and a cheeky badger

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

Main image: Day of the jackal? Doves fly for cover in Botswana. Photograph: Kathy Kay/Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News

  • You got a problem, sunshine? ... a robin and a siskin squabble over food in Lytham, Lancashire, UK [• This caption was amended on 19 April 2024. The siskin was miscaptioned as a greenfinch in a previous version]
    You got a problem, sunshine? ... a robin and a siskin squabble over food in Lytham, Lancashire, UK

  • A fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) in Peam Krasop wildlife sanctuary, Cambodia. One of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has identified hundreds of species; biologists were staggered at the variety. This cat likes to swim using its partially webbed front feet, and catches fish using its protruding claws
    A fishing cat in Peam Krasop wildlife sanctuary, Cambodia. One of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats. Hundreds of species – from bats to birds and fish to insects – were identified during the study of the Peam Krasop sanctuary and the adjacent Koh Kapik Ramsar reserve in Cambodia.

  • Big spender ... an escaped elephant heads for the slot machines in Butte, Montana, US. The circus animal was getting a pre-show bath when a vehicle backfiring spooked her, leading her to break through a fence and take a brief walk. She stopped traffic on the city’s busiest street before being caught and loaded back into a trailer
    An escaped elephant crosswa the road in Butte, Montona, US. The sound of a vehicle backfiring spooked a circus elephant while she was getting a pre-show bath leading the animal to break through a fence and take a brief walk, stopping noontime traffic on the city’s busiest street before before being loaded back into a trailer

  • A glossy ibis feeds on the shore of Lake Uluabat in Bursa, Turkey. These birds, which prefer wetlands for feeding and nesting, are characterised by their long, curved beak and dark feathers
    A glossy ibis feeds on the shore of Lake Uluabat during spring season in Bursa, Turkey. These birds, which prefer wetlands for feeding and nesting, are characterised by their long, curved beak and dark-colored feathers

  • A five-month-old cheetah seated in the back of a Land Cruiser growls at an outstretched hand after being taken from traffickers in Ethiopia and driven to Harirad, Somaliland, in 2020. This photo is part of the work of more than 100 artists in Why We Photograph Animals, a new collection of wildlife photography that aims to help understand why people have photographed animals at different points in history and what it means in the present
    A five-month-old cheetah seated in the back of a Land Cruiser growls at an outstretched hand after being intercepted just across the border in Ethiopia and driven to Harirad, Somaliland, 2020. The cheetah had been intercepted after a tipoff from an anti-trafficking source. This photo is part of the work of more than 100 photographers in Why We Photograph Animals which is a new collection of wildlife photography that aims to help understand why people have photographed animals at different points in history and what it means in the present

  • A fox in a garden in Clapham, London, UK, pauses by some tulips. The vixen has a litter of cubs in a nearby den
    A fox in a garden in Clapham, London, UK, runs past a field of tulips. The vixen has a litter of cubs in a nearby den.

  • Nose-y neighbours ... Squirrel and Bee, winner of the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024. “Two different worlds in one interaction are captured beautifully here,” said judge Craig Jones. “The look of wonder and curiosity from the squirrel looking at the bee tells such a wonderful story.” Gary Watson, who took the photograph, won a trail camera courtesy of WildCare. “This beautiful wee red squirrel was playing in the trees in a spot I frequent near Elgin,” he said. “It just so happened that the bee flew by. It’s lovely the things you see when you sit and wait for nature to come to you”
    Squirrel and bee, winner of the Mammal Photographer of the Year 2024.

  • A fulvous-breasted woodpecker drills into a tall mahogany tree, startling its inhabitants, in Tehatta, West Bengal, India
    A fulvous-breasted woodpecker vigorously drilla through into a tall East American mahogany tree, eating insects. In contrast, other insects fly away in fear at Tehatta, West Bengal, India. The fulvous-breasted woodpecker, a medium-sized species in the Picidae family, is found in forests at altitudesup to 2800m in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. These woodpeckers are non-migratory resident birds, with populations living at higher altitudes descending to lower levels during winter

  • A brown bear looks out over Kurile lake as salmon make their way up the nearby rivers to spawn. The lake is on the remote tip of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, which stretches south towards Japan. It is a banqueting house for bears: as many as 6m sockeye salmon come here to spawn each year
    A brown bear looks out at a lake as millions of salmon make their way to spawn into the waters with the bears hungry for the fish at Kurile Lake, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. The area has limited human interaction with just 300,000 people in this region of the country

  • Velella (also known as sea raft) washed up on a beach in Ramatuelle, south-eastern France. It is a cnidaria – part of the group that includes jellyfish and sea anemones. A velella travels by means of the transparent ‘sail’ protruding from its back, which catches the wind [• This caption was amended on 19 April 2024 to remove a reference to cnidaria being part of a botanical, rather than animal, group]
    Velella (also known as sea raft) washed up on a beach near Bastide Blanche path, in Ramatuelle, southeastern France

  • A crocodile fitted with a radio transmitter is released into a river in eastern Colombia. Eleven of the endangered Orinoco crocodiles were released as part of a breeding programme that aims to keep them from extinction
    A crocodile swims in a river during a release of eleven crocodiles in the Vichada department, Colombia. The Orinoco crocodile is a critically endangered crocodile, a programme of breeding crocodiles and releasing them into the river hopes to prevent extinction

  • A wild elephant crosses a road in Habarana, Sri Lanka. Shrinking forests are driving elephants to urban areas with death tolls mounting
    A wild elephant crosses a road in Habarana, Sri Lanka. Shrinking forests are driving elephants to urban areas with death tolls mounting

  • Seals rest on an ice mass in Antarctica
    Seals rest on an ice mass as Turkish scientists conduct a protection for the southern polar creatures, which are heavily affected by the consequences of global climate change, with the rules and observations they apply in their work in Antarctica

  • Masked bandit ... a badger is caught on CCTV on the football pitch at Warsash Wasps sports and football club near Southampton, UK. The club’s coaches were baffled when holes started appearing in the previously pristine surface of the pitch. They installed cameras to try to catch the culprits, and were amazed to discover it was a pair of hungry badgers, visiting from a nearby churchyard
    A badger is caught on CCTV on the football pitch at Warsash Wasps Sports and Football Club near Southampton, UK. A children’s football club is in crisis after its pitch was destroyed by ravenous badgers. Coaches were baffled when holes started appearing in the previously pristine surface. They even installed CCTV to try to catch the culprits and were amazed to discover it was a pair of badgers, visiting from a nearby churchyard

  • Water buffalo (or Asian buffalo) are introduced into the Étang de Cousseau nature reserve, Lacanau, France. The animals will be used to re-establish a high level of biodiversity. By trampling the soil, the buffalo will help to diversify the vegetation. Their droppings will also help to spread seeds and provide a habitat and food for coprophagous insects
    Water buffalo (or Asian buffalo) are introduced into the Etang of Cousseau nature reserve, Lacanau, France. The animals will be used to re-establish a high level of biodiversity. By trampling the soil, the buffalo will help to diversify the vegetation. Their droppings will also help to spread seeds and provide a habitat and food for coprophagous insects

  • A peacock at the Palace on the Isle in Royal Łazienki Park, Warsaw, Poland
    A peacock looks on at the Palace on the Isle in Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw, Poland

  • Crested pelicans on the Karşıyaka coast, Turkey
    Crested Pelicans on the Karsiyaka coast, Turkey

  • Hares run along a rape field near Frankfurt, Germany
    Hares run along a rape field in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany

  • A jackal surrounded by doves leaps for a meal at the Kgalagadi game reserve in Botswana. It is difficult for animals to survive in this part of south Africa, so this jackal is one of a few that have learned how to catch birds
    A jackal surrounded by doves leaps for a meal at the Kgalagadi game reserve in Botswana. It is difficult for animals to survive in this part of south Africa, so this jackal is one of a few that’s learnt how to catch birds
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