Week in wildlife: elephants on parade, a rescued serval and wandering bears

The Guardian

18-04-2025

Sharp lookout … a burrowing owl balances on one leg while keeping an eye on its burrow in Davie, Florida, US. Photograph: Ronen Tivony/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
A herd of scimitar-horned oryx, a species once declared extinct in the wild due to hunting and desertification, grazes following recent rains in the Mhamid El-Ghizlane nature reserve in Morocco's southern Sahara desert. Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images
I'm out of here … blue tits on a pond in Aberystwyth, Wales Photograph: Philip Jones/Alamy
A large huntsman spider, known for its crab-like appearance due to its horizontally positioned legs, on a rock in Tehatta, India. The species is harmless to humans Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images
A woodpecker checks a tree for food in Bushy Park, London, UK Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Doing the frog stroke in Tokat, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Make yourself at home … a serval (right) that was confiscated with 18 other exotic felines during a police operation on Majorca, Spain Photograph: Guardia Civil/AFP/Getty Images
Wild horses roam the snow-covered Bugralar plateau north of Ankara, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
People walk by the remains of a 45ft-long female grey whale that washed ashore overnight in Huntington Beach, California, US. The cause of its death is not known Photograph: Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images
Two bears wander near a popular trail leading to the lower station of the cable car to Kasprowy Wierch, a mountain visited by skiers and hikers in southern Poland Photograph: Grzegorz Momot/EPA
Migrating white storks in a field, a key stopover site for migratory birds near the West Bank city of Jenin, Israel Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA
Come into my parlour … a spider consumes a fly on a daffodil flower in Dunsden Green, Oxfordshire, UK. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock
This poor fox was picked up by the RSPCA, who were called when a member of the public found it stuck under a derelict building in Leicester, UK, completely covered in thick heating oil. Staff cared for it and cleaned its fur using, among other things, Fairy Liquid … Photograph: RSPCA/PA
… and here it is drying off after the oil was removed Photograph: RSPCA/PA
Compact and bijou … a rose-ringed parakeet pops out of its nest at Bushy Park, London Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A red fox in the snow near Kars, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A pair of courting great crested grebes in Bursa, Turkey. The colourful head-feathers you see here are grown specially for the the breeding period. They also perform an elaborate dance with moves that ornithologists have named the 'ghostly penguin display', the 'cat posture' and the 'weed ceremony' Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
An iguana basks in the sun at Seminario park in Guayaquil, Ecuador Photograph: Raúl Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images
Breaking formation … a group of bee-eaters on a branch in Assam, India Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images
At ease … wild elephants wander into an army base near Amchang wildlife sanctuary in Guwahati, India
Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP