Week in wildlife: an elephant goes shopping and a tiger gets a pedicure

The Guardian

06-06-2025

Bulk order … a male elephant named Plai Biang Lek gets stuck in to the sweet rice crackers at a shop in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Photograph: Kanokporn Sriboon/AP
Swans and their cygnets in Hyde Park, London, UK Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A humpback whale makes its way down the east coast of Australia, as seen from Manly Beach, north of Sydney Photograph: John Goodridge
Extreme pedicure … vets tend to Tschuna, an Amur tiger, at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, UK. The 17-stone (108kg) tiger had an ingrown toenail, or rather claw, and was briefly anaesthetised for the operation. 'Tschuna came back round relatively quickly and should have a speedy recovery, though she probably has a bit of a headache from the anaesthetic,' said Dr Charlotte MacDonald, the park's director of animals Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA
A moth emerges from a cocoon while hanging from a clothesline in the gardens of the Natural History Museum in Mexico City, Mexico Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP
A deer peers out from Catherine Chevalier woods, in Chicago, Illinois, US. The forest enclave supports a variety of wildlife despite its position right next to O'Hare International, one of the world's busiest airports Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
An aerial view of a stork with two chicks on their nest, situated on a high-voltage line mast in Bouée, western France Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images
A great horned owl in Bernal Heights, San Francisco, California, US. The owl family, whose nest is less well hidden than most, has become a sensation in the neighbourhood. 'A bunch of us have been keeping an eye on the chicks, they're fluffy,' one resident told a local TV station. 'They're pretty chill during the day, but if you come out at dusk, they'll start rockin' and rolling.' Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A bee explores the flowers in the woods of Dunsden, Oxfordshire, UK Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock
A bee-eater hunts in Bursa, Turkey. They have a complex hunting process that involves plucking a bee out of the air with their beak, stunning it by smacking its head on a branch, then rubbing its bottom against the branch to remove the stinger and flush out the poison before eating Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
This dramatic face-off between a fox and an eagle was the winner in the wildlife category of National Geographic Traveller UK's photography competition. Photographer Victoria Andrews said: 'I took this image in Toledo, Spain. I didn't have to wait more than an hour before the Bonelli's eagle flew in and perched on an old tree stump. The bird preened and posed, then raised its wings in a defensive stance. That's when I saw the fox approaching. The fox came closer and closer, until they were almost nose to nose' Photograph: Victoria Andrews/Nat Geo/SWNS
A heron hunts on the pond in Dublin's botanical gardens, Ireland Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA
Fishermen and conservation workers lift a disgruntled loggerhead sea turtle into a car after it was caught by a fishing boat in Watamu, Kenya. The turtle will be taken for observation in a rehabilitation centre before being released back into the ocean Photograph: Fredrik Lerneryd/AFP/Getty Images
Flipper flop … Pickle, a sea lion, rests on the Costa Rican shoreline after being released back into the wild – appropriately enough, only a few days before World Oceans Day, which is Sunday. He was the first sea lion ever to be looked after by that branch of International Animal Rescue, since the mammals are not native to Costa Rica's Pacific coast; they occasionally turn up there due to shifting ocean currents Photograph: International Animal Rescue
A red soldier beetle climbs the stem of a wildflower on Hutchinson's Bank in New Addington, Croydon, UK. Managed by the London Wildlife Trust, this area of secluded chalk grassland and woodland is one of the best spots in the country to see butterflies. About 42 of the UK's 59 species have been recorded here Photograph:A common blue rests on leaves at Hutchinson's Bank in New Addington, Croydon, UK Photograph:A wolf pup found in the wild is fed by a conservation worker in Bingöl, eastern Turkey. The pup will be re-released after its treatment is completed Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A Przewalski's horse runs free in a reserve in Kabak, Kazakhstan, having been transported from Hungary as part of a five-year plan to restore the endangered species to its historic habitat. The animals are the last remaining truly wild horses on the planet Photograph: Attila Kovács/EPA
A glamorous lionfish swims in Antalya, Turkey. They are venomous, but can be eaten by humans if prepared correctly. ('Wear puncture-resistant gloves,' advises the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.) Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
These London fox cubs, which have appeared in Week in Wildlife several times this spring, seem to be getting bigger by the day. They are about 11 weeks old now, and still enjoy play-fighting and chasing Photograph: Anna Watson/Alamy Live News
Cattle wade in floodwater during the rise of the Solimões River in the state of Amazonas, Brazil Photograph: Bruno Kelly/Reuters
Roe by roe … two deer wander through a poppy field near Cholderton in the Bourne Valley of Wiltshire, UK.
Photograph: Nick Bull/pictureexclusive.com