The week in wildlife

A Siberian tiger growls at the St-Felicien wildlife zoo in St-Felicien, Quebec. According to National Geographic, the wild population of Siberian tigers, also called Amur tiger, is estimated between 400 and 500 and is classified as an endangered species Photograph: Mathieu Belanger/Reuters

Bejuquillo cafe (Oxybelis aeneus) snake at Ostional National Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica Photograph: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

A snowy egret (Egretta thula) at a mangrove swamp in Cancún, Mexico Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

Long-tailed macaques rest after eating at the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple during the annual Monkey Buffet festival in Lopburi, Thailand, on 28 November 2010. The festival provides food and drinks to the local monkey population, which numbers more than 2,000, to thank them for drawing tourists to the town Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters

Migrating white pelicans swim in the water at the Hula Valley nature reserve, north of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. Nearly the entire European population of this species migrates over Israel twice a year. The heavy and large birds pose a considerable threat to aviation in the small airspace of Israel Photograph: STAFF/Reuters

A one-horned rhinoceros and its calf at Pabitora wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary, which covers an area of 38.8 square kilometres, is home for the one horned rhinoceros and thousands of migratory birds Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images

Bees fly over a flower in a sunflower field in Thailand. Lopburi province is the heart of Thailand's sunflower oil industry and most of the oil is exported to foreign markets. The region of Lopburi has an abundance of sunflower fields and the Sunflower Blooming Festival is celebrated every year around November to December Photograph: Narong Sangnak/EPA

A flock of swans fly with the air temperature at about -18C on the outskirts of Minsk Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

A snow-covered deer in Knowle park in Kent. Britain's transport links with the rest of the world were disrupted by the early winter snowfall as key airports closed Wednesday and international Eurostar train services were cut. Gatwick, Europe's eighth busiest passenger air hub, was closed until at least 6:00 am Thursday as staff worked to clear the two runways Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

A bear walks through the snow covered Bear Park in Berne, Switzerland Photograph: Peter Klaunzer/EPA

A snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) in the snow in Germany. Snow still covers various parts of Germany Photograph: Julian Stratenschulte/EPA

Reflections of snow covered trees are seen in a lake near Sutton Bank, northern England. Britain is braced for a freezing fortnight, with motorists warned to be wary on roads as sub-zero temperatures turn rain, sleet and snow to ice Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters

A polar bear cub travelling on its mother's back. A polar bear tracker programme, run by Canon and WWF, has revealed that baby polar bears are now travelling around on their mothers' backs while swimming Photograph: Angela Plumb/PA

Mangrove plants grow on a shore in Cancún. In the 40 years since Cancún was founded, countless acres of mangrove forests up and down Mexico's Caribbean coast have been lost - and the destruction continues. Now many scientists say that mangrove forests can help slow climate change, and are fighting to save them Photograph: Stringer/Reuters