The week in wildlife - in pictures

Fog over the forests in the Saxon region in Switzerland. The area is famous for its rock formations Photograph: Arno Burgi/EPA

A four-day old African spurred tortoise, one of eight babies, on the head of its mother in their enclosure in Nyiregyhaza animal park in Hungary. Spurred tortoises are the largest species of land tortoises in Africa – the weight of an adult may reach 80 kgs Photograph: Attila Balazs/EPA

A bee sits on a sunflower in a garden in Dresden, Germany, on a sunny 29 September. Sunflowers usually are withered by the end of summer Photograph: Arno Burgi/EPA

A plantain squirrel, the most commonly seen squirrel in Singapore, eats a nut while hanging upside down on a tree in Labrador nature reserve in Singapore Photograph: Stephen Morrison/EPA

A couple of lovebirds at the El Nido aviary, in Ixtapaluca, near Mexico City. The aviary is the third largest in the world, with more than 320 species of birds and more than 3,000 specimens. Lovebirds are a social and affectionate species of small parrot Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

Przewalski wild horses walk in the Hortobagy national park, in Hungary. The Przewalski or Asian wild horse is an ancient and nearly extinct species originating in Mongolia. It was rediscovered by Russian army officer and explorer Nikolai Przewalski in Mongolia at the end of the 19th century Photograph: Laszlo Beliczay/EPA

This photo of a jellyfish taken by Richard Shucksmith won him the top prize at this year's British Wildlife photography awards. The image of the jellyfish captured off a small uninhabited Scottish island has scooped the top £5,000 prize. The photograph was taken at Sula Sgeir, which means Gannet Rock, a remote island 41 miles north of Lewis that is home to a wide array of marine life Photograph: Richard Shucksmith/BWPA

A bewick swan swims in a park pond in the southern Russian city of Stavropol Photograph: Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters

A view of Miyankaleh peninsula in Mazandaran province, north-east of Tehran, Iran. The Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation arranged a symbolic waste disposal campaign with 200 people along the Caspian Sea, collecting more than 3 tonnes of rubbish Photograph: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

An infant leatherback turtle pulls itself along the beach toward the sea at Playa Grande, Costa Rica. Despite decades of conservation efforts, leatherbacks in the east Pacific have declined by 90% in the past 20 years due to egg consumption and bycatch. Coastal development looms as the next threat to their survival Photograph: Jason Bradley/Conservation International

Orangutan and baby swing in the forests of Bukit Lawang on Sumatra, Indonesia, following a banana expedition Photograph: Nurcholis/Rex Features

Again on Sumatra, this time in the Riau province in an area that used to be the domain of endangered Sumatran tigers, and has now been logged by the pulp paper industry.
Greenpeace, who supplied the photo, urged the Indonesian government to review existing concessions, protect peatland, and for forest industries to implement a zero-deforestation policy in their operations Photograph: Ulet Infansasti/AFP/Getty Images

The Obama administration is taking steps to extend federal protections to hundreds of animals and plants in the US, including this, the Pagosa skyrocket, due to recent legal settlements that targeted species mired in bureaucratic limbo as they inch toward potential extinction Photograph: USFWS/AP

A deer herd stands in County Durham, near Barnard Castle, amid a spectacular dawn as the UK enjoys some unseasonally hot weather Photograph: Paul Kingston/North News & Pictures Ltd

Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the south-west Pacific Ocean. Nesting sites for this population are confined to Australia, but hawksbills are thriving along its shores and in its coral reefs. A threatened species, hawksbills are exploited for their shells and climate change presents problems as well, but at present, these are healthy hawksbills Photograph: Ted DeFeo/Conservation International

A white humpback whale calf breaches in Cid Harbour in the Whitsunday Islands, part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. An extremely rare species, this striking animal was spotted by local man Wayne Fewings, who was with his family in a boat when he spotted a whale pod Photograph: WAYNE FEWINGS/AFP/Getty Images