The week in wildlife – in pictures

A deer and her one-hour-old deer calf look on in a wildlife park in Aurach near Kitzbuehel, in the Austrian province of Tyrol Photograph: Kerstin Joensson/AP

Common spotted orchids in Houghton Regis Quarry in Bedfordshire. Orchids are blooming across the country in particularly good displays for the "captivating" plants, the Wildlife Trusts said. Species such as pyramidal and common-spotted orchids have also appeared two or three weeks late, suggesting that after the cold, late spring, the recent weather has provided more suitable conditions as the season progressed Photograph: The Wildlife Trust/PA

Atlantic puffins collecting flowers for nesting material, Newfoundland, Canada Photograph: Megan Lorenz / Rex Features/Megan Lorenz / Rex Features

A common tiger (Danaus genutia) butterfly sits on a plant after a brief spell of rain in New Delhi, India Photograph: Harish Tyagi/EPA

Ibexes walk in the desert near Sde Boker in the Negev Desert, Israel Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

A family of raccoons seen peering out of a skip after being discovered foraging for food in Albany, New York Photograph: Danique Peynado/Barcroft Media

A male polar bear who starved to death as a consequence of melted sea ice, on 7 July 2013. This bear was last tracked by the Norwegian Polar Institute in April 2013 in southern Svalbard Photograph: Ashley Cooper/globalwarmingimages.net

A flame is seen on a burnt tree during a wildfire outside Cebreros, in north-western Spain, 4 August 2013. More than 550 firefighters are working to contain the wildfire, which broke out on Saturday afternoon, according to regional officials Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters

Plastic removed from the intestine of a green sea turtle. Endangered green turtles are ingesting more man-made debris, including potentially lethal plastic products, than ever before, a new Australian study has shown Photograph: Kathy Townsend/University Of Queensland/AFP/Getty Images

Ivory tusks are stored in boxes at Hong Kong Customs after they were seized from a container at Kwai Chung Container Terminal a day earlier. Through intelligence exchange with Chinese Customs, Hong Kong Customs on Tuesday seized a total of 1,120 ivory tusks, 13 rhino horns and five pieces of leopard skin, weighing about 2,266 kg, inside a container shipped from Nigeria to Hong Kong Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters

Atlantic grey seals bask in hot weather on a sunny day on the south beach of Duene Island near Helgoland, Germany Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Small pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies as some once-common butterflies now require 'major expeditions' to find, as changes to the countryside have affected species in the past half century, an expert said. August 7, 2013. The National Trust's Matthew Oates said butterflies had been hit by urban sprawl, intensive farming and forestry, a changing climate, and diseases affecting plants and animals Photograph: Ross Hoddinott/PA

Fledgling swallows sitting on a stable door wait to be fed by their parents Photograph: Richard Bowler/Rex Features

Grasses give oysters a toe hold to create beds that fill shorelines create habitat for small fish which brings larger fish and seabirds. The salt marshes off the intra-coastal waterway between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass are filled with wildlife Photograph: Ralph Lauer/Corbis

An osprey swoops in on a rainbow trout and makes off with a meal, on the Highland Estate of Rothiemurchus near Aviemore, in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Hen harriers have failed to nest successfully in England for the first time since the 1960s. Photograph: Richard Peters/Rex Features

A scarce large blue butterfly sits on a Sanguisorba minor flower in grassland near Den Bosch, the Netherlands Photograph: Koen Van Weel/EPA

Blooming flowers are seen near the glacial ice toe in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. As the sea levels around the globe rise, researchers affiliated with the National Science Foundation and other organisations are studying the phenomena of the melting glaciers and its long-term ramifications. In recent years, sea level rise in places such as Miami Beach has led to increased street flooding Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A yellow scorpion eats his prey as it glows in the dark near Sde Boker in the Negev Desert, Israel Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images