The week in wildlife – in pictures

Gulls fly over a pod of up to 70 pilot whales who threatened to strand themselves on the rocky shoreline of Loch Carron, Scotland, prompting a major operation Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A couple of dragonflies mate in a garden in Budapest, Hungary Photograph: Gyula Czimbal/EPA

A hare hides in a field of poppies blossom in the Oderbruch region of Germany. The Irish hare has been suffering great losses in numbers, it was reported this week Photograph: Patrick Pleul/EPA

A coati in the Federal Wildlife Conservation Centre on the outskirts of Mexico City, having been rescued from a home along with two other coatis. More than 2,500 different animals are rescued annually in the country, 70% from illegal animal trafficking Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

A bird is lit by a vehicle's headlights in the middle of the Icelandic day, the sunshine having been blocked by a dense ash cloud. This photo was taken near to Kirkjubaearklaustur, about 260 km from Reykjavik Photograph: Brynjar Gauti/AP

Scientists learned this week that reindeer live in an ultraviolet winter wonderland invisible to other animals. The ability to see the sun's UV rays reflecting off snow helps the animals survive in the Arctic, allowing them to spot hidden predators, such as wolves, and find vital winter food sources Photograph: Glen Jeffery/PA

A sparrow steals a piece of cake on the café terrace at the Max Liebermann Villa, Berlin Photograph: Bernd Von Jutrczenka/EPA

An orchid referred as tainan gold is exhibited in San Jose, Costa Rica. The exhibition is part of a project where experts from 20 countries helped build a vital bank of orchid seeds due to concerns over the flower's future Photograph: Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA

Zhouhai, one of the two real life white tigers to be imported from China, paces its quarantine area at Shoushan zoo in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Zhouhai and the other tiger, Huanglo, will be revealed to the public in July after a required quarantine Photograph: HO/REUTERS

A pair of little owls (Athene noctua) get affectionate outside Lleida, Spain, with mating season now imminent Photograph: Roy Mangersnes/Rex Features

Sturgeons swim in an aquarium in the Danube port city of Tulcea, Romania. They thrived in the Danube River for 200 million years. Environmentalists are trying to head off an EU plan to deepen shipping channels that may eliminate the last shallows where the sturgeon deposit their eggs – which would doom the fish to vanish from its last European stronghold Photograph: Nicolae Dumitrache/AP

Thousands of toads march relentlessly towards dry ground after rain fall at a swamp in Cheongju, South Korea Photograph: Yonhap/REUTERS

A wild elephant cools off in Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga, India. Representatives from the eight countries – Botswana, Congo, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand – where elephants roam freely are meeting in New Delhi to secure a future for the animal whose habitat is increasingly under threat from mining and land development Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

Three grey seals are released into the Baltic sea, on the beach of the Slowinski National Park in Czolpino, Poland. Scientists from Gdansk univeristy let out a total of eight seals – four born in captivity, one found on the beach and three from Warsaw zoo – as part of a programme aimed at restoring the grey seal colony in the southern part of the Baltic sea Photograph: Barbara Ostrowska/EPA

Filipino port workers unload seized dried sea turtles in Manila, Philippines. The WWF said marine species illegally captured by poachers end up as delicacies in Chinese restaurants and as medicines behind drug counters in Hong Kong, China, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma Photograph: FRANCIS R. MALASIG/EPA

White pelicans gather in 'blind lagoon' in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge east of New Orleans. The refuge was established in 1990, and its 23,000 acres of fresh and brackish marshes – all within the city limits of New Orleans – make it the nation's largest urban wildlife refuge Photograph: David Grunfeld/AP

Two common cranes enjoy the freedom of airspace in Eberswalde near Berlin, Germany. An ash cloud from Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano caused flying bans at airports in the north of Germany Photograph: Patrick Pleul/EPA