The week in wildlife - in pictures

Two deer graze in Richmond Park, London. The deer roam wild among the cars, pedestrians and cyclists. A cull takes place twice a year, of the males in February and the females in November Photograph: Hazpics Photography/Demotix/Corbis

A young elephant thrashes its trunk to scare away a crocodile in a watering hole at Hwange national park, about 521 miles outside Harare. Zimbabwean ivory poachers have in the past two months killed more than 101 elephants by poisoning water holes with cyanide Photograph: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters

Whistling teal take flight from Dipor Bil wildlife sanctuary in Guwahati, India. Every year thousands of migratory birds of different species come to the sanctuary during November and stay until March Photograph: Manas Paran /Barcroft India

A healthy juvenile tawny frogmouth bird, named Kermit, at the Currumbin Sanctuary wildlife hospital in Queensland, Australia. It had been found lying on the ground by a member of the public. According to wildlife expert Michael Pyne, it is normal to find the birds on the ground because most can take around a week after leaving the nest to build up the strength needed to fly. It has since been released into the wild Photograph: Mike Batterham/Newspix/Rex Features

A panther chameleon at Madrid zoo, Spain, eating a dragonfly. Although the eyes of the panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects, when locating prey both eyes focus in the same direction. It gives them sharp stereoscopic vision and depth perception Photograph: Jorge Sanz/Demotix/Corbis

A Sumatran tiger stalks its prey in the Tambling wildlife nature conservation forest, in Sumatra, Indonesia. The 45,000-hectare site is a protected area that is home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, more than 200 mammal species and 580 bird species Photograph: Jiang Fan/Xinhua Press/Corbis

An owl butterfly Caligo memnon emerges from its chrysalis at an exhibition in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This species, which is found in forests from Mexico down to the Amazon , feeds on the juice of rotting fruit Photograph: Igor Kovalenko/EPA

A grey squirrel eats a nut among a pile of autumn leaves in St James's Park, London Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

An egret in a canal on Assateague Island, off the Virginia Coast. Many bird species make their home on Assateague on a seasonal basis, making the undeveloped island a popular destination for birdwatchers Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Trees in autumn colours fill the mountains near the Yonghwa village in Yeongdong County, South Korea Photograph: Yonhap/EPA

A newly discovered boulder-dwelling frog, one of three new vertebrate species discovered in the Cape Melville Range on the Cape York Peninsula in north-east Australia Photograph: Conrad Hoskins/James Cook University/EPA

A California condor is tested for lead toxicity at the Los Angeles zoo. Governor of California Jerry Brown has signed a historic legislation which makes California the first state to require hunters to use non-lead ammunition, to be phased in by 2019. The US Fish and Wildlife Service believes this to be a step in the right direction toward preserving these rare and beautiful birds Photograph: Nick Ut/AP

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation has released nine more of the endangered creatures back into natural habitats in Kehje Sewen forest, Indonesia – a protected safehaven for the animals. The six females and three males – all taken into care due to illness, injury and lack of sufficient food – were airlifted in crates from rehabilitation centres by fixed-wing planes and helicopters. The release brings the number of orangutans successfully reintegrated by the British-based charity over the 100 mark Photograph: BOS Foundation/Barcroft India

A reindeer stares at the photographer beside the road of Kaamasentie in Lapland, Finland. There are more than 190,000 reindeers living in Lapland, and a big part of the flock are raised by Sami. After some are slaughtered for food and fur, the remaining reindeer will spend the winter in the wilderness Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media

A spider weaves its web over an unused mailbox in the Macedonian capital of Skopje Photograph: Georgi Licovski/EPA

A herd of racka sheep is driven by shepherds along the Nine Hole Bridge, on the way from their summer habitat to the winter pasture in the Hungarian steppe of Hortobagy national park. Racka sheep are an ancient, indigenous species reared traditionally in the open air in the puszta Photograph: Zsolt Czegledi/EPA