The week in wildlife – in pictures

A fish jumps near a pelican on Narrabeen Lake on a winter's day in Sydney. Sydney is experiencing one of the warmest winters on records with average maximum temperatures of 19.5C Photograph: DAVID GRAY/REUTERS

A tit pecks sunflower seeds during a sunny day not far from St Petersburg, Russia Photograph: Elena Ignatyeva/Corbis

Three marmots strike similar poses while eating at the Cuopugou scenic area, Sichuan province, China
Photograph: Jiang Hongjing/Corbis

A black crowned crane rests on one leg as he sleeps at the zoo in Berlin Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

This picture shows a green tree snake recovered by snake catcher Andrew Melrose from a house in Sydney. The green tree snake is not venomous, but snakes can be nightmare tenants. Deadly varieties sometimes live undetected alongside Australian families for years Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

Cabin in bluebell woods: overall winner and winner of the ancient woods & modern wonders category in this year's Woodland Trust woods & wildlife photography competition. Taken in Embley Woods, Hampshire, by Ashley Chaplin Photograph: Ashley Chaplin/Woodland Trust

A tortoise sits in the shade at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Centre in Las Vegas. Federal funds are running out at the centre and officials plan to close the site and euthanise hundreds of the tortoises they've been caring for since the animals were added to the endangered species list in 1990 Photograph: Isaac Brekken/AP

A well-grown badger cub playing with its mother. As marksmen begin their hunt in pilot areas this week, protesters stepped up their watch with groups looking out for wounded badgers Photograph: Jerome Murray/Alamy

Scientists from the University of Exeter hope to uncover the secrets of basking sharks by tracking their movement in waters around the UK. A total of 27 sharks have been tagged in a project to find out more about their seasonal behaviour Photograph: Laurie Campbell/Scottish Nationa/PA

Grass smoulders behind flowers outside Yosemite national park, California, US. The blaze, one of several burning in the western US, has scorched more than 500 sq kms since it broke out on 17 August, the US Forest Service said. The so-called rim fire was expected to advance further into the park and continues to threaten a reservoir that supplies most of San Francisco's water Photograph: Noah Berger/EPA

A bear and her cub cross a road near the Yosemite park border Photograph: Noah Berger/EPA

A bear paw behind the bars of a cage, at a bear farm on the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam. Eating bear meat is a delicacy in Vietnam, with the supply becoming increasingly limited. Catching, farming and killing bears, and transporting, trading and consuming their body parts and bile is now illegal in Vietnam, even though the laws are not strictly enforced Photograph: Luong Thai Linh/EPA

A dragonfly on a leaf in Frankfurt, Germany Photograph: Patrick Pleul/Corbis

Lepidopterists anticipate sightings of the long-tailed blue after it was found near National Trust-owned land in Dover. The rare butterfly has laid eggs on Lathyrus latifolius, or everlasting pea, an invasive escapee from gardens considered a pest by conservationists Photograph: Matthew Oates/National Trust

Aerial views of vicuña are among the stunning images by photographer George Steinmetz. Our picture editor met him at the People and Nature photo festival at La Gacilly, France, where he talked about how he wants his images to challenge the perception of deserts as a wasteland Photograph: George Steinmetz

This stunning photo of a gorilla family was among the 43,000 entries from 96 countries to the 2013 wildlife photographer of the year competition. The Natural History Museum will announce the overall winners in October Photograph: Diana Rebman/2013 WPY

A zookeeper holds one of three eight-week-old fishing cat cubs at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany. The fishing cat is a threatened species from south-east Asia. The cats are able to swim to chase for fish Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Frederick C. Yeh, a member of the Sea Turtles 911, treats an injured sea turtle in Lingshui, Hainan province, China. Sea Turtles 911 is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to sea turtle conservation, and it focuses on the coastal regions of Hainan, home to the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle and the endangered green sea turtle Photograph: Guo Cheng/Rex Features

A tranquiliser dart flies through the air after it was shot at a wild male black rhino named Sambu in Lewa conservancy, Kenya. Eleven of Lewa's total 73 endangered black rhinos are being translocated to neighbouring Borana conservancy to give them more space Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

A captured wild male black rhino named Sero in a crate at Lewa conservancy. Borana currently has no rhino population and is hoping to help increase their numbers Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images