The week in wildlife – in pictures

Red-crowned cranes in Tsurui, Japan. Tsurui is a well-known breeding ground for the species, that were hunted to the brink of extinction because of demand for their stunning plumage, that was used to adorn hats and other fashion accessories Photograph: Yang Lei/Corbis

Steam rises from water in sub-zero temperatures as the morning sun shines through the trees at Giant Springs heritage state park in Great Falls, Montana, United States Photograph: Larry Beckner/AP

A fox walks crosses the ice in the Nalibokskaya Pushcha reserve, near the village of Rum, Belarus Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

A hare hops in the snow in Cairngorms national park, Scotland. Snow on the Scottish Highlands mountain range provides perfect camouflage for hares whose coats turn white in winter Photograph: Drew Buckley/Rex features

A full moon rises above a herd of reindeer as they return home from a day foraging in the forest in Siberia, Russia. Reindeer herder Vladimir Bagadaev lives alone in one of the most extreme climates on the planet. The 46-year-old is one of a tiny population of indigenous people, known as the Evenks, whose association with reindeer dates back to prehistoric periods. Vladimir lives an isolated life in a small log cabin near the forest. Every winter, when the animals wander far, Vladimir is unable to make it back to his cabin and must sleep under the stars in temperatures that can dip below -60C Photograph: Amos Chapple/REX/Amos Chapple/REX

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Bewick's swan study is one of the longest running animal research projects in the world in which researchers recognise individual swans by their faces. This February it reached its 50th anniversary. The project examines how the smallest of the northern migratory swan species is faring Photograph: Kate & Joel Photography/Wildfowl/PA

Anti-poaching campaigners gather outside Lancaster House in London, England, as the UK government hosted the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference, which resulted in 46 countries signing a global agreement on combatting illegal wildlife trade Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

This picture, Springtime Rivalry by Martha Cabey, won the first place prize in 'wildlife in the garden' category at the international garden photographer of the year competition 2014 Photograph: Martha Cabey/IGPOTY 2014

A granulated sea star (Choriaster granulatus) at Madrid zoo and aquarium, Spain. The granulated sea star is a species of starfish. It is the only species in the genus Choriaster, feeds on algae and detritus and occurs on rubble slopes and on coral reefs. It lacks a centralised brain but has a complex nervous system with a nerve ring around the mouth and a radial nerve running along the ambulacral region of each arm parallel to the radial canal Photograph: Jorge Sanz/Corbis

One of the unusually large chimpanzees of Bili-Uele forest is caught on a camera trap installed by primatologist Cleve Hicks in Orientale province of Democratic Republic of Congo Photograph: Cleve Hicks and Karsten Dierks/ Lukururu Wildlife Research Foundation

A humpback whale swims with its calf near Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean Photograph: Yann Oulia/Barcroft India

A dead puffin washed up on a beach in Ste Marie de Ré, western France, after heavy storms. The Atlantic storms that have buffeted Europe in recent days have killed at least 5,000 sea birds on the French coast, half of them puffins. Most of the birds whose bodies have been washed up on beaches between the Pyrenees and Brittany died of exhaustion or starvation as a result of days of galeforce winds which made it impossible for them to fish, officials with the national Bird Protection League said Photograph: Xavier Leoty/AFP/Getty Images

A one-horned rhinoceros runs through a tea garden at Cikoni Borhola village near Kaziranga national park in Assam, India, as villagers tried to drive it back to the sanctuary Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Corbis

A pair of year-old albino alligators at a Paris aquarium. The animals were born through a captive breeding programme aiming at protecting endangered species Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

A kale flower survives between the cracked soil in drought-hit Lhok Nga village, Aceh, Indonesia. Erratic weather patterns in the country have seen some areas experiencing severe drought, and others hit by severe flooding Photograph: Hotli Simanjuntak/EPA

A barn owl in flight on a misty morning in Norfolk, England. Thousands of people have signed a petition to save Britain's barn owls as 2013 was deemed the bird's worst year ever with the number of nests estimated between 45% and 95%, lower than normal. According to the Barn Owl Trust changing climate and habitat loss is partly to blame, but the birds are also being killed by rat poison used on farms across the country Photograph: Josh Jaggard/Alamy

A veterinarian prepares to dismember the giraffe Marius after it was killed in Copenhagen zoo, Denmark. The zoo shot dead the 18-month-old healthy giraffe and fed it to lions – an action it said was in line with anti-inbreeding rules to ensure a healthy giraffe population. Marius was shot in the head and then cut apart in view of children. Animal rights activists protested against the zoo's plans and a British zoo had offered to give Marius a home, and even launched an online petition to save it, gathering more than 25,000 signatures Photograph: Kasper Palsnov/Scanpix Denmark /Reuters

A masked puffer seen underwater in Red Sea, Egypt. Rare images captured by underwater photographer Andrey Nekrasov off the coast of Egypt show the eerie sea creatures of the night who come into their own after the sun goes down Photograph: Andrey Nekrasov/Barcroft Media

A mumuration of starlings forms a circle in the sky near the village Tidhar, southern Israel Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA