The week in wildlife – in pictures

Young African penguins are released at Betty's Bay, about 130km from Cape Town. The 63 birds were part of 300 rehabilitated at the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds after being abandoned by their parents – a phenomenon scientists suspect is caused by changes in fish stocks, a growing seal population and climate change Photograph: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images

With their distinctive punk hairstyle and pink plumage, bohemian waxwings have been proliferating in Cambridge near the University Botanic Gardens in recent weeks. The waxwings have been seen in flocks of more than 100 in Cambridge and as many as 500 in parts of Scotland. They fly to Britain from Scandinavia and Russia for the winter in search of food: rowan and cotoneaster berries, apples and rosehips Photograph: Dr Nigel Russell/Natural England

The setting sun outlines a barren tree at Ohrid lake in the Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia is experiencing spring-like weather that is unusual for this time of year, with temperatures rising up to 16C Photograph: Georgi Licovski/EPA

Pelicans face off in Gamboa on the outskirts of Panama City Photograph: Arnulfo Franco/AP

The tiny Maguire daisy, which grows in America's southwest desert, has been plucked from the edge of extinction after a 25-year conservation effort. The minuscule member of the sunflower family had dropped to just seven known plants when it was listed as endangered in 1985, but with numbers now at 163,000 in 10 populations in Utah, it will be removed from the endangered species list, the US Interior Department said Photograph: Michelle Dela Cruz/AFP/Getty Images

A new species of giant crayfish, Barbicambarus simmonsi, has been found in Tennessee. At about 5in (12 cm) long, the huge crayfish is twice the size of other species. Its 'bearded' setae on the antennae, bright red highlights and aquamarine tail fins add to its distinctiveness Photograph: Courtesy of Carl Williams

Saiga antelopes drink from a lake outside Almaty, Kazakhstan. The country extended a ban on hunting saiga until 2021 as part of new efforts to protect its endangered species Photograph: Anatoly Ustinenko/AFP/Getty Images

An egret steals a snack from a fish vendor at a wholesale market in Mumbai harbour Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

A baby monkey plays with a polythene bag at a temple courtyard in Katmandu, Nepal Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP

Fishing tackle hangs at the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station in Miami. More than 1,500 birds are treated at the centre each year, many of them injured by plastic goods thrown into the ocean Photograph: J Pat Carter/AP

Scientists working with sockeye salmon, which have been struggling to cope with warming temperatures in British Columbia's Fraser River in Canada, have identified broad genetic traits that can predict which fish will live or die before spawning a new generation, according to a new study in Science. In the past decade, Fraser River sockeye salmon have experienced huge and highly fluctuating premature mortalities in the range of 40-95%, both while migrating and at their spawning grounds Photograph: Kristi M. Miller/AAAS

A female snow leopard is in her element at Central Park Zoo in New York. Snow leopards have the thickest fur of any large cat Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher/AP

Sea lion pups cuddle up on Rabida in the Galapagos islands off Ecuador. Scientists have launched a new programme to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos from its biggest threat (after human beings and dogs): rats Photograph: Dolores Ochoa/AP

A pair of splendid fairy wrens guard their territory in South Australia. The wrens have recently been found to 'hitchhike' their mating calls on to the calls of their predators. Using what scientists have dubbed the 'scary movie effect', the birds contribute a special song as an addition to the call of the butcherbird, a predator, thereby capitalising on the fear of the female fairy wrens to get their attention Photograph: Mitchell Rogers/University of Chicago

Freezing rain coasts branches in sleeves of ice in Tuxedo Park, New York. Share your photos of frost with us in this month's Green Shoots blog Photograph: Denis Paquin/AP