The week in wildlife – in pictures

Flamingos fly during dawn at the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve, near Malaga, southern Spain. About 500 flamingos are tagged and measured before being placed in the lagoon, one of the largest colonies of flamingos in Europe, according to authorities of the natural reserve Photograph: Jon Nazca/Reuters

A grass snake at a marsh called Zhada near the remote village of Luzhki, Belarus Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

A baby capuchin monkey hangs upside down from its mother at the Parque del Este in Caracas Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Redwood trees in Richardson Grove State Park in Garberville. California's beloved giant redwood trees are in the midst of an unprecedented growth spurt, according to a climate study Photograph: Ian C. Bates/AP

Sunflowers bloom in a field near Gronau, Germany Photograph: Jochen L bke/Corbis

A seal called Bruno looks out of the basket shortly before its return to the wild on East Frisian island Juist, Germany, 14 August 2013. Four young seals are on their own again after more than six weeks of care in the seal station Norden-Norddeich Photograph: Carmen Jaspersen/ Corbis

Radiated tortoise in Madagascar with destroyed habitat. As the radiated tortoises are herbivores, grazing constitutes 80-90% of their diets, while they also eat fruits and succulent plants. They are known to graze regularly in the same area and are now endangered because of habitat destruction Photograph: Gemma Catlin/Rex features

Botanists have saved the Channel Island tree mallow (Malva rosa) from extinction on San Clemente Island Photograph: Lenny Ignelzi/AP

The olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), the first carnivore species to be discovered in the 35 years. The creature, looking like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear, has been named as a new species after being wrongly identified for 100 years. The woolly furred olinguito, which weighs 2lb, is related to raccoons and coatis and lives in the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador. For more than a century it was mistaken for its larger close cousin, the olingo Photograph: Mark Gurney/Smithsonion Institut/PA

A dead fish lies on the dried-up Sandu reservoir on 14 August 2013 in Shaoyang, China. Hunan Province was hit by a severe drought this summer due to lingering high temperatures and lack of rainfall, leaving about 3 million people short of drinking water Photograph: Bai Yu/Corbis

An amur leopard at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums has released a list of top 10 mammals avoiding extinction with the help of zoos Photograph: Cris Jansen Piers/PA

Female polar bear looks down from cliff at birds below. Wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein captured the extraordinary efforts of a hungry polar bear hoping to grab guillemots and kittiwakes from the side of a cliff Photograph: Paul Goldstein/Exodus/Rex Feat

12 Aug 2013, Nairobi, Kenya --- (130812) -- NAIROBI, Aug. 12, 2013 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on April 20, 2013 shows elephants walking at Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The World Elephant Day was launched on Aug 12, 2012 to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. Photograph: Zhang Weiyi/Corbis