The week in wildlife – in pictures

A garganey on the bank of the Pripyat river, in the town of Turaŭ, Belarus. Researchers from the Belarussian Academy of Sciences ring birds at the floodplain of the southern river to monitor their migratory routes each spring Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

A ruff is also seen before being ringed Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

April's Green shoots assignment was to capture images of the UK's bee population. TomYoung89's shot featured among a selection of the best images Photograph: Flickr

A two-day-old baby Asian elephant gets used to his wobbly legs while exploring his enclosure at Tierpark Berlin zoo. The male elephant calf, who does not have a name yet, weighs 102kg and is 91cm tall Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) builds a nest in a betelnut tree on the outskirts of Guwahati city, north-east India. Weavers are known for their elaborately woven nests, which are built by the males Photograph: STR/EPA

Thirty-three alleged shark finners on seven vessels were caught in Raja Ampat marine protected area by a community patrol team comprising the navy and local police. Among the contraband discovered were shark fins, shark and manta ray carcasses and sea cucumbers valued at more than $160,000 Photograph: Abraham Goram/Conservation International

An Indian villager bathes a parrot he rescued in Bhubaneswar, India Photograph: Biswaranjan Rout/AP

A dead dolphin lies on Pimentel beach in Chiclayo Peru. More than 1,200 birds, mostly pelicans, washed up dead along a stretch of Peru's northern Pacific coastline in recent weeks, health officials said this week, after an estimated 800 dolphins died in the same area in recent months Photograph: Stringer/Reuters

An aerial view of sandstone formations in Bryce Canyon national park, Utah. The US Bureau of Land Management has tentatively approved leasing more than 3,500 acres of public range land to Alton Coal Development. Environmental groups oppose the proposed expansion to the coal strip mine, citing threats to local wildlife and dust, light and noise pollution Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A group of greater adjutant storks at a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Guwahati city, India. Fast vanishing wetlands in and around the city have now become a major threat for the survival of this bird. Guwahati city has the largest concentration of this species in the world but their numbers are gradually declining due to the loss of wetlands, habitat and declining availability of food Photograph: STR/EPA

An oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle. Newly released images of damaged wildlife following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 came to light this week, in response to a freedom of information request made by Greenpeace asking for details of endangered and threatened Gulf species impacted by the spill Photograph: NOAA

A group of Oldham's leaf turtles (Cyclemys oldhamii) confiscated from a group of turtle poachers in Burma Photograph: AP

The first whale sharks of 2012 have been sighted in Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef marine park. Growing up to 16m long, whale sharks are attracted to Ningaloo’s warm, pristine water after the mass spawning of coral in March each year Photograph: Nikki To/Rex Features

Delhi police recovered three leopard skins from a poacher after a man was arrested by police for poaching the endangered cats in the jungles of Himachal Pradesh. According to experts around 130 leopards are poached every year in India Photograph: Hindustan Times/Getty Images

A moth rests on a rose in Marjayoun village in south Lebanon Photograph: Jamal Saidi/Reuters

A Rhacophorus gongshanensis treefrog on Gaoligong mountain, in south-west China's Yunnan province. The Gaoligong Mountain nature reserve is home to more than 3,500 plant species - 318 of which are found nowhere else in the world - 40 species of mammals and more than 300 species of birds Photograph: Wang Qian/Corbis

A horse stands next to an almost dried-up weir near Maracas in Bahia state, north-east Brazil. While a swath of the Brazilian Amazon is under a state of emergency as rivers overflow in one of the worst floods ever, the country's north-eastern region faces its worst drought in the last 30 years, affecting well over 500 towns and cities, according to data from different government monitoring agencies Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters