The week in wildlife – in pictures

A northern cardinal sits on a tree in snow in the New York City suburb of Nyack. Many northern US cities experienced an Arctic-like winter spell recently with storms dumping up to a foot of snowfall Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Frost stiffens up flowers and leaves of a shrub in Buckinghamshire, England Photograph: Felix Clay for The Guardian

The macaque monkeys of Japan, known as snow monkeys, enjoy a dip in the open-air hot springs at the Jigokudani (death valley) monkey park in Yamanouchi, Nagano prefecture. Some 160 monkeys inhabit the area, and are a popular tourist draw Photograph: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Seagulls stay ashore as strong winds batter the fishing village of Nazare, on Portugal's west coast Photograph: Armando Franca/AP

Birdwatchers gather to watch the murmation of more than 50,000 starlings roosting at Middleton Moor, Derbyshire Photograph: Christopher Thomond for The Guardian

Look at my hairdo! A stag with antlers tangled in part of fencing material in Phoenix park, Dublin, Ireland. The deer may have to wait till its antlers fall of naturally in April. The Phoenix park is spread over 1,752 acres and is one of the largest enclosed recreational spaces within any European capital city Photograph: Fran Veale/Rex Features

Treess covered in fresh snow near Oberjoch, Germany Photograph: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Corbis

A group of stags stand amid snow at Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary, on the outskirts of Srinagar, India. Wildlife authorities in Indian Kashmir are making special efforts to provide food for the endangered stags known as 'hangul,' as they struggle to find vegetation following heavy snowfall Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP

This is Old Tjikko, a 9,550-year-old Norway spruce tree, one of the oldest on Earth, in Fulufjallets national park, Sweden. Old Tjikko is the world's oldest known living individual clonal tree (trees connected by a common root system) Photograph: IBL/Rex Features

This spotted dolphin pod was found far south of Taiji, Japan, and was driven for miles. Exhausted and panicked, the dolphins clung together and adults were seen protecting their young calves. But all got killed in the killing cove. In Japan, the killing is not limited to just one species of dolphin. Bottlenose and striped dolphin pods are similarly herded before being brutally slaughtered Photograph: Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians

A rhino killed by poachers lies motionless at the Panpur Ghat in Assam, India Photograph: UB Photos/Barcroft India

A truck carrying a tranquilised elephant passes through the town of Daloa, western Ivory Coast. Conservationists are capturing and relocating elephants forced out of their traditional habitat by humans, in first such operation attempted in Africa's forests. The International Fund for Animal Welfare tranquilises elephants and moves them to Assagny national park on the southern coast Photograph: IFAW/AP

A dead tree rises against a barren landscape in the Tejon Pass between the San Joaquin Valley to the north and Los Angeles to the south, in Lebec, California. The state declared a drought emergency as it endured its driest year on record Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Grey seals on a beach in Norfolk, Britain. Wildlife photographer Daniel Trim, who took the picture, said: 'It's been a tough year for grey seal pups because of the severe storms so it was nice to see a few young pups alive as well as more developed ones' Photograph: Daniel Trim/Rex Features

A flying fish glides across the ocean surface to evade a ravenous tuna in hot pursuit. This rare scene was captured by British marine photographer, Anthony Pierce, off the coast of The Maldives in the Indian Ocean Photograph: Anthony Pierce/Barcroft Media

A koala joey hangs on his mother Eola after a weighing procedure at the zoo in the western German city of Duisburg. The koala baby, born in July last year, weighs 350 grams and is yet to be named Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

Opponents of a proposed $6b China-themed cultural, business and amusement park complex in the Catskill Mountains argue that the project could seriously damage the Basha Kill wetlands vital to the health of the 2,200-acre Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, one of New York s largest freshwater marshes Photograph: Kathy Willens/AP

A wild red-face monkey is kept in a cage by a H'mong ethnic family in Van Chan district, in northern province of Yen Bai. Habitat loss and hunting for the pet trade are among the major threats to the endangered animals in Vietnam Photograph: Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images

Sharon Kwok, executive director of ACE Foundation, holds up a jar of incinerated ivory residue at a press conference in Hong Kong. The government plans to destroy 28 tonnes of the city's confiscated ivory stockpile by incineration Photograph: Alex Hofford/EPA