Week in wildlife

A sparrowhawk and a grey squirrel confront each other after the hawk landed in a tree where the squirrel resides, at Bolton Percy, near York. This week, the UK's wildlife sites came under threat from government planning reforms Photograph: John Giles/PA

A right whale breaches off the coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil – one of the only breeding areas for the species. Whale watching happens in the area from July until November Photograph: Alexandro Auler/Getty Images

Villagers gather around a tranquillised elephant that is about to be transported from Narok, Kenya, to the the Maasai Mara game reserve 100km away. The Kenya Wildlife Service Elephant Programme aims to relocate about 200 elephants from Narok to the reserve in a bid to protect animals from from escalating conflict with humans Photograph: Dai Kurokawa/EPA

A caretaker feeds giraffes with tree leaves at the Calauit island wildlife sanctuary on Busuanga, the Philippines. The sanctuary covers about 3,700 hectares and is home to endemic animals and endangered African wildlife Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

A three-legged Philippines brown deer at a government-run wildlife rescue centre in Manila. Hundreds of local species are being hunted close to extinction mainly by the rural poor who want them for food, or to sell to dealers as part of an increasingly lucrative global pet trade Photograph: TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images

Migrant egrets rest and fly near the coast of Qinhuangdao City, China. As a pathway for migrating birds between north-east Asia and Australia, Qinhuangdao attracts millions of birds from more than 400 species every year Photograph: Yang Shiyao/Corbis

A deep-sea squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) swimming at 854 metres depth in the Monterery Canyon, near California. Small sperm-laden sacs, called spermatangia, are visible as white dots on the dorsal arms. New and rare footage of the species' sex life shows that it is a cruelly hit-and-miss affair, with males "routinely and indiscriminately mating with both males and females" Photograph: MBARI/AFP/Getty Images

A Mediterranean mantis is captured in astonishing detail by photographer Hasan Baglar Photograph: Caters News Agency

Klaus Echle from Germany won the 2011 Fritz Pölking award with his photography story Sophie's World - An Eventful Affair with a Vixen, in which Echle and a forestry scientist accompanied 'Sophie' for about six months Photograph: Klaus Echle/GDT Ewpy 2011, Fritz Pölking Award

A shoal of blue and gold fusilier (Caesio teres) in Phil's Reef, Tufi, Papua New Guinea – just one of the stunning images in new photographic collection The Sea Photograph: Michele Westmorland/Bluegreen //Michele Westmorland/Bluegreen /

A peacock butterfly (left) and a small tortoiseshell enjoy a spell of mild autumn weather in Morpeth, Northumberland Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

A male (top) and female guppy fish. Pet owners were warned this week about releasing fish into the wild, after research found that a single female guppy in open waters can spawn an entirely new population, even if no males are around Photograph: Uni of St Andrews/PA

Bantengs in Mundul Kiri province near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The world's largest population of banteng, a type of cattle native to south-east Asia, is at risk from hunters and agricultural concessions that have been granted inside protected areas of Cambodia, a conservation group claims Photograph: WWF/AP

During this week was the second World Rhino Day, and here you can see a ranger with part of a rhino horn, after a rhino was dehorned by a veterinary surgeon to prevent poaching at the Kruger national park, South Africa. The country loses hundreds of rhinos a year to the illegal horn trade Photograph: Reuters

Water pollution, invasive species and overharvesting has damaged freshwater species in India. Now 16% of fishes, molluscs, dragonflies, damselflies and aquatic plants across peninsular India are threatened, including this myristica bambootail (Phylloneura westermanni) Photograph: K.A.Subramanian/IUCN