This week's wildlife photographs provide a glimpse into the natural world with captivating images captured from various locations globally.
In France, frogs with inflated vocal sacs were spotted mating in a pond in Rosny-Sous-Bois near Paris. In Turkey, a brown bear and her cub were seen emerging from hibernation in Kars, while a Eurasian eagle owl in Diyarbakır needed its wings amputated after sustaining gunshot wounds.
In Lawrenceburg, Indiana, an osprey picked up a fish at the Oxbow Nature Conservancy, and a snake swam across its waters. Near Phoenix, Arizona, wild stallions battled it out on the Salt River.
Peru's Palomino and Cavinzas Islands, home to 8,000 sea lions and seabirds, received the ITB Earth Award 2024 for their conservation efforts. At Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, a jaguar affectionately washed its unimpressed sibling’s face after drinking from the river.
In Germany, efforts continue to restore the Baltic sturgeon population in the Oder River, where approximately 3.5 million juvenile sturgeon have been released since 2007. The project faced setbacks due to a mass die-off in 2022.
A white rhino mother and calf were photographed at Nairobi National Park, Kenya, while a grass snake attempted but failed to catch a frog at Stour Valley Nature Reserve in the UK. In Newport Beach, California, a sick pelican rested on a pier; hundreds of pelicans along the coast are in care due to unclear causes.
In China’s Changtang National Nature Reserve, a lynx roamed the high plateau. Meanwhile, in Pushkar, India, a cow checked for food with langur monkeys nearby, and a spotted owlet perched on a branch outside Ajmer.
In Turkey, a hedgehog explored a garden in Istanbul, and in Van, a seagull successfully hunted a pearl mullet at Pearl Mullet Nature Park. Lastly, elk gathered around a calf at the Daqingshan National Nature Reserve in Hohhot, Mongolia.
These images offer a diverse look at wildlife across different habitats and conservation efforts around the world.