Week in wildlife: a flying zebra, chilling pelicans and a ghost elephant

Strange seedlings … baby robins await their next meal from their nest, which their parents built in a plant pot, in East Derry, New Hampshire, US

A lone male elephant has been captured on camera in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba national park for the first time since 2020. Sightings are rare in the area due to the species’ elusive behaviour and small population, earning this one the nickname Ghost Elephant

High and dry … Ed the runaway zebra is airlifted by helicopter back to his owner following his capture after a week on the loose, in a rural area south-east of Nashville, Tennessee, US. The escaped zebra became an internet sensation, with memes showing him visiting tourist attractions and dining at a Waffle House

Emperor penguins on the sea ice close to Halley research station on the Brunt ice shelf. Antarctica’s emperor penguin population may be decreasing faster than we thought, and they are expected to be extinct by the end of the century, reveals the British Antarctic Survey. New analysis of satellite imagery suggests the birds’ numbers have declined by a staggering 22% over a 14-year period in parts of the continent

Lunch break … pelicans take over the benches in St James’s Park, London, UK

This tortoise was seized at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj international airport in Mumbai, India. It was taken from a passenger arriving from Thailand, who, officials said, was carrying nearly 100 wild creatures intended for trafficking, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums

A great egret chick begs its mother for a fish at Lake Eola park in Orlando, Florida, US

A fox rests in its enclosure at a dedicated vulpine rescue centre, The Fox Project, near Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK

Griffon vultures squabble over scraps distributed by the Ornithological Group of Huesca at a feeding site for scavenger birds near Nueno in northeastern Spain

These four hungry and exhausted wolf pups were taken into care after being found in Van, Turkey

A swan dozes on its nest in St James’s Park, London, UK

A beetle rests on wild parsnip flowers in Funks Grove, Illinois, US

Pearl mullet swim against the current during their annual migration to their breeding grounds from Lake Van, Turkey

This humpback whale was spotted earlier this week south of Sydney Harbour, Australia, in distress after it became entangled in ropes. Trailing a buoy, it was seen heading south when it should have been migrating northwards – a sure sign of distress. Rescue teams are watching for an opportunity to approach it and cut the ropes

A young groundhog pokes its head out in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

Living up to its name, a cattle egret flies on to the back of a cow in Dharamshala, India

An adult periodical cicada sheds its nymphal skin in Cincinnati, Ohio, US. It has two large compound eyes, which are used to visually perceive the world around them, and three small, jewel-like simple eyes called ocelli

Common blue butterflies bask in the sun on a high-altitude plain in Sarıkamış district, Kars, Turkey

Seals rest on a breakwater log near the Boston Harbor marina in Olympia, Washington, US

Gazelles roam in a field in Israel near the border with Gaza

A stingray among seagrasses in Kas district of Antalya, Turkey. The seagrass is known as the “lungs of the Mediterranean” because it is so efficient at soaking up carbon dioxide – much more so than rainforest. However, it is in decline, threatened by rising sea temperatures and anchor damage

A scarlet tiger caterpillar crawls along at Toronto Botanical Garden in Ontario, Canada. Although it’s not scarlet itself, in butterfly form it has beautifully vivid red wings

A tawny owl keeps watch in the woodland of Uludağ, a mountain in Bursa, Turkey

Fallow deer explore a large new enclosure in Greenwich Park, London, UK. A herd of eight fallow and red deer has been introduced to the park after a previous herd was relocated to Richmond Park in 2021, ahead of construction and renovation works. Their paddock has been enlarged and improved to incorporate new access to woodland

A group of weaver ants attack a slender ant in a forested area near Tehatta, West Bengal, India

Veterinarians and rangers from Kenya Wildlife Services rush to catch a sedated female eastern black rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to Segera rhino sanctuary. Her home in Lake Nakuru national park has become congested, authorities say, so she and 20 others are being relicated to an area where the species was once endemic but died out due to human encroachment and poaching