The week in wildlife

Week in wildlife in pictures: Hampshire beaver babies, bubbly lizards and a shopaholic koala

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

A mother and baby beaver eating bark together at Ewhurst Park, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. This is the first time in 400 years that beavers have been born in the county. The young ones, known as kits, were spotted in early July. “I was showing a group around the beaver enclosure when I heard a distinctive sploshing sound,” said park worker Fiona Kenny. “All of a sudden we were amazed to see a baby beaver splashing about in the water”

Photograph: Ewhurst Park/PA

An unlucky seal in the mouth of a humpback whale in the waters off of Anacortes, Washington, US

Photograph: Brooke Casanova/AP

A baby marmoset drinks from a bottle cap after being rescued from a forest fire in Pau Furado State Park, central Brazil. It was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment

Photograph: Mediadrumimage/bombeirosaraguari

A water anole blows an air bubble, a technique that allows it to dive underwater and stay there for about 20 minutes as a way of avoiding land-based threats such as birds and snakes. Just 4-8cm long, the Costa Rica lizards have been called “the chicken nuggets of the forest” due to their susceptibility to predators

Photograph: Lindsey Swierk/SWNS

A young male koala goes walkabout in the aisle of a grocery store in Victoria, Australia. The koala resisted staff’s attempts to encourage him back out the front door, and a video shows him climbing the newspaper stand, exploring the herb selection and reaching for soft toys on display. Staff, concerned for his welfare, did eventually manage to persuade him outside and away from the road

Photograph: IGA Local Grocer Meeniyan

Meanwhile, in the UK, Cinnamon the capybara has gone missing from her paddock at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World near Telford. She is seen here on a drone not far from the zoo. A search operation is underway: zookeepers are using capybara sounds and scents to try to entice her into a cage, as well as treats like apples and pears

Photograph: Hoo Zoo

In more runaway news, Suffolk police were called when two emus appeared on the high street in Hadleigh, UK. The emus had been chasing children; it was unclear where they had come from. “This is no laughing matter,” said a spokeswoman from Babergh district council

Photograph: SWNS

A gosling snuggles up under its mother’s plumage in a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany

Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Confused geese perch on a picnic table in a flooded neighbourhood in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Central Europe is experiencing its worst floods in at least two decades

Photograph: Darko Bandić/AP

Young foxes play in a meadow in Essex near Rayleigh, UK

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A meadow brown butterfly. Butterfly Conservation has announced that 2024 has seen the lowest numbers of butterfly populations in its 14-year history in the UK. It follows the conclusion of the Big Butterfly Count, which sees participants logging numbers and types spotted across the country. Those taking part spotted seven butterflies per 15 minutes, a reduction of nearly 50% on last year’s average of 12

Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock

A North American river otter surfaces while hunting crayfish in the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural southwestern Oregon, US. The presence of otters is a sign that the river’s ecosystem is improving

Photograph: Robin Loznak/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

A loggerhead turtle, named Nazaré, seen recovering last February after being washed up on Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, UK. She was found severely cold-stunned, suffering from pneumonia and covered in algae. But her story had a happy ending this month …

Photograph: BDMLR/PA

… as, after a full recovery, Sea Life experts released her back into warmer waters. Here, Todd German from Sea Life Scarborough and Scott Blacker from Sea Life Blackpool are seen helping Nazaré into the sea off the coast of Horta in the Azores

Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Sea Life/PA

A grey heron stands on the banks of the Danube, Germany

Photograph: Silas Stein/dpa

A macaque dangles from the trees with a leafy snack in Kyoto, Japan. Primate researchers have found that macaques living in southern areas of the country call to each other at different frequencies than those in central areas do; in other words, they have different accents, just like humans

Photograph: mediadrumimages/Atsuyuki Ohshima

A group of elk cross a beach in Yancheng, China

Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

A pacific golden plover shakes a leg in Karacabey, Turkey, having migrated there from Siberia

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Barn owls in the Peak District, UK. Barn owl breeding season has lasted longer than usual this year thanks to the bad weather

Photograph: Darren Cook/SWNS

A severely entangled whale is freed from fishing ropes off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The rescue operation took four days. “There were lines everywhere,” Paul Cottrell of the fisheries department told CBC News. “It was like surgery. As we were relieving that tension, you could see the relief in the animal … We’ll keep an eye on it going forward”

Photograph: Fisheries and Oceans Canada/Vinaya K/Reuters

An ambitious chipmunk tackles a large peanut on the deck of a home in Morristown, New Jersey, US

Photograph: Zuma Press/Alamy Live News

A wild boar runs through a field in Wehrheim, Germany

Photograph: Michael Probst/AP