Week in wildlife: a hedgehog’s afternoon tea, royal cygnets and a snarling wolf

Swan uppers hold cygnets after tagging them during the annual swan upping along the Thames, west of London, UK. This annual tradition plays an important role in the conservation of the mute swans, during which the king’s swan warden counts them, assesses the health of young cygnets and examines them for any injuries

A beautiful rose finch in Bolu, north-eastern Turkey

A critically endangered Sumatran tiger is captured by a camera trap in Lampung, Sumatra. The video confirms that these elusive big cats still roam the Batutegi protection forest. With fewer than 400 of these magnificent animals left in the wild, every sighting is scientifically significant

A bee gets to work pollinating lavender as the harvest starts at Castle Farm, Kent, UK. The family-run farm is the largest producer of lavender in the UK, growing and harvesting more than 100 acres’ worth each year

A grey seal pup floats in an outdoor pool at the Baltic Sea animal rehabilitation centre in Klaipėda, Lithuania, before its release into open water

An elephant tries to charge a car in Habarana, Sri Lanka

A newborn chick peeks out from under the feathers of its mother in Wehrheim, near Frankfurt, Germany,

A large northern Pacific rattlesnake crosses a country road near Elkton, Oregon, US, at sunset. These ambush predators often hunt at dusk, relying on heat-sensing pits to detect small mammals and birds

A butterfly gets ready for its closeup at the Tropical Butterfly Garden in Konya, Turkey

Oriental white storks in their nest at Sanhuanpao nature reserve, north-east China

An American alligator floats in a channel near the entrance to “Alligator Alcatraz”, a new detention centre in Ochopee, Florida, US

Starlings make off with grain from a farmer’s field in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany

Livestock graze by the side of the road during a dry summer in in a mountain village near Sanaa, Yemen

A roebuck stands in a field of grain in eastern Brandenburg, Germany

Stray dogs roam at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. The city’s stray dog population is surging, posing threats to public safety despite long-term efforts such as vaccination, sterilisation and even euthanasia due to rabies concerns

A bottlenose dolphin in Shark Bay, Australia sports a sea sponge on its nose – not as a fashion statement, but to help it forage for food. A new study has found that using a sponge helps to protect a dolphin’s beak from sharp rocks while it shovels through rubble at the bottom of sandy channels, stirring up barred sandperch for a meal

A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was photographed during an expedition designed to give children from a favela (shantytown) their first experience of whale-watching by boat

A rescued wolf at the Iberian wolf centre in Zamora, Spain

Flamingos in flight in the Gediz delta, Izmir, Turkey

A hummingbird hawkmoth feeds on lavender nectar in Madrid, Spain

A family of mountain goats explores the car park at a visitor centre in Glacier national park, Montana, US, near the Canadian border

An osprey flies with a half-eaten fish in its talons above the Lynnhaven River, Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

A baby hedgehog enjoys a drink after being found crossing a lawn at Rock Moor House, near Alnwick, Northumberland, UK. Normally a hedgehog would not be out in the daytime, but in the warm weather this one happily headed for the shade and was very pleased to be given a saucer of water to drink. Animal welfare organisations ask people to put water out for wildlife during heatwaves