Week in wildlife: a huge tuna, cows on the lawn and a Dorset beaver’s adventure

Horsemen known as yegüerizos take part in the traditional saca de las yeguas (collecting of horses) in Doñana national park, near the coast in south-western Spain. The annual event, which has been running since 1504, involves collecting semi-wild horses, which are herded to Almonte town to be cleaned, branded and blessed by a priest before being sold. Horses that are not sold are returned to the park and freed to roam until the next year

Flying fish … a huge bluefin tuna, about 7ft long, leaps out of the water while hunting garfish off the south coast of Devon, UK. The photographer, who happened to be kayaking nearby, reported that the tiny garfish were flipped tens of feet into the air as the tuna emerged

One of the four beavers released into the wild at Purbeck Heath national nature reserve last March. They have had an eventful summer: one beaver left her mate and swam around the point to Swanage, where she set up home in a stream by a busy road, next to a public toilet block. National Trust officials duly took her back to the reserve, where her mate welcomed her back with, apparently, no hard feelings (they were seen rubbing noses). Another of the four beavers has sadly died, perhaps due to salt water exposure

A police officer in St Pölten, west of Vienna in Austria, tracks the progress of a moose as he explores the town. The moose, nicknamed Emil, is thought to have come from Poland via the Czech Republic, and has been wandering around Austria for nearly three weeks, to residents’ delight. His Facebook fan page has 10,000 members

Anteaters tentatively leave their boxes as they are released into the wild in El Ávila national park, a forested, high-altitude area overlooking Caracas, Venezuela …

… and this one escapes its crowd of admiring fans by climbing up a tree towards the canopy

Five newly hatched black swan chicks test the water at Kuğulu park in Ankara, Turkey

Milk delivery … a herd of 60 cows brought chaos to a housing estate after escaping from a nearby farm in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. Police were called after worried residents spotted the animals trampling on flower beds and munching their lawns. The herd took more than an hour to round up. Buxton Police Safer Neighbourhood Team rose to the occasion and said the cows had “had absolutely no intention of mooooving on”

Dolphins swim off the port of Le Havre, Normandy, France

Wild elephants forage through a rubbish dump in Tissamaharama, southern Sri Lanka, highlighting the growing problem of how to handle our ever-increasing waste without harming wildlife

Two of the Clapham fox babies (see past instalments of Week in Wildlife) have grown into juveniles: here they are enjoying the sunshine, grooming each other and scratching their fleas in south London. August and September are times when juveniles usually move off into new territory, but some will stay and live as a family with their siblings and parents

Swans swim on the river Main near the European Central Bank (the skyscraper visible in the background) in Frankfurt, Germany

The results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count are in, and while the numbers are a vast improvement on 2024’s record lows, the charity has warned that urgent measures are still needed to reverse long-term decline. The brimstone, pictured here, saw a slight uptick this year. See our gallery of the top 10 butterflies

A duck surfaces on a channel at a city park in Riga, Latvia

A colourful blue-throated barbet looks out for fruit and insects in a tree in Siliguri, West Bengal, India

Stags battling in Tatton Park in Knutsford, Cheshire, England

A red squirrel on the Isle of Wight, UK. The island is a haven for the squirrels, which are genetically distinct from European ones. Researchers have found signs that populations on opposite sides of the island are starting to mix and cross-breed for the first time, which will help strengthen the gene pool

Endangered wild goats in Tunceli, Turkey

A koala recovers from treatment at the Endeavour Veterinary Ecology centre at Toorbul, north of Brisbane, Australia. Authorities there have just approved an anti-chlamydia vaccine for koalas, which are badly affected by the disease. The team at the University of the Sunshine Coast, who developed the vaccine, called it an “incredible milestone”