Wildlife in Pictures

From urban red-tailed hawks to mysterious humpback whales, via sunbathing turtles, here are the week’s finest images from the natural world

A butterfly sits on a flower in a garden in Dhulikhel near Kathmandu, Nepal

A greater one horned rhino drinks from a river in Janakauli community forest bordering Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Increased security and close work with the local community has led to a significant rise in Nepal’s rhinoceros population over the past three years

An armadillo in Cape Canaveral, Florida. A strain of leprosy found in armadillos has been identified in dozens of people in southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans

Black grouses amid a courting ritual in the Berezinsky reserve, east of Minsk, Belarus

A dingo at the freshwater Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia

A petunia is captured through a raindrop Overland Park, Kansas. Widespread rain across much of the mid-west led to flood warnings being issued in several states

A turtle perches on a stone in the Japanese garden in Berlin’s Erholungspark Marzahn park

Three adult cheetahs confiscated from a wildlife trader in Tanzania are now free after being released back into the wild last weekend. The male and one female cheetah were fitted with satellite collars before they were released to ensure they settle in well to their new home

A brown hare (Lepus europaeus) pricks up its ears in Hegyeshalom, Hungary

Apple blossom in Tettnang, southern Germany

A chinchilla tree rat (Cuscomys ashaninka), of Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru. This is one of many new species revealed this week that were discovered between 1997 and 1998 on expeditions led by Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Programme. The chinchilla tree rat is pale grey and possesses a stocky build, has large claws and is characterised by a white stripe along its head

A red-tailed hawk stands above its newly hatched young in Philadelphia. It is the third straight year a mating couple has returned to its unusually urban nest on a ledge at the city’s science museum

A humpback whale is fitted with a satellite transmitter. Humpbacks have navigational skills that are as yet unexplained

A featherless Magellanic penguin chick

Two magnificent pearl-bordered fritillaries mating. A UK survey has revealed record numbers of this rare butterfly, which has been seen earlier than usual this year due to warm weather

Bonobo apes, a primate unique to Congo and mankind’s closest relative, rest at a sanctuary just outside the capital Kinshasa. They are at risk of extinction due to more than a decade of conflict in central Africa