The week in wildlife

Joe Petersburger, a National Geographic photographer based in Hungary, won the first prize in the nature singles category for this picture of a hunting kingfisher. The prize-winning entries of the World Press Photo Contest 2010 , the world's largest annual press photography contest, were announced today Photograph: Joe Petersburger/NG/HO/Reuters Photograph: Joe Petersburger/NG/HO/guardian.co.uk A squirrel jumps on the snow in the cross-country area at the Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler on 9 February 2010 Photograph: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: FRANCK FIFE/guardian.co.uk A Sumatran tiger at Edinburgh zoo, 8 February 2010. Pupils from Boroughmuir High School to came face to face with two Sumatran tigers at the, as part of a new science competition Do Something Creative, which aims to encourage pupils to take an interest in science. See our story and gallery and video A Photograph: David Cheskin/PA Photograph: David Cheskin/guardian.co.uk Looking like an orbiting spaceship, a stingless jellyfish swims just under the surface of a remote lake in Surigao, Philippines, 3 February 2010. The creatures, which can sometimes be found in their thousands near the surface vary in colour from a bright yellow to a bluish white and are found in only a few places in the world including this lake and another in Micronesian Palau. It is believed that the species became cut off from the sea and their natural predators, possibly by volcanic activity, many thousands of years ago, and their venomous stings evolved away Photograph: AP Photograph: guardian.co.uk An armadillo prepares to cross a gravel road as the space shuttle Endeavour rests on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre before the scheduled launch of STS-130 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, 4 February 2010 Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Jim Watson/guardian.co.uk Some of the 14 California brown pelicans inside a cage before being released into the wild by members and volunteers with the International Bird Rescue Research Centre (IBRRC) at the beach in San Pedro, on 10 February 2010. California brown pelicans have recently been dying in large numbers for reasons wildlife officials don't yet fully understand. The centre is releasing as many healthy birds as possible to make room for new sick pelicans Photograph: Damian Dovarganes/AP Photograph: Damian Dovarganes/guardian.co.uk A view of a waterfall in the protected forest at the Welirang mountain in Malang, East Java province, 10 February 2010. Indonesia's forestry minister Zulkifli Hasan on Wednesday said he had revoked the land use permits for 23 mining and other firms operating in forested areas and may crack down further, indicating a tougher stance on environmental protection. Indonesia is under international pressure to do more to save its huge tracts of tropical forest, which act as carbon sinks and help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. See our story Photograph: Sigit Pamungkas/Reuters Photograph: Sigit Pamungkas/guardian.co.uk Snowdrops flower at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, the gardens and woodland walks boast over 240 different varieties, across the Cambridgeshire estate February 9, 2010. Head Gardener, Richard Todd, today said" the Snowdrops are now starting to bloom but are about two and a half weeks later than normal". Although a study published this week said that winter was ending earlier with drastic consequences for wildlife Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA Photograph: Chris Radburn/guardian.co.uk Natural England handout photo of a light-bellied brent goose, one of the world's rarest birds, as the big freeze has brought an unusually large number of the geese to the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve in Northumberland, but the whereabouts of several thousand of them still remains a mystery Photograph: Mike Lane/RSPB/Natural England/PA Photograph: Mike Lane/RSPB/Natural England/guardian.co.uk One of three new-born endangered golden takins ( Budorcas taxicolor bedfordi ) gambols in snow at the zoo in Liberec, Czech Republic. Three males were born in January and joined the herd in their outside enlosure on 8 February 2010. The golden takins herd in Liberec is the only one kept in captivity besides those in China and Japan Photograph: Radek Petrasek/AP Photograph: Radek Petrasek/guardian.co.uk Wild zebra stand in a makeshift pen after they were rounded-up by Kenya Wildlife Service officers, to be loaded onto waiting trucks at Soysambu conservancy in Nakuru, approximately 140 miles north-west of Nairobi for translocation to Kenya's famed Amboseli national park. Kenyan game rangers began rounding up thousands of zebras to be moved to a reserve where starving lions have been attacking livestock Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Tony Karumba/guardian.co.uk A photograph shows the vivid yellow-orange flowers of a Christmas tree ( Nuytsia floribunda ) in the south-west corner of Western Australia Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Greg Wood/guardian.co.uk Two Asian carp are displayed on Capitol Hill in Washington, on 9 February during a subcommittee on water resources and environment hearing on preventing the induction of the carp, an aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes. The Asian carp, which can grow up to 100lbs, were caught in Havana, Illinois Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/guardian.co.uk Two orphaned baby flying foxes being cared for by Sandra Penman of Holmesville, Lake Macquarie, Australia, 8 February. The Australian government has come under fire for its policies towards the culling of fruit bats. According to one ecologist, fruit bats are dying slow, cruel deaths because of culling methods approved by the state government. University of Sydney ecologist Dr Kerryn Parry-Jones has studied the animals for more than 20 years. And she believes the government is breaking animal cruelty laws by allowing farmers to shoot the bats. She cited a study showing up to a third of all shot bats were still alive more than eight hours later. The problem has seen increasing numbers of baby fruit bats being discovered orphaned after their parents have been killed Photograph: Liam Driver/Newspix /Rex Features Photograph: Liam Driver/Newspix /guardian.co.uk Nyoto, a six-week-old black rhinoceros calf, runs around her enclosure as she is introduced to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Lympne, Kent Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Photograph: Gareth Fuller/guardian.co.uk This vulture went on the defensive when a fox appeared from nowhere and launched a ferocious assault in Bulgaria 7 February. The metre-long Griffon Vulture was feeding on a carcass when the aggressive canine went after it. Other vultures panicked and took to the skies - but because this one was so big it struggled to leave the ground. The pair circled each other, with the fox trying desperately to land a killer blow until the mighty bird eventually managed to take off Photograph: Mladen Vasilev/Solent / Rex Features Photograph: Mladen Vasilev/Solent /guardian.co.uk This photo made available by World Press Photo in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 12 February, shows the Second prize in the Contemporary Issues Singles category of the 2010 World Press Photo contest by Italian photographer Stefano De Luigi, VII Network for Le Monde Magazine, showing a giraffe killed by drought in north-east Kenya, last September Photograph: Stefano De Luigi/VII/HO/AP Photograph: Stefano De Luigi/VII/HO/guardian.co.uk