Week in wildlife: wild ponies, a playful jaguar and penguin chicks taking their first swim

A camouflaged snow leopard is hard to spot in Tibet. Known as the king of the snow mountains, the leopards number less than 6,000 in the wild

An egret cools off by gular fluttering – rapidly vibrating its throat muscles with an open beak – to beat the heat in Orlando, Florida, US

A fox relaxes in the spring sunlight in Berlin, Germany

Wild horses rest in the dunes next to 90 Mile Beach in Houhora, New Zealand. They form part of the spectacle for the Great Northern Gallop, a 100km adventure race where participants run or walk alongside domesticated miniature ponies. The charity Born to Run organises the annual event to raise funds for the welfare of miniature horses in its care

Storks nest on electric wires in Duhok, Iraq

A swimmer has a close encounter with a whale shark off the coast of Saint Helena in the Atlantic ocean

An alligator lurks near the fairway during the RBC Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, US

A red squirrel, still in its winter coat, cadges a snack in a pine forest in Kars, Turkey

Doctors perform an endoscopic ovariectomy on an adult female bear for the first time in Chubynske, Ukraine. The bear, named Lyubochka, was showing signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which vets found was linked to her hormones. She now faces two weeks of postoperative rehabilitation

Roseate spoonbills at Orlando Wetlands Park in Christmas, Florida

Emperor penguin chicks take their first swim in Atka bay, Antarctica

Three buffaloes (technically bison) rest in the the Eastern Shoshone buffalo enclosure on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, US

Celeste, a three-year-old jaguar, relaxes at the Las Pumas Rescue and Sanctuary Center in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Playful and fond of splashing in her pool, she won the Wild Animal Unique Personality award this year

Two yacare, a kind of caiman, sunbathe in the water at a botanical park in Asunción, Paraguay

Two bear cubs, recently rescued, are cared for at the Celal Acar Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Bursa, Turkey. They were found by citizens who brought them to the shelter, where they will spend the rest of their lives. The male cub is called Bulut (Cloud) and the female Yağmur (Rain)

In St Petersburg, Russia, a volunteer releases toads and frogs from a bucket after carrying them across the road toward the lake – an annual ritual boosted by a campaign called Roads for Amphibians!

A male mute swan stretches his neck down in a territorial display as he patrols his territory on the Thames in Windsor, Berkshire, UK