This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world feature a bat rescued from a toilet bowl in Sussex, a gull that survived being hit by a car on a motorway, and a whitethroat bird fitted with tiny cardboard shoes.
Bat found in toilet during heatwave
A woman in Sussex was left in shock after finding a large bat trapped in a toilet bowl, searching for water during the heatwave. The Serotine bat, later named Louis, was discovered floating in a toilet, having flown in through an open window. Weakened and dehydrated, it was carefully rescued using a garden trowel before being dried off and kept safe in a quiet spot. Sussex Wildlife Trust's Bluesky channel pointed the finder towards expert advice, and a call to Sussex Bat Group volunteers set the next steps in motion.
Gull survives motorway collision
A gull in the UK survived being hit by a car along a motorway before travelling for several miles stuck in the vehicle's grille. The bird was left dangling from the front bumper while the unsuspecting motorist drove along the A1(M) between Aycliffe and Darlington, County Durham. Photographs show the gull being freed by Darlington Bird Rescue volunteers.
Whitethroat gets tiny shoes
A whitethroat was brought to the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital in Kibworth Beauchamp on Saturday after being stunned in a collision. Staff said they noticed its feet had curled up, possibly due to nerve or ligament damage, making it unable to grip. To help its recovery, the tiny sandal-style footwear was made out of cardboard, cotton wool and micropore tape.
Other notable wildlife moments
Elsewhere, a burnt field mouse was rescued from a wildfire by firefighters in Towcester, and a deer was spotted appearing to hang out with a fox in Northampton. A project supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme uncovered new evidence on Wolffsohn's viscacha, a rodent found only in the remote mountains of Patagonia, leading to its reclassification from data deficient to endangered on Argentina's national Red List. Twenty-one white storks were released into the wild in Cornwall, marking the first major release of captive-bred white storks into the Cornish landscape in centuries. Three seals were released at the eastern end of the island of Juist, Germany, and a family of critically endangered Delacour's langurs was photographed in northern Vietnam, where fewer than 600 survive in the wild.
