Say hello to the bumpy snailfish – a never-before-seen species of deep-sea creature photographed by a remotely operated vehicle more than 3km underwater off the coast of California. With its big blue eyes and winning smile, the little snailfish was an instant online hit.
Photograph: MBARI
In July, a new stick insect species was discovered in Queensland. It is 40cm (16in) long and thought to be the heaviest insect in #Australia.
Photograph: Professor Angus Emmott/James Cook University
A vole looks surprised as it is carried away in the talons of a white-tailed kite in Mountain View, California, US, in July
Photograph: Sha Lu/SWNS
A baby vulture at a New York zoo is fed by hand puppet at the Bronx zoo, New York, US, in March. King vultures can neglect their chicks, so hand-feeding is necessary to ensure the baby survives, but staff disguise themselves to ensure the birds don’t bond with their human carers.
Photograph: Terria Clay/AP
Wrap Artists of the Year
Rescued baby flying foxes rest, wrapped up, after being injured by giant hailstones, some as large as a cricket ball, in Queensland storms, #Australia, in November. Almost 120 fruit bats (as they are also known) were injured, some critically, before being rescued by volunteers and admitted to the RSPCA wildlife hospital.
Photograph: RSPCA Queensland
Privacy Campaigner of the Year
A polar bear wards off the press while trespassing on Kolyuchin Island, #Russia.
Photograph: Vadim Makhorov/Reuters
Heartstring-tugger of the Year
A scared and wet baby raccoon was found on a doorstep in Belchertown, Massachusetts, US, in June. “Bub” became an internet celebrity thanks to this photo. After three months of care in a rehab centre, he was released, looking much less pitiful.
Photograph: Belchertown Animal Control/SWNS
A male elephant named Plai Biang Lek gets stuck in to the sweet rice crackers at a shop in Nakhon Ratchasima province, #Thailand, in June.
Photograph: Kanokporn Sriboon/AP
A vet checks over a baby orangutan seized from traffickers in Bangkok, #Thailand.
Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA
Swan Mum of the Year
A mother mute swan attends to her cygnets at Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset, UK, in May. The arrival of mute swan cygnets is traditionally seen as the start of summer, and it’s said the Benedictine monks who owned the swannery between about 1000 and the 1540s believed the first cygnet signalled the season’s first day.
Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
A koala on a blue gum plantation that was cleared in May, in Victoria, #Australia
Thousands of koalas are being displaced each year as blue gum plantations are cut down, worsening overcrowding in nearby forests and exacerbating the risk of injury and death during bushfires.
Photograph: Paul Hilton/Earth Tree Images/The Guardian
Two roseate spoonbills squabble at the St Augustine alligator farm zoological park’s bird rookery in Florida, US, in April.
Photograph: Zuma Press/Alamy Live News
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