Red deer in Richmond Park, south-west London, in January (John Walton/PA)

02 January 2022

In Pictures: The world of fur, flippers and feathers in 2021

02 January 2022

2021 was quite a year as pandemic lockdowns and restrictions continued to disrupt lives but in the animal kingdom it was very much business as usual.

Here are some of the highlights:

January

Western lowland gorilla Touni carries her new baby around Gorilla Island at Bristol Zoo Gardens (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Archive)

February

Rescued brown bear cubs Mish (left) and Lucy investigate a heart-shaped pinata stuffed with their favourite treats as part of a Valentine’s Day enrichment programme at the Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Archive)

A murmuration of starlings pass Glastonbury Tor as they fly off to roost on the Somerset Levels at sunset (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Archive)

March

Spring lambs at Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire, on the day of the spring equinox (Jacob King/PA) (PA Archive)

April

Squirrel monkeys enjoy Easter treats at London Zoo (ZSL London Zoo/PA) (PA Archive)

May

Sea lions enjoy their new £2m purpose-built complex at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, South Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

June

One of 1,000 hazel dormice released back into the wild at a secret location in Lancashire by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species in an attempt to save them from extinction in the UK (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

July

Three Amur tiger cubs explore their outside enclosure for the first time at Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie in the Highlands (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

August

Asiatic lioness Arya took the annual weigh-in at ZSL London Zoo in her stride (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)

Campaigners led by owner Helen Macdonald fought long and hard to save Geronimo the alpaca after he twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis but the story did not have a happy ending (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

September

Two-week-old Southern white rhino calf Nandi explores her enclosure for the first time with mother Tuli at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Wire)

October

A ring-tailed lemur at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling celebrates World Lemur Day with pumpkin puree balls (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

November

A mother with her pup at Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in Lincolnshire, where grey seals return every year in late October, November and December to give birth (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

December

Golden Retrievers Darcy, Boris and Lily sample Hilton’s new festive menu for dogs, at The Biltmore Mayfair in London (David Parry/PA) (PA Wire)

Resident Joyce Drewitt, 98, p-p-p-picked up a Humboldt penguin that visited the Orders of Saint John Care Trust’s Spencer Court care home in Oxfordshire (Orders of Saint John Care Trust/PA) (PA Media)

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