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

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As the coronavirus pandemic continued to disrupt lives, life in the animal kingdom continued as normal.

Red deer in Richmond Park
Red deer in Richmond Park

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

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

February

Valentine’s at the Wildwood Trust
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)
Murmuration of starlings
A murmuration of starlings pass Glastonbury Tor as they fly off to roost on the Somerset Levels at sunset (Ben Birchall/PA)

March

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

April

Easter 2021
Squirrel monkeys enjoy Easter treats at London Zoo (ZSL London Zoo/PA)

May

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

June

Hazel dormouse reintroduction
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)

July

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

August

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

September

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo rhino calf
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)

October

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

November

Grey seals return to Donna Nook National Nature Reserve
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)

December

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