This week in wildlife - the best pictures of animals around the world

Take a look at some of the best images of wildlife from the past week

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  Meerkats eat iced fruit at Rome's Bioparco zoo. Zoo staff offered animals frozen and refrigerated food to refresh them and enrich their routine. AP

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  The first-ever photo of a live Somali Sengi or Somali elephant shrew, taken in February 2019 at the field site Assamo in the Republic of Djibouti by Richard Heritage. For half a century, many believed the Somali Sengi to be lost. But the tiny, proboscis-nosed mammal lived quietly away from humans in rocky areas of the Horn of Africa, scientists said on August 18, 2020. Global Wildlife Conservation via AFP

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  A polar bear refreshes in the water on a hot summer at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. AP Photo

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  An elephant tastes frosted fruits in its facilities at Bioparc Zoo in Valencia, eastern Spain. EPA

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  A young sika deer with its mother in their enclosure in Wroclaw's Zoo, in Wroclaw, western Poland. EPA

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  A seal cools off in an enclosure at Oceanographic Aquarium's Antarctic Zone in Valencia, eastern Spain. EPA

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  A young cheetah plays with sheep wool at the "Safari de Peaugres" zoo park near Peaugres, southeastern France. AFP

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  Two coyotes look on in the vicinity of the Irazu volcano, in the Irazu Volcano National Park, Costa Rica. Due to the little human activity in the area during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is possible to see small herds of coyotes roaming the areas surrounding the volcano. EPA

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  Young cheetahs play at their enclosure at the "Safari de Peaugres" zoo park near Peaugres, southeastern France. AFP

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  A chimpanzee eats a block of iced fruit at Rome's Bioparco zoo. AP

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  A brown bear eats a block of iced fruit in his pool enclosure at Rome's Bioparco zoo. AP

More wildlife and environment stories from The National:

Locust swarm signal identified in step towards curbing plagues

Spate of bushires at Kenya’s biggest national parks leaves staff suspecting arson

Endangered tigers seen in Thailand after four-year absence