Fragile, fierce and fleeting: AP’s best animal and nature photos of 2025
From a tiny turtle hatchling to a breaching whale, AP’s best nature photos of 2025 capture life in all its forms.
A newborn chick looks out of the feathers of its mother at a farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A raccoon eats peanuts on the boardwalk in Panama City, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
A Drosera capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
A stag is silhouetted as it walks through a forest in the Taunus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
Sandhill cranes are seen at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Jan. 13, 2025, in Decatur, Ala. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
An albino turtle hatchling sits among other Arrau turtles (podocnemis expansa) ahead of their release at the Abufari Biological Reserve, in Tapaua, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
A Monitor Lizard rests on a tree inside the Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga, India, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
A stork couple is backdropped by the rising sun after a night of minus seven degrees Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit) weather, on a field in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A herd of sheep is guided through central Madrid, Spain, as shepherds lead them through the streets in defense of ancient grazing and migration rights, Oct. 19, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Brown marmorated stink bugs sit on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
A peacock alights next to a pickup truck at Mack's Fish Camp, a family-owned airboat tour business and campground on the Eastern edge of the Everglades, May 28, 2025, near Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Butterflies gather around flowers along the Riverwalk, July 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
A ladybug sits on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
A golden snub-nosed monkey is seen in Shennongjia National Park in central China's Hubei province, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Mute swans float on the River Thames, Oct. 10, 2025, in Windsor, England. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Port Stephens north of Sydney, Australia, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Migrating cranes flock at sunrise in Hula Lake conservation area, north of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
A frog swims in a pond behind the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Vultures fly over the decomposed body of an animal, unseen, in Jammu, India, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
The veins of an adult periodical cicada's translucent wings are illuminated shortly after shedding its nymphal skin after a heavy rain, May 16, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A young wild horse stands by its mother in a meadow near the city of Duelmen, Germany, where the herd lives in almost unmanaged feral conditions, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Storks fly over fields in Buettelborn near Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A polar bear is seen in front of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country's Far East, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov, File)
A hummingbird drinks from a flower in a garden on the outfield lawn before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Athletics, Feb. 24, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A bee collects pollen from a blue salvia, part of the blue, green, and white flower color scheme at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
A grey squirrel jumps amongst autumn leaves in a London park, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
An adult periodical cicada, in the process of shedding its nymphal skin, is seen on May 20, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A couple of White-tailed eagles fight while hunting at the Bosfor Vostochny channel in Vladivostok, Russia, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Anton Balashov, File)
Three more dog breeds joined the American Kennel Club's roster this week. Meet the basset fauve de Bretagne, Teddy Roosevelt terrier and Russian tsvetnaya bolonka.
A dog escaped from a rest stop along the New Jersey Turnpike and wandered for about 25 miles before she was found safe with help from a drone.
He said the animal began denning beneath his home around Thanksgiving, twisting gas lines and toppling bricks as he came and went.
Some of the most striking houseplants are succulents with unusual leaves. Unlike blooms that fade, unique foliage can steal the show year-round.
Researchers at Washington State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are using collar cams to study a remote population of grizzly bears on Alaska's North Slope.
A manatee that got stuck in a Florida storm drain while seeking warmer waters is on the mend at SeaWorld Orlando after a coordinated rescue effort.
Officials in Florida say an injured mother manatee and her calf have been rescued from a river and taken to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation.
Customers at The Market Place spotted "something extremely lifelike" on one of the shelves and alerted store staff.