The UK in 2020 has been a very different place for us all but life in the animal kingdom went on as usual, whether in the wild or in captivity.
And pictures of what our furry and feathered friends have been up to helped to lift many spirits during the difficult times. Here are some highlights from the year:
January
New year, new home… Alaskan sea otter Ozzy, who was brought to the UK from a centre in Alaska, settles in at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham (Jacob King/PA)Kiko, a two-year-old British bulldog, shows off the skateboarding skills he learned from his owner, Ebel Perez, from Shiremoor, North Tyneside (Owen Humphreys/PA)
February
We all need check-ups… A young lion cub undergoes a vet inspection at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling (Andrew Milligan/PA)Rasputin the polar bear shakes off water as he makes his public debut at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster (Danny Lawson/PA)
March
Chester Zoo shows off baby Asian elephant Riva Hi Way (Peter Byrne/PA)
April
Celebrations take place behind closed doors to mark the 30th birthday of Rosie, one of the Humboldt penguins at Sewerby Hall in Bridlington (Danny Lawson/PA)Rainbows became the symbol of public support for the NHS during lockdown – and a sheep near Dunblane wasn’t going to be left out (Andrew Milligan/PA)
May
A great spotted woodpecker, one of a mating pair, flies off to forage for food for its chick inside a tree trunk in woods near Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA)Barbary macaques join the celebrations as Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling marks its 50th anniversary (Andrew Milligan/PA)
June
Two giraffes poke their heads out from their enclosure as Blair Drummond Safari Park welcomes visitors back with Scotland beginning to ease out of lockdown (Andrew Milligan/PA)
July
Two of four cheetah cubs born to mother Sia at Colchester Zoo. The females were named Nova, Hope and Star to honour the work of the NHS, and the male was named Tom, after fundraising veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
August
Meerkats ‘help’ with the annual weigh-in at ZSL London Zoo (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)An extremely rare albino hedgehog taken in by Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue in Otley, West Yorkshire, is named Jack Frost by staff (Danny Lawson/PA)
September
A baby gorilla born at Bristol Zoo Gardens is given the name Hasani – which means ‘handsome’ in Swahili – following a public vote (Katie Horrocks/PA)
October
A grey seal with her newborn pup on the beach at Horsey in Norfolk, one the UK’s most important sites for the mammals (Joe Giddens/PA)Inquisitive red ruffed lemurs at Blair Drummond are given pumpkin treats to mark World Lemur Day, the day before Halloween. In Latin, the word lemur means ‘ghosts’ (Andrew Milligan/PA)
November
A murmuration of starlings at dusk over Catterick, North Yorkshire, draws crowds of onlookers (Owen Humphreys/PA)Kuno, a Belgian Shepherd Malinois based at Woolwich Barracks in London, shows off his PDSA Dickin Medal, which he received after being wounded while saving the lives of British forces fighting al Qaida in Afghanistan(Yui Mok/PA)
December
A Eurasian lynx investigates an early Christmas present as part of an enrichment programme at wildlife conservation charity Wildwood Trust in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)