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

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       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

       Recommended Speaker Lindsay Hoyle says all ex-PMs should be knighted like Tony Blair Johnson on the rocks as poll suggests Red Wall voters put faith in Starmer Union fears Covid-19 could again cause ‘significant disruption’ to schools

       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)