As many as one in three Bewick's swans that migrate to Britain 'has been peppered with shotgun pellets during the long flight from Siberia'.
The Russian president took part in the 'Flight of Hope', giving a flying lesson to young white cranes ahead of their epic 5,000 km migration.
The ancient mummy of a mysterious young woman, known as the Ukok Princess, is finally returning home to the Altai Republic this month.
Pictured: the gleaming riches no-one was meant to see belonging to an ancient nomad potentate, and his queen...or was she his concubine?