Animal shots of the week

A raven, center left, prepares to take off from a rock pile as other types of birds fly around at the Apex Landfill north of Las Vegas Friday, Feb. 2, 2013. Ravens pose a growing problem for ranchers, wildlife managers and two well-known species struggling to survive. The clever and adaptable black bird preys on both the desert tortoise and the sage grouse, the former already protected under the Endangered Species Act, the latter on track to join it. Efforts to save those species could mean death for more ravens. Already, the birds are killed by the thousands in Nevada each year. Some people think far more ravens need to die. Others believe the wholesale murder of them won't accomplish anything - and it might just make things worse. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal/John Locherl)