And The Winners Are …. The 2018 N.U.T.T.E.R Awards

Move over Pullitzer and Nobel Prizes. Oscars and Olympic Golds be damned. Here are the real over achievers for 2018.

Thank you to all who sent nominations and voted for Mammalwatching’s most Notable, Unique, Tantalizing, Tenacious and Enlightening Reports: The N.U.T.T.E.R Awards for 2018.

A reminder that only reports covering 2018 were in scope for these awards. Please start taking notes about this year’s reports that you want to nominate!

And … drum roll … the winners are:

Best Trip (Independent)

Valentin Moser, MOROCCO https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/VM-Morocco-2018.pdf

Runner Up: Charles Foley, TANZANIA BIG MAMMAL DAY https://www.mammalwatching.com/2019/02/23/new-big-mammal-day-record/

Best Trip (Guided)

Jon Hall, GABON https://www.mammalwatching.com/2018/10/22/central-gabon-2018/

Runner Up: John Wright, SICHUAN AND THE TIBETAN PLATEAU https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/JW-China-2018.pdf

Most Pioneering Trip

Joint Winners

Frans De Schamphelaere, TAJIKISTAN https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/FDS-Tajikistan-GBAO-Darwaz-Dec18-Jan19.pdf

John Weir, CHAD, https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/JW-ZAKOUMA-2018.pdf

Most Informative Reporter/Forum Member

Vladimir Dinets

Runner Up: Richard Webb

Best Mega Mammal

Giant Pangolin — Jon Hall, GABON https://www.mammalwatching.com/2018/10/22/central-gabon-2018/

Runner Up: Giant Panda – Rauno Väisänen, SICHUAN, https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/RV-Sichuan-Nov-2018.pdf

Best Obscure Mammal (i.e. a species almost no one has heard of)

Dwarf Bharal – Ralf Bürglin, YUNNAN http://www.wilddocu.de/dwarf-bharal-tour-china-yunnan-rini-mountain-2018/

Runner Up: Dibatag and Speke’s Pectinator – Stefan Lithner, SOMALI AND GONDAR REGIONS, ETHIOPIA https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/SL-Ethiopia-2018.pdf

Best Close Encounter

Javan Rhino – Royle Safaris, feeding – just 4ft from canoe – could have touched her nose, https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Javan-Rhino-Expedition-Jun-2018-MW.pdf)

Runner Up: Giant Pangolin x 2 — Jon Hall, https://www.mammalwatching.com/2018/10/22/central-gabon-2018/

Most Frustrating Miss (or Partial Miss).

Failing to photograph several Mainland Clouded Leopards, Jens Hauser https://www.mammalwatching.com/2019/03/09/most-painful-near-miss-of-2018-mainland-clouded-leopards/

Runner Up: Giant panda and cub, dung so fresh it was still warm. Could hear movement but bamboo too thick to follow them (Royle Safaris)

Congratulations to everyone and to Ralf Bürglin’s wife who has set the bar pretty high when it comes to rewarding the special mammalwatcher in their life. I hope he uses his new lens for something equally obscure and interesting in 2019.