Mammal Watching Forum

A Grey Whale seen in Italy (near Ponza Island, Tyrrhenian Sea)! The same of Israel in 2010, or another one that get lost from the Pacific routes, or maybe some Grey Whales still survive somewhere in the Atlantic? Or maybe an ID mistake? Gray whale: an exceptional sighting in Italy https://www.italy24news.com/News/19045.html https://www.repubblica.it/green-and-blue/2021/04/15/news/ponza_avvistata_per_la_prima_volta_una_balena_grigia_in_italia-296524495/ https://www.leggo.it/animali/ponza_avvistata_balena_grigia_primo_caso_italia-5900536.html

Dear All, Looks like I might be able to do a Jon Hall-style quick trip to Syria (Aleppo area), Iraq (SE part, including the marshes and the western desert), Libya (Cyrenaica), and possibly Bahrain in late June. I’d appreciate wildlife-finding tips for any of those places. (Yes, I know, summer there sucks, but 2021 is reportedly very good for rodents […]

Hi I am planning  tentatively  a trip to  Zambia  Zimbabwe  and  Mozambique for  October  time Could  anyone  recommend  anywhere  to go to have a   chance of  Aardvark/ aardwolf  please? Also  any  chance of meerkats  around here ? Thanks

Has anyone been to the Galapagos? I’m planning a week there at the end of May and am overwhelmed with the number of cruise options and underwhelmed at the lack of mammal reports. So … it sounds like a cruise is the way to go (right?), but there are a bunch of routes and a flotilla of boats so I […]

I spent the Easter weekend looking for rodents in central Texas. Texas is, I often forget, really really big. At almost 3 times the size of the UK it is home to around 150 native mammal species, and so is one of the most diverse mammalian US States  (only beaten by New Mexico and California I read). It probably also […]

1. A big review of Vespertilionids of East Africa (I don’t have the full text yet). 2. A review of Marmosa opossums of western Amazon (open access). 3. A review of Brucepattersonius, showing that there are only 4 species.

Here’s a new report from Michael Johnson. Mission Beach to the Daintree, 2021: Michael Johnson, 1 week and 24 species including Broad-toed Feathertail Glider, Northern Broadnosed Bat, Prehensile-tailed (aka Australian Tree) Mouse and Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo. Jon

Hi everyone, Finally, I managed to complete my Uganda trip report: Uganda Jan21-updated Holy shit it’s long – But that’s because I want to put out as much info as I can for whoever is interested in visiting, as the country is so diverse! One note – Alex Meyer will make his own complementary report/photo guide, as his pictures are […]

Hi all,   A pre-Corona-trip last year (March 2020) brought us to Central-Chile. We did not see a lot of mammals, but did enjoyed the country and trip. Unfortunate we had to end our vacation prematurely due to COVID-pandemic.   From to coast of Puerto Montt we did some sea watching. We saw both Dusky and Chilean Dolphins in some […]

Re Indus and Ganges River dolphins. Authors of the reference below elevate the Indus subspecies, Platanista gangetica minor, to species level, Platanista minor. Reference: Gill T. Braulik, Frederick I. Archer, Uzma Khan, Mohammad Imran, Ravindra K. Sinha, Thomas A. Jefferson, Carl Donovan, Jeff A. Graves. Taxonomic revision of the South Asian River dolphins ( Platanista ): Indus and Ganges River dolphins are separate species. Marine Mammal […]

Here’s another exciting trip for 2022 from Pictus Safaris. April 9th – April 21st, 2022 One of the world’s most elusive mammals, pygmy hippo are a bona fide mammal-watcher’s mammal. Sightings are, of course, devilishly difficult to come by and, when they do happen, they usually only occur in the dead of night. Recently, though, sightings have become increasingly common on […]

Thinking about going to Kahuzi Biega. If someone has been there did you feel safe and who did you use as your guide?

A week ago I returned from a short trip where I focused on Arizona endemics and had the pleasure of meeting up with Jon Hall and Jose Gabriel. The target for my final day was Round-tailed Ground Squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus). I searched iNaturalist for an additional option to Desert Botanical Garden and found Estrella Mountain Regional Park (at 1/4 the cost). […]

Three more new species from the Neotropics (open access in the latest issue of J. Mamm.): 1. Oecomys matogrosensis split from O. catherinae. The new species occurs in Mato Grosso down to the N edges of the Pantanal; if you’ve trapped rodents at Alta Floresta you should’ve seen it. 2. Rhagomys septentrionalis accidentally discovered in Ecuador. 3. Vampyressa voragine described […]

Here’s a new two week tour from Adventure Alternative Borneo, focussing on diurnal and nocturnal rarities such as Clouded Leopard, Flat Headed Cat, Marbled Cat, Otter Civet, Tufted Ground Squirrel, Pangolin, Pen Tailed Tree Shrew, Tarsier … Full details are here With the exception of Flat-headed Cat all of the other species are on my want to see very much  (or want to […]

1. A really cool new jerboa was described a few years ago from China. It hasn’t made it into any checklists yet, and there’s no data on its life appearance, behavior etc. I’m planning to go look for it as soon as travel in China becomes possible again. 2. Acodon kadiweu described from Sierra de Bodoquena in Mato Grosso Sul. […]

Here’s an exciting trip for 2022 from Pictus Safaris – Zakouma looks superb from all I have read about it. Zakouma, Chad – March 14 – 23, 2022 As most seasoned guides will tell you, Zakouma remains one of the most exciting wildlife destinations in Africa. Nowhere else can offer such a diverse array of must-sees, ranging from the vast 550-strong […]

Some of you will have noticed that Michael Johnson’s recent post on his Sri Lanka trip didn’t have a trip report attached (my fault not his). The report is now up on mammalwatching here if you want to read it. Sorry!  Jon Pre-COVID visit to Sri Lanka – Feb 2020

A pre-COVID trip to Sri-Lanka. 21 days, 24 mammals.  A wonderful place with abundant wildlife. Probably only 2/3 of the time devoted to wildlife viewing, so in that regard a great result, although I would have liked more small mammals. The report is here https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/Pre-COVID-visit-to-Sri-Lanka-–-Feb-2020.pdf

Hey everyone! After 2 weeks in Uganda with Tomer Ben-Yehuda, I went to Kenya with Sandra Heldstab. We saw some great species over our 9 days there, but before publishing the trip report I was hoping for identification assistance for some of the rodents seen there. See PDF link below. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/MW-Kenyan-Rodent-Questions.pdf