Mammal Watching Forum

Now this is exciting. The brand new Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World just arrived and it is a thing of beauty. This two volume set covers more than 6550 mammal species. Each is illustrated and comes with an updated range map, IUCN conservation status, taxonomic notes and common names in English, French, Spanish and German. There is […]

A great report from William Freedberg’s trip to Ecuador in January, featuring what must have been a superb – and superbly rare – encounter with three Bush Dogs, one of my most wanted species. Tiputini and Cayambe-Coca, 2020: William Freedberg, 10 days & some great mammals including White-bellied Spider Monkey, Giant Otter and Bush Dogs. Jon

Would anybody be able to help me identify this bat species, I’m not the best with bats! Found inside a banana leaf in Danum Valley in Sabah, Borneo (2016).

Here’s a cool report, hot off the press from from Nicholas McPhee. Once again I am impressed with how much good stuff he was able to find in such a short time. Jaguar Land Reserve, 2020: Nick’s Adventure Tours, 3 days & 17 species including 4 Jaguars, 6 Ocelots, a prolonged Jaguarundi encounter and a Lesser Grison. Jon  

An August from John Rogers. Yellowstone, 2020: John Rogers, 4 days & 14 species including Snowshoe Hare, Wolf, Grizzly and Badger.   Jon

Hi everyone, I’m thinking of making my first post-lockdown travel to Uganda next year… I have been looking through all the trip reports, and have been trying to nail down a good, mammal-knowledgeable guide who may help me find some of the unusual or less common species, in addition to the obvious ones found in Uganda. The only name that […]

African wading rat (Colomys goslingi) is split into 4 species: C. goslingi (lowland Cameroon to Kenya), C. lumumbai (with a range similar to that of the bonobo), C. eisentrauti (Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon) and C. wologizi (very locally in Liberia and Guinea). The first author kindly sent me the PDF in case anybody needs it.

Here’s a new report from Dominique Brugiere who was travelling this month. Seems like Abruzzo National Park is definitely worth a vist! Abruzzo National Park and the French Alps, 2020: Dominique Brugiere, 17 days & many species including Brown Bear, Wolf, Pine Marten and Savi’s Pine Vole. Jon

A new bat species from mountains of Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Check your photos from the area 🙂

Here’s a report from Hugh Lansdown – with some wonderful images – from the Isle of Mull. Mull, 2020: Hugh Lansdown, 10 species including Risso’s and Common Dolphins. Jon

Here’s an excellent report from Romania with a very impressive haul of 46(!) species as well as some killer photos of European Mink, which I had no idea were watchable anywhere anymore (other than Estonia). Romania, 2020: Saker Tours, 9 days & 46 species including Lesser Mole Rat, Lesser and Greater Mouse-eared Bats, Wolf, Bear and two European Minks. Jon

Hello, does somebody has experience in thermal cameras that can be mounted on cars for mammalwatching.  I found on the internet this one, but expensive  (ROVIR 640 19mm Vehicle Mounted Thermal PTZ System) : https://www.ultimatenightvision.com/ROVIR-640-19mm-p/rovir-0619.htm This looks fantastic, but i dont know if there exist same types for lower budget ? Also i found a much cheaper system : https://nightride.io/products/nightride-x?variant=31472396238891 (Night ride x), […]

Even if the borders are closed, the parks are open again. Here’s a report of a month in Borneo – Crocker Range and Tawau Hills mainly -from Nick Brierly and Shavez Cheema. Southern Sabah, 2020: Nick Brierly and Shavez Cheema, 1 month & some great species including Sun Bear, Marbled Cat and Tufted Ground Squirrel. Jon  

Pictorial Pocket Guide to the Mammals of Sri Lanka A Review – Michael Johnson In his recent review of “Mammals of South Asia” Jon wrote he was not aware of any field guide for mammals in Sri Lanka. This reminded me that I in fact purchased one during my visit to Sri Lanka and so decided I better write a […]

In July of this year, we were at Chandless State Park. It was an inspection activity and also to deliver baskets of food and cleaning and hygiene material to the residents of the Conservation Unit. One afternoon, my friend Ricardo Plácido, a birdwatcher, went out for an evening stroll. Even at the beginning of the trail, near the park’s headquarters, […]

Bjorn Olesen very kindly sent me a copy of his book Asia’s Wildlife A Journey to the Forests of Hope as he guessed I might be in the mood for some armchair travel. This is a coffee table book, produced to raise money for Bird Life International and raise awareness of their Forests of Hope Project‘s work in Asia which […]

I wanted to spend a week with my son, Patrick, before he went to the UK to study zoology. With three quarters of the world still shut for travel, we thought we would visit Bulgaria, a mammalian melting pot where species from the Balkans, Western Europe and Asia minor come together. Bulgaria also has Nedko Nedyalkov: a fabulously helpful mammologist […]

José R. Castelló’s latest book has just arrived and it is every bit as good as I expected. The publishers claim it is “The most comprehensive and user-friendly photographic field guide to the world’s wildcats and hyenas”. I don’t disagree. Some of you will be familiar’s with José’s guides to the world’s bovids and canids. This latest book follows the same format […]

A few updates for your checklists: 1. At least two, and maybe all three, species of enigmatic flying squirrels Biswamoyopterus are conspecific. 2. “Stenocephalemys sp. A” from Simien has been described as S. zimai, while the form occurring in the mountains NE of Addis is now S. sokolovi. 3. There is a whole bunch of undescribed Callomyscus in Iran. Can’t […]

Here’s a new book from Alexander Markus Mossbrucker at the Frankfurt Zoological Society, built around camera trap images  from around Bukit Tigapuluh in central Sumatra. Useful information for anyone visiting and free to download too. There is more information – and a few videos – here.   Jon