The Weekly Recap

Hello and welcome back to the weekly recap!

To my great dismay, this week has been a particularly busy one when it comes to trip reports. The first of these was Ashton Reiser’s epic month-long expedition to the Ross Sea, Antarctica! With 19 species ranging from Orcas and Blue Whales to Leopard and Antarctic Fur Seals (including a photo of two very bossy looking pups), and some stunning Aurora Australis, it has made me even more excited for the mammalwatching Antarctica trip I’ll be joining in January 2027 – you can join here too!

Coke Smith has shared a five part series of trip reports from a two month trip around Australia, his “Great pouched critter safari”: Tasmania (including Eastern Quoll, Long-nosed Potoroo and Tasmanian Devil), South Australia (including Koala, Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, and Humpback Whale), Queensland (over 50 species! Including Dingo, Striped Possum and a lovely portrait of Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo), Northern Territory (including all 4 Australian Flying Foxes, Ghost Bat and an impressive bushfire), and finally Western Australia (including the world’s cutest Quokka photos, Numbat and – if you’ll forgive me for mentioning a b-word – Emus). Each report is full of stunning photos, and we all know how cute Australian mammals tend to be (as are all creatures born there, if I say so myself). 

Next is a short report from Stephen Kaye of an evening’s spotlighting in Singapore: Rajah Spiny Rat, Javanese Flying Squirrel and Sunda Colugo are a few highlights. 

Cat Expeditions lead this Pallas’ Cat photo tour of Mongolia over the summer. I don’t know what fills me with more jealousy: the amount of time they got to spend with Pallas’ kittens, even witnessing some of their first steps, or the mention of Nutella, the name of one of the mothers and my guiltiest pleasure. This is what I call a mammal trip… @Jon Hall. With too many great photos to choose from for this week’s cover photo, I’ll put one of the Pallas’ kittens here in case there’s something wrong with you and you still need convincing to read the report: 

Last but not least is Zhou Fangyi’s report from South Africa, with a whopping 67 mammal species – African Wildcat, Risso’s Dolphin, Aardwolf, Cape Porcupine and Honey Badger are just a few highlights. 

Cory Cravatta and Chinthaka De Silva are organising a 2 week trip to Sri Lanka next June. They’ll be looking for Indian Pangolin, Sloth Bear and Jungle Cat among other species, and have space for 4 people to join them, so check out the post if you’re tempted. 

Evan, travelling to Guyana in December with his partner, is wondering if anyone would like to join them for a few nights at Rewa Eco-Lodge, a remote rainforest lodge.

And Royle Safaris have already started planning a Mega Argentina Trip for September of 2027, a trip they hope to start running annually. They expect at least 50 species in 3 weeks, including Geoffroy’s Cat, Screaming Hairy Armadillo and Southern Monito Del Monte – have a look at their post for more information. 

This week marks mammalwatching.com’s 20th birthday. As inspiring as my dad’s words about conservation and community may seem, do not be fooled. This website, born a year after me and 5 after my brother, was his last attempt at creating a child who would be sure to stand by him in the retirement home. And it’s a good thing he did, because I’ve told him many times where I stand on changing his adult diapers and keeping his life support plugged in. But all jokes aside, I’m very proud of him for what he’s created (even if this may be the Stockholm Syndrome talking) and love to hear him excitedly tell me about the new “mammal buddies” he meets. Especially when those mammal buddies have embarrassing stories to tell about him… 

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Thanks for reading:) 

Katy 

Cover photo: Just a bit further! (Quokka) – Coke Smith

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Katy Hall

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