23 August 2026

The Weekly Recap

Hello and welcome back to the weekly recap! Please forgive my father’s brief usurpation. Fear not, he has now been dealt with. 

There have been only two trip reports this week. The first was Lonnie Bregman’s from Poland, a very rodenty trip with species like Podolian Ground Squirrel and Common Hamster. 

The second was Jan Ebr’s from Queensland, where he saw an amazing 70 species with highlights like Northern Bettong, Northern Nail-tail Wallaby, Australian Humpback Dolphin and Platypus.

The Northwestern Kenya part of the Horn of Africa Antelope Survey has also been shared by Yvonne de Jong and Thomas Butynski. It includes 12 antelope species and 50 more mammals like Rufous Sengi, Aardvark and Somali Lesser Galago.

If you’d like to join a trip to see some of these mammals for yourself, my dad will be leading a trip to South Africa in November of next year targeting rarities like Aardwolf, Brown Hyena, Honey Badger and African Striped Weasel.

And WildWings are advertising two new trips: a Brazilian Amazon Cruise in May (Martin’s Bare-faced Tamarin, Chestnut-bellied Titi, East Amazonian Dwarf Porcupine…) and Qinghai & Sichuan in September (and again in April) for Snow Leopards! They are offering discounts for all these trips if you use the special mammalwatching codes (which you can find on the posts) when you book. 

All of these trips and more are on the join a trip page:)

This week marked the launch of the Lost Mammals Initiative! An expertly curated list of lost or almost lost mammals, the goal is to inspire people to go looking for these species and show the world how beneficial mammalwatching can be (I personally am already well aware of all its “benefits”…). There are even prizes for anyone who is successful: a free spot on one of the legendary Carlos Bocos’ trips, or a free 5 day safari with 1StopBorneo Wildlife…. It’s also just a fun page to read through if you want to learn more about lost species – some of which have never even been photographed – like the Chinese Pygmy Weasel and the Saola. I hope to end up on this list myself next time I am dragged on a mammal trip. 

If anyone has experience with updating wildlife protections for small mammals (such as the IUCN system), check out this post – Daniel Krumm from the Pacific Northwest is wondering how he can contribute to this. 

Yuval Tamir will be going to Japan for the first time this winter (exciting!) and would love some advice on his itinerary and local guides in Honshu.

Gary Meaney from Ireland wants to see a pine marten in his home country, so any tips would be appreciated! 

And finally, on a devastating note, James is planning his first ever mammal trip and would like some suggestions on where to go… Despite my best efforts at creating a hostile environment, it would seem the pull of mammalwatching is too strong. I am so sorry they got you, too. 

If you would like to subscribe only to weekly updates like these from mammalwatching.com, you can visit this page.

Thanks for reading:) 

Katy

Cover photo: Koala – Jan Ebr

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Katy Hall
As the unfortunate and long-suffering daughter of Jon Hall, I’ve been to more bat caves than beaches and dream of a world in which the smell of peanut butter doesn’t make me think of shrew trapping. While everyone on this website searches for new species, I search for a new father. Help me. Please…
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