Mammalwatching

Charles and Jon talk with Rodney Jackson the director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy, who is widely considered the leading world expert on the snow leopard, having devoted over forty years to researching and conserving this elusive cat in South and Central Asia.  In a wide-ranging chat Rodney describes his journey from a young boy looking for wildlife around his Harare home to the mountains of Nepal and embarking on a lifetime's quest to study one of the world's most enigmatic cats. He describes the difficulty in even seeing a cat in those early years and discusses the vital role well-managed community-based ecotourism is now playing in protecting them. He also describes many of his adventures along the way including perilous hikes and mysterious shamans.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Rodney mentioned Adam Riley's photos of a Snow Leopard hunt from Hemis National Park in 2013 which you can see here.There are dozens of trip reports on mammalwatching that feature Snow Leopard sightings. Check out the India, China and Mongolia pages in particular.Charles talks about the latest bioluminescent mammal that was revealed in this post while Jon talked about this piece he and Charles wrote for the conservation news site  Mongabay. Cover art: Rodney and Snow Leopard, Darla Hillard Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.

Charles and Jon chat with two Bangkok-based mammalwatchers, Alexander Coke Smith and Jirayu 'Tour' Ekkul. Coke, an American, moved to Thailand a decade ago. He has travelled extensively and many mammalwatchers will be familiar with his superb photos and trip reports. Tour, a Thai citizen, began running trips in the Gulf of Thailand in 2012 to watch the resident Eden's Whales. His company, Wild Encounter Thailand, has grown to offer birding and mammalwatching trips across Thailand and beyond. We talk about the rapid growth of ecotourism in Thailand and ask what that means for conservation, before discussing Thailand's mammalwatching potential in largely unexplored areas. Coke remembers an epic adventure across the Gobi desert in China in search of Bactrian Camels. And Tour describes a strange dolphin - with a very long-beak - from the Andaman Sea which, if indeed a new species, might be named 'Delphinus pinocchioensis'.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: There are many trip reports on mammalwatching's Thailand page. Coke's report from his trip into China's Xinjiang autonomous region in search of wild camels is here.Cover art: Eden's Whales feeding off of Bangkok, Coke Smith.Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.

Charles and Jon talk to Fernando Tortato from his  home in Cuiaba in Brazil's Pantanal. Fernando is Brazil Conservation Program Coordinator for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization. Dr Tortato talks about his work researching and championing the rapidly growing Jaguar tourism industry in Brazil. Twenty five years ago it was very difficult to see a wild Jaguar anywhere. Today some of the Pantanal lodges offer 'Jaguar Express Trips' that pretty much guarantee a Jaguar sighting before lunch.In a fascinating interview he talks about trying to balance the intersection of economics, conservation and cultural values when working with local communities and cattle ranchers and the parallels with Chile's growing Puma tourism.We also learn what it feels like to be charged by an angry Jaguar who blames you for wrecking his chances for romance.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: You can see Fernando's impressive list of publications here. And here is a recent interview with him about his work from the Pew Charitable Trusts.There are dozens of reports on seeing Jaguars in the Pantal on mammalwatching.com's Brazil page.Cover art: Jaguars, Sebastian KennerknechtDr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.

Charles and Jon are joined from South Africa by Rod Cassidy who runs world famous Sangha Lodge in the Central African Republic. A true mammalwatching nirvana.Rod talks about his early career as a bird guide and conservation researcher including his entry for the Darwin Awards during an ill-fated attempt bat collection expedition. He talks about the importance for conservation of the work he and his wife Tamar are doing in the Central African Republic and some of the spectacular mammals they regularly encounter including huge gatherings of Forest Elephants in Sangha Bai, Lowland Gorillas, pangolins and Bongos.Rod also talks about the very real challenges of persuading people to visit such a remote area and the importance of getting bums in beds to protect one of the last great strongholds of the Congo basin. For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: The Sangha Lodge website has more information about the lodge and how to visit. Jon's 2011 and Charles's 2018 trip reports from Dzanga-Sangha National Park are among those on mammalwatching.com.Jon's trip report from the Azores will appear here in September 2024.Cover art: Non-habituated Lowland Gorilla, Dzanga-Sangha National Park, Jon HallDr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 110 countries.