In the last podcast episode of 2024, Charles and Jon talk to Marcelo Gavensky from his home in Buenos Aires. Marcelo is director of Birds Argentina, a tour company that recently expanded into running mammalwatching safaris.

Marcelo talks about the varied career that led him to establish his tour company. He describes some of his favourite encounters and his work to find a reliable method to see the rare Franciscana or La Plata River Dolphin. We also discuss Argentina's massive mammalwatching potential. The country is home to 14 species of cats, 13 species of armadillos and - for the rodent enthusiasts - 44 species of tuco-tuco!

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Mammalwatching has several reports of trips that Marcelo has run including Jon's 2023 trip around Buenos Aries province.

Cover art: Franciscanas, Jonathan Ben Simon

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 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/podcast

Notes: 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/podcast

Notes: 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/podcast

Notes: 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 Kennerknecht

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 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/podcast

Notes: 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 Hall

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 are joined by Claudia Diaz, from Wild About Colombia, at her home in Bogota.

Claudia and Robin Smith founded Wild About Colombia in 2017 and the company quickly developed a reputation for high quality and adventurous mammalwatching trips.

Claudia talks about a career which has taken her from marine biology in Mexico's Gulf of California back to her native Colombia, via studying conservation in the UK. She describes her passion for involving local communities in ecotourism and runs through some of the particular difficulties she and Rob faced in bringing not just ecotourism, but mammal tourism, to a country emerging from 60 years of conflict. From navigating travel insurance company red zones to trying to persuade birding guides that some clients prefer to walk past megabirds (some clients like Jon for example), she describes a challenging but rewarding journey through an extraordinary country.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: There are several trip reports featuring Wild About Colombia on mammalwatching.com including reports from Jane Kempler, Venkat Sankar and Jon.

Charles talked about a New York Times article on freeze dried bats which is here (though it is behind a firewall).

Cover art: Claudia Diaz.

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 Dr Barbara Taylor (USA) and Dr Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho (Mexico), who together lead the global efforts to save the Vaquita from extinction.

The Vaquita, a tiny and beautiful porpoise, is found only at the top of the Gulf of California and holds the unfortunate distinction of being the world's rarest marine mammal (possibly the rarest of any mammal species). There may be as few as 6 animals left alive.

The story of the Vaquita's precipitous decline from its discovery in 1958 is as tragic as it is complex. In a fascinating conversation we learn about the Vaquita's biology and how gillnetting has driven the species to the very edge of extinction. We also discuss why illegal fishing - fueled by organized crime and a demand in East Asia for the swim bladder of the Totoaba fish - is so difficult to prevent. But Barb and Lorenzo offer some optimism for the future: there may be more Vaquitas hiding in the Gulf of California and it is not to late to save the species.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: There is a lot more information online.

Viva Vaquita is a coalition of scientists, educators and conservationists who strive to increase attention on the Vaquita. They host an International Vaquita Day every year to update folks on the latest situation.

There are several documentaries about the Vaquita story including Sea of Shadows which you can find here https://www.vaquitacpr.org

The IUCN's Cetacean Specialist Group website has all recent Vaquita survey reports (with 2024 coming soon) as well as reports from the recovery team (CIRVA).

If you would like to help save the Vaquita you can donate money to - or volunteer to join - Sea Shepherd the conservation society who are doing very important work in the Gulf of Mexico to help tackle the illegal fishing that is killing the species.

If you want to check whether the seafood you eat is sustainable then you can visit Seafood Watch even if they do not as yet carry information about the fisheries that most impact the Vaquita.

Jon's report on joining the 2024 Vaquita Survey with Barb and Lorenzo is here.

Finally here is the Guardian article on the 6 million antelope migration in South Sudan that Charles mentions at the start.

Cover art: Barb, Lorenzo and a model Vaquita with Consag Rock in the background.

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 Australian author, broadcaster and wildlife nut Bradley Trevor Greive (BTG) from his home in California.

BTG has an extraordinary CV: he was a paratrooper and cartoonist before becoming a successful author and broadcaster. In between he found time to win the French Polynesian Rock Lifting Championship, graduate from the Russian Cosmonaut Space Program, spend 6 years working on Brown Bears in Alaska and still practice on his ukulele. And he devotes considerable energy to supporting conservation work around the world. As you might imagine we had plenty to talk about.

In an entertaining hour Bradley talks about some of his formative experiences with wildlife as a child living around the world, his research work with the enormous Brown Bears of Alaska's Alexander Archipelago, and some of the many painful encounters he has had with wildlife along the way. He has plenty of useful advice that every mammalwatcher needs to hear. For instance you will learn what not to wear if you don't want a flying fox to ejaculate into your ear, and what not to do if it happens anyway.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: read BTG's Wikipedia page and you will almost certainly be familiar with some of his work. From his 'The Blue Day Book' to the (really very lovely) Penguin Bloom book and movie on Netflix. He provided several of the voices on Finding Nemo and his new show Queer Planet launched on Peacock in June 2024. You can follow him on Instagram @Tasmanian_Grizzly

Cover Art: BTG (Stacey Lorraine).

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 conservationist Bill Robichaud, best known for his work to protect what many would argue is the world's most enigmatic mammal: the Saola.

Saolas - a beautifully marked 100kg bovid - are often referred to as the 'Asian Unicorn' because of their scimitar-like horns and rarity. The species, first discovered by scientists in 1992 in the mountains of Vietnam, is one of the most stunning zoological discoveries of the past 100 years. Bill has dedicated his career to trying to learn more about - and protect - them, including helping to set up the IUCN's Saola Working Group and the Saola Foundation.

In a fascinating conversation he talks about how the species was first discovered, and the handful of live animals that have been seen since. He offers hope for the species' survival and what more might be done to save them from extinction.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: There are plenty of interviews with Bill online including this video of a talk he made in 2015.

Before talking to Bill we had a chat with fellow mammalwatcher Greg Easton, who has submitted several trip reports over the years including this guide to the mammals of Yellowstone.

Cover Art: Saola.

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 open Season 3 of the podcast from the jungles of the Ivory Coast, before talking to Peter Kaestner, the world's most accomplished birder.

In February 2024 Peter became the first person ever to see 10,000 bird species, though, as we hear at the very end of the episode, the climax of his record came with more plot twists than a Hitchcock movie.

Peter talks about his fiercely competitive family, and his older brother Hank's pivotal role in starting a lifelong love of birding. He explains how he chose a career that would best support his birding. And that luck - and lucky stones - have played a role in getting him to his 10,000th bird.

NB. We recorded the interview in late January before Peter had broken the record. He joined us again in late March to provide the update at the very end of this episode.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: There has been a great deal of coverage of Peter's record and the intrigue around it.

On the record itself: The New York Times: With an Orange-Tufted Spiderhunter, Birder Breaks Record for Sightings, while the American Birding Association published a piece by Peter in January on his plans to reach 10,000 birds.

And on the the intrigue: The Guardian How birdwatching's biggest record threw its online community into chaos, and this is the lively thread on Birdforum that Peter referred to. Plus an entertaining Tiktok video from Aerithgirl outlining the story of Peter Kaestner's 10,000th bird and Jason Mann's claim. 3 million views and counting!

Jon and Charles have already both written reports on their Ivory Coast trip.

Cover Art: Peter (left) and Hank Kaestner with a 'lucky stone'.

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.