We interview Russ Mittermeier, world famous author, mammalogist, conservationist and primate watcher. Russ takes us on a trip from a Tarzan-loving kid watching monkeys at the Bronx Zoo to a Tarzan-loving scientist discovering new species of primates in the jungles of the Amazon and Madagascar, and becoming the first person to see all 80 genera of primate in the wild. We hear about why mammalwatching is a force for conservation good, the thrill of coming face to face with a Tiger on his first day in the forests of South-east Asia, and how tales of Yetis inspired Russ's hunt for a White Uakari.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Russ has achieved too much to summarise in a few notes. But here goes. He has been awarded over a dozen significant prizes and medals including the 2018 Indianapolis Prize in recognition of "his major victories in protecting animal species and vital habitats." He has written over 750 articles, plus 43 books and counting, including being closely involved as both author and editor of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World series and the Lemurs of Madagascar. In 2019 the BBC's natural history unit accompanied Russ on a trip to Tanzania to spot a Kipunji, the only primate genus he had not seen in the wild. Here is the Lincoln Park Zoo's new lion exhibit that Charles mentioned.

Cover art: White Uakari by Luis Claudio Marigo.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Sierra Foley.

We talk to Lisa Dabek, senior Conservation Scientist at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, and Founder and Director of the globally renowned Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Lisa has received numerous awards and accolades for her work. The most recent include two from the IUCN. In 2019 she won their prestigious George Rabb award for conservation which she received in 2019 'In recognition of her outstanding leadership and innovation in the conservation of one of the most overlooked groups of mammal species, the amazing tree kangaroos, and her over three decade commitment to conservation and local people in Papua New Guinea'. And just last month - September 2021 - she was awarded the IUCN’s Harold Jefferson Coolidge Memorial Medal given to individuals who have made 'internationally significant contributions to effective conservation'.

We discuss Lisa's remarkable success in setting up PNG's first conservation area, and working with local communities to protect the superb mammals it contains. She also explains how difficult it is to see, let alone study, tree kangaroos, especially when someone with a score to settle just cast a spell on you.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is information on the Woodland Park Zoo Tree Kangaroo Project and this is Lisa's latest book on Tree Kangaroos: Science and Conservation. Some reports on mammalwatching in Papua New Guinea are here, and here is a video from the BBC on Dingiso, Jon's favourite Tree Kangaroo. You can nominate a young (<40 years old) conservationist for the Indianapolis Prize Emerging Conservationist Award here.

Cover art: Lisa and a Matschie's Tree Kangaroo by Jonathan Byers.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Sierra Foley.

We interview Martin Royle about the vision behind his ecotour company Royle Safaris. We talk about how much work has gone into designing tours that actually see (rather than search for) Javan Rhinos and Siberian Tigers, plus the cascading conservation benefits that come from small scale ecotourism. And we hear about some of Martin's adventures along the way, including that time he thought a Tiger had eaten his friend.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Martin has a heap of trip reports on mammalwatching.com, just search for "Royle", including a 2018 trip to Java, and 2017 in Sibera. If you want to read about - or donate to - the Trees for Tigers non-profit then click here. And here is something from the BBC about Spain's rogue Orcas.

Cover art: Siberian Tiger by Alexander Batalov.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

We interview father and son Hari and Venkat Sankar about their mammalwatching adventures at home in California and around the world. We talk about how Venkat got the mammalwatching bug when he was 14 after a very close encounter with Wild Dogs; Venkat's love for rats and bats; and how their relationship survived the Puma that Hari saw but Venkat didn't.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Venkat has many trip reports on mammalwatching.com including Kenya & Tanzania, 2013; Central African Republic, 2015; lots of information on California; and several ground breaking Mexican trips plus his epic July 2021 Kenya trip. Here is more information on Pousargue's Mongoose.

Cover art: Wild Dogs by Venkat Sankar.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall's second part of their interview with George Schaller, widely regarded as the planet's greatest living field biologist.

Some follow a career in wildlife biology and dream of discovering new species. Others of uncovering new information on our most charismatic animals. While some yearn to make a genuine impact on conservation. George Schaller has made enormous contributions in all of these areas in a career spanning 70 years.

His pioneering work with Mountain Gorillas showed the world for the first time that they were a gentle - not savage - species, and it paved the way for Dian Fossey to begin her work. He went on to work with a set of mammalwatching bucket list species from Snow Leopards and Tigers through Giant Pandas and Gobi Bears. In the early 1990s he helped discover the Saola - the "Asian unicorn" - in Laos, and one of the most remarkable species discoveries of the 20th Century. He has also helped set up over 20 protected areas including the 200,000 square mile Changtang Nature Reserve on the Tibetan plateau.

He has won countless awards and written 15 books, one of which - on Lions - won the USA's National Book Award. Legendary does not do him justice.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is an article on Schaller's life and career. He has written hundreds of magazine articles and Op Eds, like this one with Peter Zahler (who we interviewed in Episode 6 of this podcast) and there are many more references in his wikipedia entry. Here is short video about his many achievements. His latest book, Into Wild Mongolia, is published by Yale.

Here is more information on the Wildlife Conservation Society's work to protect the few Saola that may be left in Laos and Vietnam.

Cover art: George Schaller and a Giant Panda.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall's first part of a two part interview with George Schaller, widely regarded as the planet's greatest living field biologist.

Some follow a career in wildlife biology and dream of discovering new species. Others of uncovering new information on our most charismatic animals. While some yearn to make a genuine impact on conservation. George Schaller has made enormous contributions in all of these areas in a career spanning 70 years.

His pioneering work with Mountain Gorillas showed the world for the first time that they were a gentle - not savage - species, and it paved the way for Dian Fossey to begin her work. He went on to work with a set of mammalwatching bucket list species from Snow Leopards and Tigers through Giant Pandas and Gobi Bears. In the early 1990s he helped discover the Saola - the "Asian unicorn" - in Laos, and one of the most remarkable species discoveries of the 20th Century. He has also helped set up over 20 protected areas including the 200,000 square mile Changtang Nature Reserve on the Tibetan plateau.

He has won countless awards and written 15 books, one of which - on Lions - won the USA's National Book Award. Legendary does not do him justice.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is an article on Schaller's life and career. He has written hundreds of magazine articles and Op Eds, like this one with Peter Zahler (who we interviewed in Episode 6 of this podcast) and there are many more references in his wikipedia entry. Here is short video about his many achievements.  His latest book, Into Wild Mongolia, is published by Yale.

Here is more information on the Wildlife Conservation Society's work to protect the few Saola that may be left in Laos and Vietnam.

Cover art: A local herdsman and George Schaller with a Snow Leopard they are about to radio collar in Mongolia.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall interview José G. Martínez-Fonseca about his journey from part-time bat catcher in Nicaragua to studying for his PhD in biology in Arizona. Highlights include some of his legendary exploits in the field, risking life and limb to capture mammals on the move for the greater good of science and mammalwatchers everywhere.

Here's the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is an account of Jose catching the Rufous Tree Rat. This is Fiona Reid's report of the trip on which Jose caught the Water Opossum. And Jon's report of his 86 mammal week with Jose in Nicaragua. There are dozens of trip reports on looking for Iberian Lynxes in Andujar on mammalwatching's Spain page.

Cover art - Water Opossum, or Yapok - by José G. Martínez-Fonseca.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall interview Peter Zahler about 35 years' work conserving wildlife in the field around the world. Some of his many achievements include his work in Pakistan where he ran a world-renowned project to save the Markhor from extinction, and rediscovered the Woolly Flying Squirrel, a beast no scientist had seen for 70 years.

Here's the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is more information about Prairie Dog communication that Charles mentioned. This is a piece on the Woolly Flying Squirrel in Pakistan, and this is another on Markhors. Plus a review of the Canon R6 camera.

Cover art - Markhor Survey, Pakistan - by Peter Zahler

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall interview scientist, author, artist and tour operator Fiona Reid about a lifetime catching, painting and studying some of the world's least known mammals. Highlights include bat glamour makeover tips,  how to  photograph a flying fox's teeth and why a plane crash is much more frightening if you've checked your luggage. 

Here's the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes:  Fiona's lodge in Costa Rica is called Sylvan .  The fierce bat in Papua New Guinea she mentioned was a Black-bellied Fruit Bat (Melonycteris melanops). While the rare bats she captured in Costa Rica were Smoky (Sheath-tailed) Bats (Cyttarops alecto).

Here is some more on the elephants walking across China that Charles talked about. And this is the Napo Wildlife Centre where Jon recently stayed.

Cover art - Smoky Bat, Cyttarops alecto - by Fiona Reid.

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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.

Charles Foley and Jon Hall interview scientist and conservationist Dr Tim Davenport from his base in Tanzania about his many mammalian achievements and adventures during 30 years in Africa. Highlights include a Giant Pangolin rodeo, a flatulent gorilla, and his key role in discovering the Kipunji monkey in Tanzania: one of the most exciting mammalian discoveries of the past 100 years.

Here's the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is a piece + video from CNN on Tim’s work with Kipunji.  And here is an article on Magawa, the landmine sniffing rat.

Cover photo - Kipunji - by Tim Davenport.


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 100 countries.

Produced and edited by José G. Martínez-Fonseca mammalwatcher, photographer and wildlife biologist.

Thanks also to Sierra Foley for her editing skills and patience.