Mammalwatching

Charles and Jon interview Regina Ribeiro, arguably Brazil's top mammalwatching guide. Regina talks about her journey to become one of Brazil's first female wildlife guides, and runs through her own list of the Brazilian Big 5. She also talks about what can go wrong when you have to take a minibus along the Transpantaneira.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Many trip reports featuring Regina are on mammalwatching's Brazil page, including Jon's first trip to Brazil in 2007. Information from the citizen science report on Jaguar's that Regina mentioned is here.  Cover art: Pantanal Jaguar, by Regina Ribeiro.

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 Jon Hall.

Charles and Jon talk with Vladimir Dinets, naturalist extraordinaire, about his adventures travelling the world searching for wildlife. We hear about a quest to Pakistan to be the first biologist to see a Woolly Flying Squirrel in the wild; and how 48 hours inside a Mexican hollow tree is the perfect place to recover from the flu and look for black Jaguars. And he remembers his first near death encounter, when a 14 year old Vladimir had to battle a monster bear in Siberia. Plus we hear from Howard Frederick about the animal behind his recording of the mystery mammal in episode 18.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

Notes: Vladimir has a ton of trip reports up on mammalwatching.com : just search for "Dinets". He has many more adventures and reports on his own website. Vladimir has written several books including Dragon Songs about his work with crocodilians, and guides to finding the mammals of North America and Japan.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Cover Art: Vladimir Dinets in Siberia, 1997.

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 Jon Hall & Charles Foley.

On New Year's Eve 2021, Ellesmere and Sierra Foley sat down with Patrick and Katy Hall to reflect on the highs and lows of growing up in a mammalwatching world. Ellesmere reveals the real reason to visit the Louvre, and Patrick gives tips on how to stare down a Tassie Devil. Sierra has an overly-close encounter with leeches. And Katy makes a shocking confession about feeling "lucky" to have had a mammalwatching childhood!

Plus try to identify a mysterious mammal call that Charles plays at the start of the episode. More than 99% of mammalwatchers won't know the answer.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: If you think you know what animal made the mysterious noises that Charles played at the start of the podcast please email us at [email protected]

Cover art: from left to right, Ellesmere, Sierra, Katy and Patrick on New Year's Eve, by Lara Foley.

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 Jon Hall & Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Bob Pitman, a marine ecologist from Oregon who has recently retired after spending more than 40 years working with the USA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Bob has seen more cetacean species than anyone else on the planet - over 80 species of whales and dolphins in the wild - and has only a handful left to find. During a fascinating interview Bob discusses some of his work researching Killer Whales including the day he had a snowball fight with a pod of Orcas. He also talks about memorable encounters with mythical species like Pygmy Right Whales and the ghosts of the seas: the beaked whales.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is a video of Bob working with Killer and Minke Whales in Antarctica. While this  page has great images and information on Bob's September 2021 expedition off of Oregon, where the cetaceans included Hubb's and Baird's Beaked Whales.

Cover art: Bob Pitman looking for beaked whales off of Oregon in 2021, by Todd Pusser.

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 Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Vivek Menon founder and Executive Director of the Wildlife Trust of India. Vivek is a distinguished conservationist, scientist and author of the Field Guide to Indian Mammals (required reading for any mammalwatcher heading to the sub-continent). During more than 30 years of conservation work Vivek has had many adventures around the world. He talks about getting drenched while kayaking alongside breaching Humpback Whales, being pounced on by Clouded Leopards and having a Chimp decorate his head with parts of a colobus monkey.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Vivek is founder and Executive Director of the Wildlife Trust of India and here is a video about his field guide to Indian mammals. This is a nice article on the wildlife of Manas National Park. Follow Vivek on Twitter and Instagram @vivek4wild. Charles talked about fluorescent mammals and here is a piece on this phenomenon from the New York Times.

Cover art: Vivek and Himalayan Black Bears, by Amrit Noel Menon.

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 Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Nils Bouillard, a young Belgian biologist who specializes in bat acoustics. In 2019 Nils set out to spend a year traveling the world to try to record as many bat species as possible. His Big Bat Year, the first of its kind, took him across 6 continents and 400 bat species. Nils talks about what drew him to bats and a Big Bat Year, and the many adventures he has had along the way including that time he caught bats with a Sinaloan drug cartel looking on.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Nils's new company - Barbastella Echology - is here. And here is an interview about his Big Bat Year. If you are interested in getting to know more about bats, and helping to conserve them, there might be a local bat group in your area. Bat Conservation International also has some useful resources. Wikipedia has information about the Hero Shrew that Charles talked about.

Cover art: Yellow-winged Bat, Nils Bouillard.

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 Jon Hall.

Charles and Jon interview Wendy Panaino from the field in South Africa, about her research on one of Africa's rarest, most endangered and most endearing mammals: the Ground (Cape) Pangolin. Wendy's ground breaking research means she probably knows more about this species than anyone in the world and she shares some of her findings with us, including an explanation of how one even starts to study an animal this hard to find. Wendy also describes some of the other fascinating mammal species that she encounters, nonchalantly shrugging off the perils of spending nights alone wandering through the Kalahari desert following pangolins and avoiding lions.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Information on the Tswalu Reserve is here, and on the Tsawlu Foundation is here along with an interview with Wendy on their website. Bruce Young's Eye of the Pangolin film, featuring footage of Wendy at work, is on YouTube. Some of the discussion on Facebook about "when is a species truly wild" is copied into the comments section of the last podcast episode announcement on mammalwatching.com.

Cover art: Ground Pangolin, Wendy Panaino.

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 Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Tomer Ben-Yehuda and Alex Meyer, two 30-something mammalwatching friends about their adventures and misadventures around the world. We cover the full spectrum of mammalwatching emotions: the thrill of seeing a White-bellied Pangolin in the Central African Republic; the blissful relief of a last minute Maned Wolf sighting in Brazil, and the agony of standing on top of a nest of biting ants while waiting for a porcupine to reveal itself. Plus Tomer finally reveals the shocking truth behind why he and Alex earned the nickname "The Hard Boys" in Uganda.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Tomer has a lot of trip reports on mammalwatching.com (just search for "Tomer" on the site). But here is his Uganda report and his report from the Central African Republic. And here is Jon's account of the Snow Leopard trip he and Charles took with Tomer. Alex's reports include Uganda in 2021, Zambia in 2019 and Kenya in 2021. Here is some more information on plans to reintroduce European Bison in Europe that Charles mentioned, and this is a report of the Sakertours Romania trip that Jon talked about.

Cover art: Tomer (back) & Alex (front) in Uganda.

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 Jon Hall.

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.