Wild Animals in the Wild!

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Dicerorhinus

Well-Known Member
Inspired by the fantastic photograph of Yassa's Sunda Clouded Leopard and memories of ArizonaDocent's trip to the Iberian Peninsula I thought I'd start a thread on a topic which, to me at least is much more exciting than zoos. That is seeing wild animals in the wild; both in your home country and abroad. This is a thread when we can share experiences and advice. I thought we could structure the thread by discussing our sightings and experiences in the major Orders for Mammals and later go on to discuss Birds and other vertebrates.


What better place to start than Carnivora?

The following isn't my complete list but I have picked out the species I was most excited by:

USA & Canada
Florida Black Bear (Ursus americanus floridanus)
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

India (Madhya Pradesh and Assam)
Indian Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus ursinus)
Striped hyeana (Hyeana Hyeana)
Bengal Fox (Vulpes bengalensis)
Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)*
Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)
Smooth Coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata)


Sumatra (During a six month assignment)
Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)
Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis sumatranus)
Binturong (Arctictis binturong)
Dhole*(Cuon alpinus)

Java (Ujong Kulon)
Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)*

Much to my disappointment I didn't see any Carnivores when I was given the opportunity for a brief visit to DRC.*Like you Yassa, I'm incredibly proud of my Clouded Leopard (haha I know it's a different species) sighting as even my guide had never seen one. The Fishing cat too, I spotted it on my first day and didn't see another wild feline for the entire 4 weeks. I saw Leopard cats on four occasions in Sumatra. My first wild Carnivore was a Florida Black bear when I was 12 years old, before I had even seen a Badger here in the UK. The only bear species I have made special arrangements to see is the Polar bear in Canada but as you can see I'm doing pretty well in the "zoochat world bear challenge"! I haven't included mongooses, foxes, raccoons and skunks which I think are frequently seen.
 
Well, just 10 minutes ago I rescued a water shrew from my girlfriend's cat! It'll probably die of shock, but I've given it a fighting chance.
 
coyote (several times here in Tucson, even right in the city)
bobcat (Sequoia Nat Park at night, Tucson at dawn and dusk)
iberian lynx (Sierra de Andujar Nat Park, pre-dawn)
gray fox (Sequoia Nat Park at night)
black bear (Sequoia Nat Park at dusk)
ringtail (Tucson's Sabino Canyon at night)
 
I know a lot of people probably won't count it but the only large carnivores that I've seen in the wild are dingoes on Fraser Island. These are perhaps some of the purest dingoes left in the wild.
 
In Carnivora...

Gray Fox (Vuples cinereoargenteus)
American Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes fulvus) or (Vulpes fulvus), which is what I prefer to say
Coyote (Canis latrans)
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
 
I'm not convinced that seeing animals in the wild is better than seeing them in zoos, as discussed in other threads, the experience is different, both having pros and cons. Personally, I prefer seeing animals in zoos, for various reasons, although I certainly get excited seeing wild animals, and that can be more thrilling.

I have only seen one wild carnivore (excluding feral cats and mustelids, which are only ever the most fleeting glimpses):

-New Zealand Fur Seal (various NZ locations)
 
I know a bunch of members have visited some African nations any Caracals/Servals/Hyeanas?

I'm surprised we haven't had any Brown bear sightings particularly in North America, has anyone tried to see this species?

No wolves either? My best chance was at Chambal where I was lucky enough to see Striped hyaena and Bengal fox.

I think we can all agree that Arizona Docents Iberian lynx is a fantastic sighting and certainly the rarest species listed so far. Do you have any immediate or long term plans to go in search of other rarely observed felids? I've been told there are ranches in Brazil where Jaguar sightings are common..
 
re: jaguars in Brazil. There are now regularly scheduled group nature tours where you cruise along a river at dusk and sightings are virtually guaranteed. This is the Pantanal. My brother (who was with me on iberian lynx) is a travel addict and has seen tons of animals in the wild, including three different jaguars on one of the aforementioned tours.
 
Only member of Carnivora I can think of is the red fox. We don't exactly have a wide variety of them here in Ireland, to be fair: just foxes and a few mustelids. I think. I've always wanted to see a badger, but I haven't yet.

I've seen other cool animals too, but they're in different orders so apparently I'm not allowed talk about them. :p
 
I spent a couple of hours watching a dog otter fishing on Sunday: it did come and go, but I watched 4 separate fishing trips. Unfortunately it was far too far away for any worthwhile photos.
Fortunately this is becoming a more common sight in England now, but it was very special for me.

Alan
 
In terms of having seen carnivores in the wild - I have, through a little luck and a lot of patience, seen every single UK native carnivore with the exception of the pine marten and wildcat in the wild. So this means:

Weasel
Badger
Stoat
Polecat-Ferret
Polecat
Otter
Red Fox
Feral Cat
Grey Seal
Common Seal

Curiously, I have never seen an American Mink, despite how common they are said to be.
 
zooboy28 said:
I'm not convinced that seeing animals in the wild is better than seeing them in zoos, as discussed in other threads, the experience is different, both having pros and cons. Personally, I prefer seeing animals in zoos, for various reasons, although I certainly get excited seeing wild animals, and that can be more thrilling.
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I enjoy seeing (most but not all) animals in zoos but I don't feel I've really seen one until I've seen a wild one. it just seems to be on a whole other level. Then again I don't have a list of animals I've seen in zoos so I guess I don't have the satisfaction of ticking off another species from my to-do list.

Coming nearly nose to beak with a kiwi at Willowbank was nice but seeing a kiwi on a cold rainy beach catching sandhoppers is something I won't ever forget.
 
OrangePerson said:
I enjoy seeing (most but not all) animals in zoos but I don't feel I've really seen one until I've seen a wild one. it just seems to be on a whole other level. Then again I don't have a list of animals I've seen in zoos so I guess I don't have the satisfaction of ticking off another species from my to-do list.

Coming nearly nose to beak with a kiwi at Willowbank was nice but seeing a kiwi on a cold rainy beach catching sandhoppers is something I won't ever forget.
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I guess there are some species that are much better viewed in a zoo than in the wild, and others which viewing in the wild is superior.

As an example, Orang Utans are extremely difficult to get a good view of in the wild, so zoo watching is superior, whereas a Kiwi in a nocturnal house is always just going to be a dark blur, while one strutting around a beach on Stewart Island provides an excellent view (and gives a huge thrill).

I guess I'm lazy and impatient, but I would prefer to visit a zoo holding species X than spend ages trying to find it in the wild.
 
Dicerorhinus said:
I'm surprised we haven't had any Brown bear sightings particularly in North America, has anyone tried to see this species?
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I've seen many Brown bears, in both Alaska and Russia. Have had them within a few yards of a tent, fortunately with an electric fence between us but they just went about their own business. One mother and cub in Russia spent several hours sleeping just a few yards from our camp.

Most unusual carnivore I have seen in the wild would be Asian Lion. In India have also seen Tiger, Leopard, and very briefly, Sloth Bear. Also Devils and Quolls in Tasmania but most remarkable species there is Platypus and quite easy to see.

Sadly no wild Wolves though.

Have seen all UK carnivores wild apart from Scottish Wildcat.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Curiously, I have never seen an American Mink, despite how common they are said to be.
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I think they're rather less common than they used to be, since the Otter made its comeback. Have seen them wild in Devon in the past, curiously unafraid of an observer.
 
Pertinax said:
I think they're rather less common than they used to be, since the Otter made its comeback. Have seen them wild in Devon in the past, curiously unafraid of an observer.
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So I am given to understand - being as I live in County Durham, which is one of the otter hotspots, and often visit Northumberland where my girlfriend lives, which is another otter hotspot, my failure to see mink is pretty understandable.

There are certainly no American Mink in Darlington itself, as the town centre has a thriving population of water voles living in the River Skerne.
 
Dicerorhinus said:
I'm surprised we haven't had any Brown bear sightings particularly in North America, has anyone tried to see this species?
Click to expand...

I saw them in Alaska but quite a long way away. I saw a black one a couple of weeks ago in Grand Teton NP, last day of my holiday just 10 mins after I said "I've given up on seeing a bear."
 
Grizzly and black bear and a mink of some description in BC
Sun bear, binturong, leopard cat, Malayan badger in Sabah
Lioness and caracal in Addo Elephant park in SA, damn caracal moved before I got a pic as I was self driving, also cape fur seals near Hermanus., also meerkat, yellow mongoose and black backed jackal.
Fox, badger, stoat and weasel in UK hope to tick pine marten off the list very soon though :)
 
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There we go our first Caracal! How common are sightings of this species? If I go back to India I'd like to try my luck..

Nice to have our first African list, Mr. Brown are you going to hold out on us?

Pertinax, I'm sure that was absolutely thrilling to be so close to a brown bear! What subspecies did you see in Russia? Where were you in India (beside Gir)?
What's the tourist 'traffic' like at Gir Pertinax?

I'm genuinely surprised no one has seen a wolf. Also no American badgers?

Regarding Mink; I saw a remarkably fearless one a two years ago in Oxford city centre!




When interest here wanes we could go onto marsupials/monotremes (as Pertinax seems eager :)), we can also get more input from the antipodean members.
 
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