Mammalwatching

In the first podcast of 2026 we talk with professional bird and mammal guide János Oláh from his home in Hungary. János set up Sakertours in 1994. Initially focussing on birding tours in Eastern Europe they expanded to run hide-based photography tours and now mammal tours.János explains how he was drawn to birding as a child, and the formative role an aversion to summer camp chores played in the process. He describes how and why he set up his Romania Mammal Tour, on which participants can expect to see over 50 mammal species in 9 days! And he shares a very important life lesson he learned as a boy while looking for a 'Dawn Bird': preferred habitat is far more useful to a successful search than a species' common name!The podcast begins with a 'live from the field' account of our heroically unsuccessful search for a Sumatran Striped Rabbit, which János was lucky enough to be a part of.You can stream the episode here or listen on your favourite podcast platform.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Here is the most recent Romania Mammal Tour report from Sakertours. Details of the 2026 tour and how to join are here. Other Sakertours reports are on mammalwatching's Romania page including the 2025 Mole-rat safari we talked about.A report of our ill-fated trip in search of Sumatran Striped Rabbits is here.Cover art: János in Ladakh.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 almost 120 countries.

The Season 4 opener to the mammalwatching podcast has Charles and Jon talking about their September 2025 expedition to Sulawesi.  This is a blow by blow - and mammal by mammal - account of a remarkable two week trip that recorded over 80 mammal species. Our story is interspersed with interviews from the field with Carlos Bocos, the trip leader; bat guru Prof Juliana Senawi; and the other participants (Stuart Chapman, Nick Cox, János Oláh, Martin Royle and Ian Thompson). We also include a conversation witth Ating Solihin from Sulawesi's Malenge Island about his role in bringing the Togean Babirusa back from the brink of extinction.Highlights include:Explaining why the initial excitement of seeing species that were likely new to science quickly turned to frustration.Hearing why giving a seven year old a mammal book might just dictate the rest of their life.Advice for others planning to visit Sulawesi, including the importance of bringing your own sleeping mats and never wearing flip flops into a bat cave!You can stream the episode here or listen on your favourite podcast platform.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: The trip report from our expedition to Sulawesi should be available here by the end of 2025.Cover art: Togean Babirusa, Carlos BocosDr 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 almost 120 countries.

Charles and Jon speak to conservation power couple Nachiket Kelkar and Kadambari Deshpande from their home in Bangalore. for the finale to Season 3 of the podcast.Kadambari and Nachiket both work to better understand how wildlife and people can co-exist in India, with Kadambari focussing on bats and Nachiket looking at riverine ecosystems and wildlife including the Ganges River Dolphin.In a fascinating interview they discuss some of the threats facing the species they are working to protect as well as some of the facets of Indian society - and its sometimes striking tolerance for living alongside wildlife - that help to allow  wildlife and people to co-exist.They describe a recent trip in search with Bob Pitman (a 2022 podcast guest) in search of India's remaining two Indus River Dolphins and also explain how Indian Flying Foxes are a cashew-farmer's best friend!For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Jon's recent Borneo trip report - during which a few seconds birding almost cost him his binoculars - is here:Details of the IUCN-approved splitting of the Giraffe into four species is here.Cover art: Kadambari & NachiketDr 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 almost 120 countries.

Charles and Jon talk with carnivore conservation expert Laila Bahaa-el-din.Laila studied the near mythical African Golden Cat for her PhD in Gabon from 2010 - 2015 and was the first to study the species for a PhD.She explains how her grandfather inspired her to follow a career in conservation and how a chance encounter with a mislabeled photo of an African Golden Cat saved her from studying raptors and took her to Gabon.Laila describes how she studied the cats using camera traps and how a bird flying into a tent led to her one and only sighting during four years in the field. She also recounts some of her very many adventures in Gabon that range from pleading with a female gorilla to keep quiet so as not to alert the silverback, to fleeing from an elephant while trying to get out of a poncho.  No wonder she turned to poetry for solace!For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Here is an African Geographic artlce from Laila about her work with the Golden Cat. And here is the video she mentioned of an African Golden Cat hunting Red Colobus in Uganda.Jon's report of his recent trip to Japan in search of Sato's Beaked Whales is here. And hs report of a weekend in China is here. Cover art: African Golden Cat, Laila Bahaa-el-din 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 wildlife filmmaker and presenter Nigel Marven from his home in the UK.Nigel describes how a childhood fascination with wildlife led to his first job in TV, 'wrangling worms', and from there to working with Sir David Attenborough and ultimately presenting and making his own shows and films.He explains why his films have often put the spotlight onto smaller, less well-known but fascinating mammals including Russian Desmans, Chinese Mole-shrews and Star-nosed Moles. And he describes some of his most memorable mammal encounters from Bactrian Camels in China to swimming with Belugas in the Canadian Arctic.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastNotes: Details of Nigel's forthcoming wildlife tours are on his website. You can read more about his trip to Madagascar here.This is the article about the discovery of Leadbeater's Possum in New South Wales that Charles talked about.Jon encouraged listeners to visit mammalwatching.com's Join a Trip page. More details on the two trips he is helping to convene are here:Primates and Porcupines in Northeast Brazil, May 2026Mammalwatching Cruise to Antarctica, January 2027Cover art: Nigel Marven 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.