Rare Mammal Watching Holidays

No creatures on earth have more hold over us than our closest kin, the mammals. We delight in watching lions and cheetahs stalking great herds of game in Kenya and Tanzania, or wolves and grizzly bears chasing elk in Yellowstone. Yet wherever the mammal field guides show us such large, well-known species, they also include a host of animals which are rare, reclusive, strictly nocturnal, found only in the remotest regions, or simply weird. It is these which we seek on our popular and successful rare mammal tours.

Some animals, such as aardvark and aardwolf, are widespread but only rarely seen. In Botswana and South Africa our experts take you to reliable sites, including known dens, for these, plus many more localised mammals. They take pride in showing you meerkat, brown hyena, African wild dog, South African porcupine and even, sometimes, the near-mythical ground pangolin. In the comparable desert and dry grassland of Northwest India, our superb tour of Rajasthan and Gujarat looks for desert wildcat, rusty-spotted cat, desert and Indian foxes, striped hyena, Asiatic wild ass and the enigmatic Indian wolf

Some of our tours to Borneo are largely nocturnal, echoing the behaviour of the rarest mammals. In this way we can show you banded and otter civets, binturong and sun bear, Thomas’s and black flying-squirrels, bearded pigs, marbled and leopard cats and even the stunning Sunda clouded leopard. In Hungary our night tours join surveys for bats and small mammals such as the forest dormouse, giving you a unique look into the lives of some of Europe’s least known species.

Mountains are the preserve of some of the world’s most elusive mammals. In the Andes of Colombia we search for spectacled bear, mountain tapir and the endemic silvery-brown tamarin. To the south, in the Andean foothills and along the coast of Chile, kodkod, southern river and marine otters, and the beautiful puma are among our targets. Asia’s mountains have a host of rare mammals too. In Mongolia we can show you Pallas’s cat, snow leopard and corsac fox, while in neighbouring China, our Sichuan tour sees red panda, Chinese serow and hog badger. As established experts in rare mammals, we have the tour to suit your needs.

Sunda clouded leopard

Found only on Sumatra and Borneo, the exquisite Sunda clouded leopard has recently been declared a separate species from clouded leopards on the Asian mainland. In the absence of tigers, in Borneo this is the top predator, feeding both on ground prey, such as muntjacs, and tree-dwellers, including proboscis monkeys and orangutans. This fabulous animal is always hard to see, but most easily found in Deramakot Forest Reserve visited on our Borneo's Rare Mammals itinerary, where well-maintained roads crisscross biodiverse forest. 

Forest dormouse

Most charming of Europe’s dormice, the highly-arboreal forest dormouse is found largely in Central and Eastern Europe, though it occurs in Central Asia east to Mongolia. This squirrel-like dormouse is an acrobatic nocturnal resident of a range of forest types, but is generally scarce. Distinguished from hazel and edible dormice by its strong black mask, this lovely rodent can be seen alongside them on our Hungary's Rare Mammals tour, where our local expert guides have permits to survey boxes for their nests.

Ground pangolin

Pangolins are scaly anteaters, with no teeth and sticky tongues longer than their bodies. Of the world’s eight pangolins, four live in Africa. Two arboreal species and the ground-dwelling giant pangolin inhabit forests in Central and West Africa and are extremely difficult to see. The mid-sized ground pangolin occurs in savannahs of East and Southern Africa. We encounter it on some of our tours to Botswana but most reliably see it on our exclusive South Africa's Rare Mammals in Style tour and our special photography departures to Tswalu Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Marine otter

Living in rough water along rocky coasts of Peru, Chile and far south Argentina, the dainty marine otter is very little known. Apart from the much larger sea otter of North Pacific coasts, it is the only otter to live exclusively in saltwater, and is considered the smallest marine mammal. Covering large distances in remote habitat and always wary of humans, the marine otter is hard to see, but we visit excellent sites for it – and the equally rare southern river otter – in our Chile's Rare Mammals tour.

Aardvark

The aardvark, whose name means earth pig in Afrikaans, is the only survivor of its order and has no close relatives. It has a huge range in Sub-Saharan Africa but can be stubbornly difficult to see. The aardvark’s large, hoof-like claws and long snout are ideal adaptations for a solitary, snuffling life, searching by night for termites and ants. In both our South Africa and Botswana's Rare Mammals group tours we visit outstanding sites for the aardvark, giving you an excellent chance of encountering this unique animal.

Pallas’s cat

Less well known than the snow leopard, Pallas’s cat is equally widespread in the montane steppes and uplands of Central and South Asia, where its squat posture and flat-topped head are perfect adaptations for crawling over rocks as it hunts pikas and marmots. Though this perfectly-camouflaged, dust-grey animal is always elusive, we visit superb sites in Central Mongolia as part of our Cats of Mountain & Steppe tour and the mountains of southwest China on Sichuan's Sensational Mammals & Birds trip where its fierce golden eyes, staring from a jumble of rocks, are very often seen.

Spectacled bear

Though inhabiting the forested Andes from Western Venezuela to Argentina, the spectacled bear is always hard to see. The last member of an ancient lineage of short-faced bears, this reclusive animal lives in forest and grassland from sea level to almost 5,000 metres of altitude. It takes a huge range of foods, though mostly plants including orchids, ferns and bromeliads. On our visits to Chingaza National Park as part of our Colombia's Rare Mammals tour, we have a high chance of seeing this rare, beautiful animal.

Desert wildcat

In Central Asia and deserts of Northwest India and Pakistan lives a sleek, sand-coloured subspecies of the wildcat with bold black spots, which is often known as the desert wildcat. Hunting gerbils, rats and other small prey, largely at night, to escape the fierce heat of summer days these cats take refuge in burrows made by other mammals. In Rajasthan, as part of Northwest India's Rare Mammals itinerary, our local experts constantly monitor dens, affording us the chance to watch these rarely-seen beauties as they emerge to hunt.