Charles and Jon talk to Fernando Tortato from his home in Cuiaba in Brazil's Pantanal. Fernando is Brazil Conservation Program Coordinator for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.

Dr Tortato talks about his work researching and championing the rapidly growing Jaguar tourism industry in Brazil. Twenty five years ago it was very difficult to see a wild Jaguar anywhere. Today some of the Pantanal lodges offer 'Jaguar Express Trips' that pretty much guarantee a Jaguar sighting before lunch.

In a fascinating interview he talks about trying to balance the intersection of economics, conservation and cultural values when working with local communities and cattle ranchers and the parallels with Chile's growing Puma tourism.

We also learn what it feels like to be charged by an angry Jaguar who blames you for wrecking his chances for romance.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: You can see Fernando's impressive list of publications here. And here is a recent interview with him about his work from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

There are dozens of reports on seeing Jaguars in the Pantal on mammalwatching.com's Brazil page.

Cover art: Jaguars, Sebastian Kennerknecht

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 are joined from South Africa by Rod Cassidy who runs world famous Sangha Lodge in the Central African Republic. A true mammalwatching nirvana.

Rod talks about his early career as a bird guide and conservation researcher including his entry for the Darwin Awards during an ill-fated attempt bat collection expedition. He talks about the importance for conservation of the work he and his wife Tamar are doing in the Central African Republic and some of the spectacular mammals they regularly encounter including huge gatherings of Forest Elephants in Sangha Bai, Lowland Gorillas, pangolins and Bongos.

Rod also talks about the very real challenges of persuading people to visit such a remote area and the importance of getting bums in beds to protect one of the last great strongholds of the Congo basin.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: The Sangha Lodge website has more information about the lodge and how to visit.

Jon's 2011 and Charles's 2018 trip reports from Dzanga-Sangha National Park are among those on mammalwatching.com.

Jon's trip report from the Azores will appear here in September 2024.

Cover art: Non-habituated Lowland Gorilla, Dzanga-Sangha National Park, Jon Hall

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 are joined by Claudia Diaz, from Wild About Colombia, at her home in Bogota.

Claudia and Robin Smith founded Wild About Colombia in 2017 and the company quickly developed a reputation for high quality and adventurous mammalwatching trips.

Claudia talks about a career which has taken her from marine biology in Mexico's Gulf of California back to her native Colombia, via studying conservation in the UK. She describes her passion for involving local communities in ecotourism and runs through some of the particular difficulties she and Rob faced in bringing not just ecotourism, but mammal tourism, to a country emerging from 60 years of conflict. From navigating travel insurance company red zones to trying to persuade birding guides that some clients prefer to walk past megabirds (some clients like Jon for example), she describes a challenging but rewarding journey through an extraordinary country.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: There are several trip reports featuring Wild About Colombia on mammalwatching.com including reports from Jane Kempler, Venkat Sankar and Jon.

Charles talked about a New York Times article on freeze dried bats which is here (though it is behind a firewall).

Cover art: Claudia Diaz.

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.