Charles and Jon talk to Shavez Cheema, founder of Borneo1Stop Wildlife, from his home in Sabah.

Shavez talks about a childhood in Brunei surrounded by wildlife and how, at the age of nine, he was inspired to work in conservation after seeing a neighbour's senseless killing of a monitor lizard.

We discuss the massive potential for growth in conservation tourism across Borneo, and both the benefits and problems it might create. And Shavez explains why Borneo1Stop Wildlife is committed to opening up new mammalwatching areas and what visitors can expect from them.

Any conversation about Borneo will feature some premier league mammals. Shavez's favorite moments include an unexpected encounter with a Tufted Ground Squirrel and walk away views of a Clouded Leopard.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: More details of Borneo1Stop Wildlife's destinations in Tawau Hills, Beluran and INIKEA are here. And this is a report of a 2024 bat photography workshop.

There are many many Borneo trip reports on mammalwatching.

The jaw-dropping photographs from the migration in South Sudan that Charles mentioned were part of the media pack accompanying this African Parks press release. Check out this extraordinary image!

Jon's Romania mole-rat safari report is here.

Cover art: Walk away views of a Clouded Leopard, Shavez Cheema.

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 mammalwatching power couple Venkat Sankar & Nicole Haseley from their base at Stanford University in California.

Nicole and Venkat 'accidentally' turned 2024 into a Big California (Mammal) Year and ended up seeing a record breaking 150 species in the state by December 31.

They talk about some of their big year's highs and lows as well as their favourite places in California to mammalwatch, and offer advice on how to identify small mammals in the field.

Plus Nicole explains why browsing iNaturalist pictures in public can be a fast track to romance.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: a Big Year - a concept well known among birders - sees participants look for as many different species as possible within a geographic boundary (in this case California). Venkat and Nicole's Big Year report is here (there are many more California reports here). Meanwhile Charles's epic 2019 Big Mammal Day report from Tanzania is well worth a read!

A report from Charles's Royle Safaris' trip to Ghana will eventually arrive here.

The ethical mammalwatching cartoons Jon mentioned are here.

Cover art: Venkat & Nicole

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 to legendary mammal guide Sid Francis from his home in Sichuan.

Sid runs through a career as geographically diverse as it is professionally. After studying agriculture in the UK he worked as - among other things - a shepherd in the Falkland Islands shepherd and a school teacher in Denmark before moving to China and becoming a wildlife guide.

We talk about how much China - and the public's interest in wildlife there - has changed over the past few years.

Sid describes the current mammalwatching scene in Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces, both packed with a set of mouthwatering mammals.

And in a world exclusive we learn that mammalwatchers are almost 'normal' ... at least compared to some birders!

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: You can contact Sid at chengduuk@hotmail.com or through his website https://sichuanbirding.cloudaccess.net/.

There are dozens or reports from Sichuan and Qinghai on mammalwatching's China page https://www.mammalwatching.com/gd_place/china/

Charles and Jon spoke about their trip to Sax-Zim Bog: a report is here.

There are several reviews of thermal scopes at the bottom of the mammalwatching gear page.

Cover art: Sid Francis.

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.