Zoologist, ecologist, wildlife photographer, and very well-travelled, we've mentioned Josh in a few previous episodes, it was about time we had him on!

Not long back from 5 weeks in the jungles of Sumatra, we delve into his experience, covering the incredible species he saw, the challenges facing both wildlife and conservationists, some good signs of ecotourism, and what would be great to see going forward. And, in true Birdy Bug Pod fashion, we hear about some of the passionate and dedicated people working hard to protect Sumatra's truly invaluable habitats.

From surreal encounters with orangutans and elephants to illegal orchid hunters and falling into a river whilst looking for a crocodilian, this episode really does have it all!

We appreciate that it is quite a long episode (you can use the timestamps to hop about), but with his experiences and absolute wealth of knowledge, we could have easily chatted to Josh for another 3 hours.

We had a fantastic time recording this episode, we really hope you enjoy it.

Check out Josh's Instagram to put pictures to the stories: @phangurha_nature

*Quick note: The Tapanuli Orangutan is the most endangered Great Ape, rather than the most endangered primate.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Josh

00:11:05 Why Sumatra

00:18:48 Ecotourism & habituated orangutans

00:28:01 Deforestation & seeing Sumatran Elephants

00:37:23 Conservation challenges

00:40:04 Illegal orchid hunters

00:47:25 Conservation & more ecotourism

00:51:49 Positive conservation in Sumatra

00:56:04 Seeing wild orangutans

01:01:54 Other wildlife highlights

01:14:03 Losing both cameras

01:16:58 Camera chat

01:17:52 Josh's next trip

01:22:18 Josh's bucket list places & species

01:25:01 Closing

Get in touch:

Please do feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hi! Ping us a message on Instagram:

Steve - @a.bird.in.the.lens

Matthew - @a.bug.in.the.lens

Links:

Learn about the passionate conservationist Pungky - Pungky Nanda Pratama - Sumatra Nature & Biodiversity Conservation (snbcf.org)

Pungky's Instagram @pungkynandapratama

Watch the orangutan grabbing a woman clip here.