IRL Wildlife Encounters

So last month, my time in Arizona
While I did see many animals at the wildlife park that I never sow before, I did see a good amount in the wild.
The Airbnb I stayed at, the host feeds the wild peccary’s that run through their yard, they call them javelinas.
When I got to the Grand Canyon I sow 2 animals. While driving down a trail, I came across a herd of elk, never seen elk before and this was a surprise, they were easy to miss as they were behind shaded trees and bushes but I least counted 15. Didn’t see a male but plenty of females and fawns.
Later that day I went to a tower, while walking there, a gray fox runs across the trail and up a tree. Too quick for a photo.
 
I did a month long study abroad wildlife management program in Tanzania where we spent a week on safaris in different national parks. Didn't really see much in most of the parks other than herbivores like elephants and giraffes sometimes but mostly a whole lot of gazelles and antelope, but I to got see a lot of lions and spotted hyenas in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro National Park very up close, one serval very up close, and banded mongooses right in our campsite in the Serengeti and from a distance (couldn't see clearly without binoculars or camera that could zoom more than my iphone ) one side-striped jackal, a pair of African Golden Wolves, a leopard on a tree, and a cheetah hiding in the grass. In Manyara Ranch, we saw several black-backed jackals fairly close-up, but they were too quick to get photos, so I only got a blurry pic of one at a distance. No luck seeing any carnivores in Manyara National Park itself and in Tarangire National Park we only saw lions extremely far away, even hard to see in binoculars and no other carnivores.

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Serval



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2 extremely far away African Golden Woves (one laying next to antelope, other's location is obvious) taken with a blurry 10x zoomed with my iphone.)

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Same wolves in previous pic.

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African Golden Wolves again

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Spotted Hyena

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Baby Spotted Hyenas

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Banded Mongoose (one of many that was with a full mob of them that lived at our camp site)

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Blurry iphone pic of leopard in tree

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Lionness
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Blurry iphone pic of cheetah hiding in grass right under that tree




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Male lion

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Extremely blurry black-backed jackal pic taken with iphone

Not pictured: Side-striped jackal. Moved too quickly away and was too far away to get a pic with my iphone. Unfortunately my camera had broken shortly before this trip, so I only had my iphone to use for photos on the entire trip. This also means that animals that look close were really that close to are vehicle which was super amazing.

I didn't see any African Wild Dogs in Tanzania because they're like critically endangered there and were even extinct in the country at one point until re-introduced, but I did also do a week long internship a year before in Botswana and I saw African Wild Dogs there. It was really cool because they jumped in front of our safari jeep chasing an antelope, so I saw them really up-close. The encounter only lasted seconds though and then both they and the antelope disappeared (there were only 2 dogs in the pack) into the bushes and we couldn't find them again, so I got no photos unfortunately.

Now my wishlist to go back to Africa is to go to Ethiopia because the only African canid (besides foxes) that I haven't seen in the wild is the Ethiopian Wolf. I would also love to have a longer and/or close encounter with African Golden Wolves, Side-striped Jackal, Black-backed Jackals, and African Wild Dogs as well. Fortunately, all those species are also found in Ethiopia although my best chance of seeing African Wild Dogs again is probably going back to Botswana as they are also very rare in Ethiopia. I'm also very happy I saw Spotted Hyena but would love to see Striped Hyena, Aardwolf, and Brown Hyena as well, however even though Ethiopia has them, Aardwolf are nocturnal and shy and Striped Hyenas are also nocturnal, not sure if shy. Ethiopia doesn't have brown hyenas, but Botswana does and I'm not sure how hard it is to see them, but that may be another good reason to go back to Botswana besides having another chance at seeing African Painted Dogs.
 
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I did a month long study abroad wildlife management program in Tanzania where we spent a week on safaris in different national parks. Didn't really see much in most of the parks other than herbivores like elephants and giraffes sometimes but mostly a whole lot of gazelles and antelope, but I to got see a lot of lions and spotted hyenas in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro National Park very up close, one serval very up close, and banded mongooses right in our campsite in the Serengeti and from a distance (couldn't see clearly without binoculars or camera that could zoom more than my iphone ) one side-striped jackal, a pair of African Golden Wolves, a leopard on a tree, and a cheetah hiding in the grass. In Manyara Ranch, we saw several black-backed jackals fairly close-up, but they were too quick to get photos, so I only got a blurry pic of one at a distance. No luck seeing any carnivores in Manyara National Park itself and in Tarangire National Park we only saw lions extremely far away, even hard to see in binoculars and no other carnivores.

453323553_10220289775914925_3589654016144161969_n.jpg


Serval



453013104_10220289753994377_458806418341641829_n.jpg

2 extremely far away African Golden Woves (one laying next to antelope, other's location is obvious) taken with a blurry 10x zoomed with my iphone.)

453156325_10220289753834373_4378167877677275276_n.jpg

Same wolves in previous pic.

453187033_10220289749594267_7665944410734931683_n.jpg

African Golden Wolves again

453194750_10220289468427238_3238234134319698986_n.jpg

Spotted Hyena

453279682_10220289243261609_7780008324179087532_n.jpg


Baby Spotted Hyenas

453097673_10220289337583967_575728495541970947_n.jpg

Banded Mongoose (one of many that was with a full mob of them that lived at our camp site)

453256648_10220289318823498_2219219134136182387_n.jpg

Blurry iphone pic of leopard in tree

453241852_10220289244501640_2723408322261448587_n.jpg

Lionness
453241778_10220289214500890_1358098345694617709_n.jpg

Blurry iphone pic of cheetah hiding in grass right under that tree




453457872_10220289217460964_552036198576671271_n.jpg

Male lion

451745907_10220232930493825_2491034926149299062_n.jpg

Extremely blurry black-backed jackal pic taken with iphone

Not pictured: Side-striped jackal. Moved too quickly away and was too far away to get a pic with my iphone. Unfortunately my camera had broken shortly before this trip, so I only had my iphone to use for photos on the entire trip. This also means that animals that look close were really that close to are vehicle which was super amazing.

I didn't see any African Wild Dogs in Tanzania because they're like critically endangered there and were even extinct in the country at one point until re-introduced, but I did also do a week long internship a year before in Botswana and I saw African Wild Dogs there. It was really cool because they jumped in front of our safari jeep chasing an antelope, so I saw them really up-close. The encounter only lasted seconds though and then both they and the antelope disappeared (there were only 2 dogs in the pack) into the bushes and we couldn't find them again, so I got no photos unfortunately.

Now my wishlist to go back to Africa is to go to Ethiopia because the only African canid (besides foxes) that I haven't seen in the wild is the Ethiopian Wolf. I would also love to have a longer and/or close encounter with African Golden Wolves, Side-striped Jackal, Black-backed Jackals, and African Wild Dogs as well. Fortunately, all those species are also found in Ethiopia although my best chance of seeing African Wild Dogs again is probably going back to Botswana as they are also very rare in Ethiopia. I'm also very happy I saw Spotted Hyena but would love to see Striped Hyena, Aardwolf, and Brown Hyena as well, however even though Ethiopia has them, Aardwolf are nocturnal and shy and Striped Hyenas are also nocturnal, not sure if shy. Ethiopia doesn't have brown hyenas, but Botswana does and I'm not sure how hard it is to see them, but that may be another good reason to go back to Botswana besides having another chance at seeing African Painted Dogs.
Oh wow, one of my dreams is to go on Safari! I doubt that will happen in this life though...
...maybe in the 1000 years of peace that are coming, haha. I love wild dogs, but I would be traumatized if I saw them chasing a poor antelope... Its a risk you take going on safari. Aside from the animals hunting each other I think safaris are beautiful. I watch livestreams of safaris once in a while. As for species I'd love to see (assuming I get my unrealistic goal of making it to Africa!):
  • Side-striped Jackal (they're rare and I think prettiest of the Jackals so its awesome you saw one!)
  • Reticulated Giraffe
  • Masai Giraffe
  • Angolan Giraffe
  • Impala
  • Fringe-eared Oryx
  • African Wild Dog
  • Bat-eared Fox
  • Brown Hyena
  • Aardwolf
  • Banded Mongoose
  • Dwarf Mongoose
  • Waterbuck
  • Nyala
  • Any Crane
  • Wildebeest
  • Cape Buffalo
  • Ethiopian Wolf
  • Cape Fox
  • African Golden Wolf
  • All the Zebras!
Striped Hyena I'd also love to see, but I want to go to Israel which has them if you are extremely lucky! Israel also has the desert subspecies of Red Fox and Wolf which would be interesting to see!
Other animals I'd travel to see (which are not African)
  • Dhole
  • Red Wolf
  • Musk Ox
  • Arctic Fox
  • Nilgai
  • Demoiselle Crane (idk how realistic)
  • etc. etc.
Backyard animals I have yet to see that I want to. Just Opossum!

Back on topic to the thread!
We have lots of squirrels around here and although I'm not sure I think I see some black ones! I'm sure they are at least darker in color than the normal ones. One time this last summer, I saw deer drinking out of the river on my way to work!
 
On my visit to Stuttgart last weekend, I've seen a very special wild animal in one of the public parks. A couple of amazon parrots!
Yes, exactly. Wild amazon parrots in Central Europe. They originate from two escaped yellow headed amazons and one escaped blue-fronted amazon in the early 80s. Surprisingly for everyone they survived the winters and even reproduced, now there are around 50 to 60 parrots. And, interestingly, the two species hybridized and produced fertile offsprings.



 
Early this month/last month I had a two night camping trip to Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, the main purpose of which was, as usual, to look for the population of chuditch (also known as western quoll) that had been introduced there a decade prior. On both my previous trips to the park I had seen quolls but only got the most fleeting of glimpses (not even getting a chance for a photo), so this time around I really really wanted to come away with some good views and hopefully also a picture or two. I was absolutely unprepared for the absolute quollfest the two nights ended up being:

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Just by walking around the large campground at Wilpena Pound (previously I'd stayed at smaller and more remote campgrounds further out in the park) I managed to spot more than ten chuditch on the first night and another seven the next, getting some fantastic views in the process. They seem to be positively thriving there at the moment, which is a sign of just how successful the rewilding program in the Flinders Ranges has been - the species had previously been extinct in the state for over a century. Safe to say I'm already planning additional trips to the campground later this year for more encounters with my namesake animal!

Just a few additional pics from the trip - yellow-footed rock-wallaby, sand goanna, central bearded dragon & emu:

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Early this month/last month I had a two night camping trip to Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, the main purpose of which was, as usual, to look for the population of chuditch (also known as western quoll) that had been introduced there a decade prior. On both my previous trips to the park I had seen quolls but only got the most fleeting of glimpses (not even getting a chance for a photo), so this time around I really really wanted to come away with some good views and hopefully also a picture or two. I was absolutely unprepared for the absolute quollfest the two nights ended up being:

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Just by walking around the large campground at Wilpena Pound (previously I'd stayed at smaller and more remote campgrounds further out in the park) I managed to spot more than ten chuditch on the first night and another seven the next, getting some fantastic views in the process. They seem to be positively thriving there at the moment, which is a sign of just how successful the rewilding program in the Flinders Ranges has been - the species had previously been extinct in the state for over a century. Safe to say I'm already planning additional trips to the campground later this year for more encounters with my namesake animal!

Just a few additional pics from the trip - yellow-footed rock-wallaby, sand goanna, central bearded dragon & emu:

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Flinders range is where I'm going to on my trip! :D I shouldn't look, but I looked xD Fingers crossed and I hope to see the rock wallabies as well! :)
 
Flinders range is where I'm going to on my trip! :D I shouldn't look, but I looked xD Fingers crossed and I hope to see the rock wallabies as well! :)
Exciting! You should have little trouble see rock-wallabies as long as you're in the right spots, within Brachina Gorge they're basically unmissable for example. Their populations in the Flinders have rebounded spectacularly since the days they were driven to near extinction.
 
Exciting! You should have little trouble see rock-wallabies as long as you're in the right spots, within Brachina Gorge they're basically unmissable for example. Their populations in the Flinders have rebounded spectacularly since the days they were driven to near extinction.
It's a guided tour, and we are visiting Wilpena pound, Blinman and Parachilna gorge, we might also visit Brachina, idk, we might :D
 
A Bald Eagle being chased by a crow just flew over my house. It happened too fast for me to get a pic. Only the second one I’ve ever seen in the wild.
Yo, I saw a bald eagle Wednesday. I was headed past Reliant Stadium and saw it flying over head. Same with me: it's only the 2nd one I've seen in the wild.
I thought it was a white-tailed eagle or something, but then I saw the solid white head
 
Yo, I saw a bald eagle Wednesday. I was headed past Reliant Stadium and saw it flying over head. Same with me: it's only the 2nd one I've seen in the wild.
I thought it was a white-tailed eagle or something, but then I saw the solid white head
Had no idea you guys had White Tailed Eagles as well
 
Yo, I saw a bald eagle Wednesday. I was headed past Reliant Stadium and saw it flying over head. Same with me: it's only the 2nd one I've seen in the wild.
I thought it was a white-tailed eagle or something, but then I saw the solid white head
Similar situation here. I thought it was a red tailed hawk as I have a nesting pair that live on my land but then I saw the white tail and then the white head.
 
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