Rockjumper Wildlife Tours

03/09/2020

PHOTO OF THE DAY! . Leopard (Panthera pardus), certainly one of the most beautiful big cats you will ever encounter. The distinctive open rosette pattern, stretched across the tawny coat, help to break the shape of this stealthy, ambush predator. Solitary by nature, the ability to remain undetected is important, both in hunting and avoiding conflict with other species. Like all true felids, the Leopard has protractile claws which are kept within a protective sheath when the foot is relaxed, only allowing the claws to be used when necessary for extra grip when grappling prey or climbing trees. Mainly nocturnal, they can be encountered during the early morning, with much activity on the ground, only making use of a tree to escape mortal danger, hoist a carcass from direct competition with scavengers or to rest out of the reach of biting insects during the heat of the day. Let us design the tour that best suites you to see these incredible mammals in Africa. This image was take by Tour Leader Greg de Klerk in Kruger National Park.



https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/customized-private-tours/

02/04/2020

The Common Wombat is one of three extant species of Wombat, and are widespread in the cooler part of southern and eastern Australia, including Tasmania. They are solitary marsupials that each have an established range where they live, feed and dig a tunnel system that they will use for their whole lifespan. They forage mostly at night for native grasses and other plant materials. A single joey is produced every two years, and will remain in the pouch for five months but isn't independent until 18 months of age.

This photo was taken by Dennis Braddy
Find his portfolio here: https://dmbraddy.myportfolio.com/

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

31/03/2020

The Verreaux's Sifaka is a primate in the lemur family that is endemic to Madagascar. They are found in a variety of habitats including rainforests, dry deciduous forests, and dry spiny forests. They live in small troops that forage for leaves in the morning and late afternoon, allowing them to rest during the hottest part of the day. Primarily arboreal, they move through the trees with remarkable leaps using their long tail balance. However, when on the ground their only means of movement is hopping!

This photo was taken by David Hoddinott

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

27/03/2020

The Lesser Kudu is a species of antelope found in East Africa in dry, flat, heavily forested regions. They are mainly active at night and seek shelter in dense thickets after sunrise. A pure browser, they feed on bushes, trees, and herbs but will take flowers and fruit if available. Although females are gregarious, males are solitary and births can happen at any time of the year. They are shy and wary and will stand motionless when alarmed to confirm danger before making multiple leaps, up to 2 meters high, in an attempt to escape.

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

24/03/2020

Wied's Black-tufted-ear Marmoset is a New World primate found in eastern Brazil. They are highly social and communicate through individual calls and gestures. Unlike other marmosets, they are matriarchal and live in groups of 4-5 females and 2-3 males, and only the dominant female is allowed to mate. They forage in the middle and lower canopy for sap, fruit, nectar, seeds, and insects, often in the company of Golden-headed Lion Tamarins.

This photo was taken in Brazil by Dennis Braddy
See his portfolio here: https://dmbraddy.myportfolio.com/

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

20/03/2020

The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo or the Forester Kangaroo. Although not as well known as the Red Kangaroo, they are encountered more often due to their adaptability to living in a variety of habitats, including near cities. However, their preferred habitats are open grasslands and wet areas, including coastal areas, woodlands, and tropical forests. Highly gregarious, they exist in small groups with a dominant hierarchy. Smaller groups will join together to graze and rest during the middle of the day. Females raise young alone and joeys are highly reliant on their mothers until weaned. As with other kangaroos, females can freeze the development of an embryo during times of drought and poor food sources.

This photo of a mother and joey was taken by Glen Valentine

To learn more about our available wildlife tours visit:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

17/03/2020

The stunning Serval is a species of wild cat native to Africa, where it is widespread in the sub-Saharan countries excluding rainforest regions. They are known for being the cat species with the longest legs relative to their body size. They are solitary animals that have large home ranges and little interaction with each other except during mating season. Mostly carnivorous, they feed upon rodents, small birds, frogs, and reptiles. Their strong sense of hearing is vital in locating their prey, which they stalk slowly before pouncing to incapacitate it.

This photo was taken in Tanzania by Nigel Redman

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at:
www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

13/03/2020

The Cotton-top Tamarin is a small New World monkey that has a restricted range in north-western Colombia where, due to habitat loss and deforestation, they survive in fragmented parks and reserves. They are social primates that live in family groups that fluctuate in size but have a clear dominance hierarchy with a breeding pair at the head. Their diet consists mostly of fruit and insects, and they are important seed dispersers in their tropical ecosystem. They are diurnal and spend the day traveling and foraging in groups, always vigilant for potential predators such as raptors, cats, and snakes.

This photo was taken by Forrest Rowland

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

10/03/2020

The largest indigenous canid in Africa, the African Wild Dog once occurred throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, but today their population and range have been greatly reduced. These highly social animals live in permanent packs consisting of adults and yearling pups. They differ from other species in that males remain in the natal pack while females disperse. One of the only primarily diurnal African large predators, they are specialized pack hunters of medium-sized antelope that rely mostly on chasing their prey to exhaustion. Depending on the prey, they have a very high hunting success rate, although they often lose their successful kills to other predators such as lions and hyenas.

This photo was taken in South Africa by Greg de Klerk

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

06/03/2020

Endemic to the Indian subcontinent, the Nilgai is the largest Asian Antelope. They are sexually dimorphic, with females and juveniles being tawny brown and males having a bluish-grey coat that has earned them the nickname blue bull. They prefer areas with short bushes and scattered trees in scrub forests and grassy plains, where they eat woody plants, grasses, and herbs. Although they may appear tame, they are timid and cautious and will gallop away at the first sign of danger. They were introduced to Texas in the US in the 1920s and 1930s, and a feral population of around 15,000 is found in South Texas today.

This photo was taken in India by Stuart Elsom

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

03/03/2020

The Galapagos Sea Lion exclusively breeds on the Galapagos Islands and the Isla de Plata of Ecuador. Fairly social and numerous, they are a common sight as they sunbathe on sandy shores or glide through the surf. They are quite vocal, with adult males emitting loud repeated barks. Although the females and juveniles don’t produce the same repetitive bark, a mother sea lion recognizes her pup’s distinct bark from birth and will easily pinpoint it in a crowd. On land, they form colonies where dominant males fight to win control of a harem and non-dominate males congregate peacefully in bachelor colonies. Breeding takes place from May to January, with extensive care required by the pups from their mothers, which means there are dependent pups in colonies year-round.

This photo was taken by Forrest Rowland

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

26/02/2020

One of the longest-living vertebrates, the Galapagos Tortoise is native to seven of the Galapagos Islands and can live for over 100 years in the wild. Their numbers declined drastically after the 16th-century due to overexploitation, habitat loss, and the introduction of non-native animals. Their shell size and shapes vary according to the population, with those on islands with humid highlands being larger with domed shells and short necks, and those on islands with dry lowlands being smaller with saddleback shells and long necks. They are ectothermic and bask for a few hours at dawn to absorb the sun's heat before they actively forage for the rest of the day on grasses, leaves, berries, and cacti.

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations

Photo by: Dušan Brinkhuizen

21/02/2020

Until recently, the Nepal Gray Langur was considered a subspecies of the Northern Plains Gray Langur. A 2019 study used molecular and morphological data to consider them a separate species. They are endemic to the Himalayan region, from central Nepal to Tibet, as well as areas of Bhutan, India, and Pakistan. They occur in a wide variety of habitats and are one of the few species that live in temperate instead of tropical regions. Although they are considered folivorous, their diet can vary based on food availability, and are known to eat insects and moss in addition to leaves. Their social hierarchies are complex, with several different types of groups possible. The ranks of females in a group is determined by age and health, with the healthy sexually mature females ranking highest, while male relationships are more turbulent, and rank is determined by fighting and harassing until a male is displaced.

Learn more about our available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

This photo was taken in Nepal by David Hoddinott

18/02/2020

Southern Elephant Seals are the larger of the two elephant seal species, and spend most of their time in the open ocean, except when they breed on shores in the south Atlantic and the south Indian Ocean. They are named for the trunk-like nose males develop during sexual maturity. Dominant males fiercely defend harems of females that can reach sizes of 120-150 individuals. They were historically hunted to very low numbers due to their blubber being used to render oil; however, once commercial hunting ceased, their population rebounded.

Learn more about available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

Photo taken is of a pup by Holly Faithfull

17/02/2020

Be sure to check out our latest Image of the Month.

This time, we feature the weird and wonderful South American (Brazilian) Tapir!

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-february-2020/

With that bizarre nose and body shape, Tapirs are instantly recognizable. They have a prehistoric look to them and indeed have been around for 55

14/02/2020

The appropriately named Giant Anteater is the largest of the anteater species and ranges from Honduras to northern Argentina. Unlike other anteaters, they are terrestrial and walk with their claws curled up into their feet to keep them sharp. Their formidable claws are not only used to dig into ant mounds but can be used to defend them against predators such as Jaguars. They use their acute sense of smell to find ant or termite nests, which they then feed on with their long sticky tongue. On average, they spend one-minute feeding at a certain nest and can visit up to 200 nests a day!

Learn more about available wildlife tours at: www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/

Picture taken by Glen Valentine

We were very lucky to have such knowledgeable guides, Shadow had the ability to place us in the right spot at the right time when other guides were still thinking about it. It was nice just to sit and observe the interactions. Great tour, the mix of participants also worked well. Many eyes help spot...

11/02/2020

One of the largest living species of lemur, Indri, are found in small pockets of protected forest along the eastern coast of Madagascar. They are herbivorous and arboreal, and unlike other lemur species, have a rudimentary tail. They live in small groups consisting of a mated male and female and their maturing offspring. Their loud, distinctive call has many legends associated with it in Malagasy culture. Indri are critically endangered due to habitat destruction, fragmentation, and hunting. Unfortunately, they have not been successfully breeding or kept in captivity.

See Indri and the other unique mammals of Madagascar on our Madagascar - Wildlife of a Magical Island 2020 tour!

Learn more by visiting http://bit.ly/wildlife-mad-2020

Picture taken by Daniel Danckwerts

07/02/2020

The second-largest canid in South America, the Culpeo Fox, ranges from Ecuador to Peru to the southern regions of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. They prefer the western slope of the Andes, where open country and deciduous forest mix. Although they roam alone, mated pairs stay together for about five months, fiercely guarding their den and teaching their pups to hunt. Opportunistic predators, they feed on everything from native fruits to mammals. They also became significant predators of the European Hare when it was introduced to Chile in 1915, which control the population growth of this invasive species and also allowed them to spread from the Andean Foothills across the Patagonian plain.

Culpeo Foxes are one of the targets on our Argentina - Valdés Peninsula Extension 2020 which can be linked with Chile - Pumas and Patagonian Wildlife 2020!

Learn more at: http://bit.ly/argentina-ext-2020

Photo taken in Argentina by Glen Valentine

04/02/2020

The majestic Snow Leopard is the true "king of the mountains" found in steep and rocky mountain terrains in Central Asia. In the summer, they usually live above the tree line at altitudes of 2,700 to 6,000 meters, but in the winter, they are found in forests at altitudes around 1,200 to 2,000 meters. Their spotted white-gray coat helps them to blend in perfectly with their surroundings. They are solitary animals and opportunistic hunters that prey on a variety of animals such as Himalayan Blue Sheep, Himalayan Tahr, Mountain Ibex, marmots, hares, game birds, and voles. As their natural prey has become more scarce, snow leopards have taken to hunting domestic livestock for survival; this sadly leads to retaliatory killing from farmers. Listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, hunting, habitat loss, poaching, and climate change remain the biggest threats to these beautiful big cats.

Our India - Ladakh Snow Leopard Expedition II 2020 offers the perfect opportunity to observe Snow Leopards and other local specialties in the wild at Hemis National Park.
Learn more at: http://bit.ly/ind-snow-2020

28/10/2019

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our latest Image of the Month.

This time, we feature the magnifient 'tuskers' of Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater!

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-october-2019/

Photo by Rainer Summers

Traveling naturalists the world over subscribe to one simple truth: if you could only visit one place on the African continent, it should be Tanzania.

08/10/2019

We have just completed our Wildlife of the Amazon & Pantanal and it has been a great success. Starting off in the Amazon we enjoyed the chance for several close encounters with Lowland Tapirs. Other highlights there included Giant Otters, Tayra, White-lipped Peccary, several species of primate, Spotted Paca and we even managed to identify 5 species of bat! Heading on to the Pantanal, the drier parts abounded with mammal species, with top sightings including more Lowland Tapirs, an incredible encounter with a Southern Tamanuda and a stunning sighting of an Ocelot. Other highlights in this area included Capybara, Red Brocket, Brown Brocket and Marsh Deer, Crab-eating Raccon, Crab-eating Fox, South American Coati and more primates. The most eagerly anticipated portion of the trip was our boat rides along the Cuiaba River and it did not disappoint as we had prolonged viewing of 9 different Jaguars. Add to all this more than 300 species of birds, some great herping (including both Green and Yellow Anacondas), great food, accomodations and a wonderful group, and it really was a trip to remember.

17/09/2019

Have you seen our latest Image of the Month yet? Be sure to subscribe so you never miss another.

This month, we featured one of the toughest animals around, the Honey Badger!

Read about it here: https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-sep-2019/

Photo by Markus Lilje

Much has been written about the Honey Badger over the years, and most of us are familiar with the name, but how many of us have been fortunate enough to

16/08/2019

Have you seen our latest Image of the Month yet? This time, we feature the fantastic Striped Hyena!

You can find it by following the link below.

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-aug-2019/

Photo by David Hoddinott

Of all the countries in the world, few can compete with India when it comes to sheer sensory overload. In cities, the bustling streets dazzle with endless

18/07/2019

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our latest Image of the Month!

This time, we feature the special Chimpanzee.

Photo by Daniel Danckwerts

Uganda is justly famous for being one of the finest places on the planet to view the magnificent and critically endangered Mountain Gorilla; however, they

19/06/2019

Is there any other animal quite as iconic as the Giraffe?

Check out our latest Image of the Month to learn more about this fascinating creature!

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-june-2019/

Photo by Glen Valentine

When it comes to African mammals, there are few who would disagree that the impressive Giraffe ranks as one of the most extraordinary. For many of us, we

27/05/2019

Join us as we enjoy the incredible mammal viewing opportunities that Botswana holds in 2020.

Find out more here: https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/tours/best-of-botswana-victoria-falls-wildlife-safari-2019-2

Photo - Playing Cheetah cubs by Glen Valentine.

16/05/2019

We have just released our latest Image of the Month. This time, we feature the fantastic Red Panda!

Check it out using the link below.

Photo courtesy of Ansar Khan

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/project/image-of-the-month-may-2019/

With that unforgettable face, rusty red body and long, bushy and striped tail, everybody knows the Red Panda. But what, exactly, is a Red Panda? First

26/04/2019

Get up close and personal with the powerhouse of the Pantanal, Jaguar.

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/destinations/brazil-wildlife-tours

Photo by Rob Williams

16/04/2019

Be sure to check out our latest Image of the Month!

This time, we feature the elusive Puma.

Photo by Pete Ferrera

That intense stare is instantly recognizable. Puma, Cougar or Mountain Lion, call it what you will, Felis concolor is a

05/04/2019

There's no place that can quite hold a match to Tanzania's natural wealth. The Ngorongoro & Serengeti offer wildlife viewing opportunities unlike any other, and we still have space for you to join us here later this year!

https://www.rockjumperwildlife.com/wildlife-tours/tours/north-tanzania-ultimate-ngorongoro-serengetti-2

Photo - Spotted Hyaena by Adam Riley

Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, African Buffalo, African Elephant, Spotted Hyena, Maasai Giraffe, Serval, Hippopotamus, Black Rhinoceros, Bat-eared Fox, Kongoni, Topi, Bohor Reedbuck, Kirk’s Dik-dik, Plains Zebra, Greater Kudu, Roan Antelope, Eland, Oribi, Greater and Lesser Flamingo, Kori Bustard, Grey C...