Bialowieza forest

Bialowieza forest, on the border of Belarus and Poland

Bialowieza forest is one of the last true wildernesses in Europe. Covering 3086 square km (1192 square miles) of forest, it was the last refuge of the European Bison. There are currently 4 wolf packs in the Polish section of the Bialowieza forest. A few years ago, a bear found its way into the forest for the first time in decades. There are bear populations within not to far of the forest, which means that in time, bears are likely to repopulate the forest, however, it would be better to move the bears, to accelerate this process.

Here is a clip of a bear which visited the forest in recent years.

This is the perfect kind of place for people to visit. By visiting, you show local people the value of wildlife in the area. More guides and places to stay will be opened, and this will increasingly become the perfect wild island in the middle of the human dominated Europe.

Camargue, France

The Camargue is an area of beautiful wild marshland and lagoons, on the Mediterranean Golfe du Lion. It covers 930 square km (359 square miles). The area has a wide range of wildlife. This includes 400 species of bird, including the greater flamingo of which about 13,000 live here. The other animal that the area is well known for, is the wild white horses that live in the area. There are also black bulls which roam free.

The northern edges of this area are used for agriculture, including the growing of red Camargue rice.

This video concentrates on the wild flamingos which naturally live in this area.

Black forest, Germany

Germanys black forest covers 6009 square km, or 2300 square miles. Historically, this area would have had a great deal of wildlife. Currently red, fallow and roe deer, boar, chamois, beavers and lynx. In recent times, 8 European bison have been reintroduced, though this number must be given a long time to grow, or indeed far more added to the numbers.

In recent years, both wolves and bears have visited this area. Historically, there would have been a significant number of these predators living here. 20 Lynx have been reintroduced in recent years. Lynx are often called the ghost cat, as they are rarely seen. As a result, the odds of finding a lynx in the black forest are currently about as low as is possible, but the lynx population is likely to grow over the years.

Wolves and bears have both visited in the last few years, and I think that it is highly likely that these animals are likely to settle in this region unless there is a constant attempt to keep them extinct, and each new one to move into the area would have to be hunted.

aaa The Highlands, Scotland

The Highlands, Scotland, UK

The highlands of Scotland is an odd place. It has one of the lowest densities of humans, but at the same time the UK has eradicated the majority of predators, and despite being required by European law, has ruled out reintroducing any predators that once lived here.

I would love to see a small number of wolf packs roaming the highlands, to keep the prey on the move.

There is still a wide range of wildlife to spot in the highlands, and it is a beautiful place to visit. The problem is that at the current time, it is mostly not in a natural state. Furthermore, it is unfortunately very hard to regrow the Caledonian forests, as there are so many red deer.

A wide variety of other animals and birds can be spotted in the area. For instance, black grouse, golden eagles, osprey and ptarmigan. Also, you can spot capercaillie, pine martens, squirrels (red ones, of course!) and otters, to name but a few. There have been a small number of reindeer reintroduced (native but locally extinct).

The eastern highlands are largely included in a range of mountains called the Cairngorms which are also a fascinating area to explore

Greenland, ice-sheet and coast

Greenland Ice sheet and coast

Greenland is the worlds largest island which is not a continent. Despite this, the population is between 56,000 and 57,000. As a result of this, there is a great deal of space for wildlife.

Greenland has a range of land based mammals, which is surprisingly large and include musk ox, reindeer (also known as caribou), Mountain caribou (a species of caribou with significant different habitat choices). Other than these, arctic foxes live here, alongside arctic hares.

The apex predators are arctic wolves, where the island hosts a population of around 200 and are usually pure white, and polar bears. There are a few thousand polar bears that live on Greenland.

Along the coast, a variety of whales can be seen. There are thought to be 16 species in the summer, but only 3 species are hardy enough to overwinter in the area. These are the bowhead whale, narwhal and beluga. In summer months the baleen whales which join them include blue whales, humpback whales, fin whales, bowhead whales and grey whales. Instead of upper teeth, the baleen whales have several long, narrow baleen plates, which the whale uses to eat. Toothed whales are characterised by their many small, pointy teeth. They hunt fish, squid or seals and use their teeth to hold on to the food. Opposite the baleen whales, toothed whales only have one blowhole on top of their head. Among the toothed whales, we find sperm whales, dolphins, killer whales, porpoises, narwhals and belugas.

Here is a brief video of some of the wildlife you can encounter on Greenland (if you are lucky)

aaa Swedish lapland

Swedish Lapland, far north of sweden

Sweden’s Lapland is a beautiful area. Lying in the far north of Sweden, like much of Sweden the land is heavily forested. Wolves are rare in Sweden, though this is as a result of over hunting – Europe has said that Sweden needs 170-270 wolves for a healthy population. Sweden is a huge country, which could support far more if they were allowed to naturally control their numbers. Being a country about the size of France, but with far fewer people, stating the country can only support 170 wolves is ridiculous. Bear numbers are higher, and there are thought to be around 2000 wolverines within its border (this was a population I was quoted if we visited).

It should be noted, that, the only difference between here and further south, is the number of wolverines – we did not get this far north, and where we were wolverines are just occasional visitors. The one difference is the reindeer presence. There are around 260,000 reindeer in Sweden, though it should be noted that these are only semi wild.

Sweden’s bear population is going up at the moment, and is currently thought to be around 2800. Generally, it takes some local knowledge to see wild bears, and your best chance is in a bear hide. We have one listed in the hides section of of this website. One of the big advantages of doing this in the northern parts of Sweden is the sunlight lasts more of the night. As bears are largely nocturnal, this allows more time to watch. When I visited the bear hide, it got to dark to see at about 2am but got light enough again at 5am.

Below is a video of the area. As you can see, while there is some wildlife, there is not a great deal. Generally you need a guide to take you out as finding the wildlife is a difficult job. We hope to be adding plenty of links below.

aaa Reindeer migration

Reindeer migration

Reindeer migration essentially allows the reindeer to take advantage of seasonally available food. Typically reindeer are in the habit of migrating seasonally. They are on the move at all times, spending the late spring and summer on the arctic tundra or coast and moving inland to the boreal forests of the taiga for the winter.

aaa Lofoten Islands, Just off the mainland of Norway

These islands are relatively large, covering 1227 square km or 474 square miles. While in the past this island may well have had a permanent population of polar bears, these days, polar bears rarely come this close to Norway,

So what is the wildlife of Lofoten Islands?The Lofoten Islands are home to otters, foxes and whales, as well as moose on the larger islands. We have incredible trips out to see the orcas and humpbacks off the coast of Tromsø and Tromvik in the winter, where travelers spend a week swimming alongside these incredible creatures. Indeed, while whales can be seen from Lofoten islands, one needs a great deal of luck, they are not common enough to have whale watching boats.

Here is a video of still shots taken on Lofoten islands

aaa Malamala reserve, Greater Limpopo transfrontier park – between Sabi sands and the Kruger

Malamala reserve, Limpopo Transfrontier park

Established back in 1927, initially as a hunting reserve, it has been purely with a camera since 1964. Relatively small, only covering 62 square miles, it is sandwiched between the Kruger and the Sabi sands game reserve. As such, the game is incredibly dense.

There most luxury suites in each camp is 10, across all three camps so if every single one is inhabited, a large so called traffic jam would not stop you seeing the wildlife. Unlike in the Kruger itself, you are not restricted to roads, which means often very close encounters., it also make 62 square miles an enormous area to explore with your guide.

Drakensburg mountinas South Africa

The Drakensberg mountains, South Africa

The Drakensberg mountains run for a distance of 700 miles. Despite the fact that the width varies, this is still a huge area. Much of this area will have human encroachment, whether through hiking or business interests which might threaten wildlife more.

The large animals most commonly seen in the Drakensberg are the Eland – a giant antelope, Mountain Reedbuck, Grey Rhebuck and Oribi. Jackal, Genet and Civet are not uncommon. Baboons are found throughout the mountain areas, with Vervet monkeys found at lower altitudes.