Make memories seeing magical wildlife
Passionate about birdwatching? Always dreamed of meeting a tiger? Would love to cuddle a sloth? Here are some of the world’s best places to see incredible wildlife – and why you should really go.
)
Animal encounters can be magical – there’s nothing quite like seeing a creature in its own environment and feeling the sense that you are briefly stepping into their domain.
These encounters can boost our mood. Psychologist Andrea Mechelli, Professor of early intervention in mental health at King’s College London, told Psychology Today: “We know from our research that there is a positive association between encountering wildlife and mental well-being.”
And it’s true that sights most people don’t see in a lifetime, whether it’s a tiger emerging warily from an Indian forest, a penguin waddling cheerfully across Antarctic ice, or a sleeping sloth suspended from a branch in Costa Rica, make us rediscover our childlike wonder.
Here are the best places to spot some of these incredible birds and beasts – including those you’ll definitely see and some you may glimpse if you are in the right place at the right time – another part of what makes it all so exciting.
)
Brown-throated sloth, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
One of the most biodiverse countries on earth, Costa Rica boasts rainforests, cloud forests, mangroves and coastlines, all packed into a small area. Wildlife sightings here are frequent and accessible.
You can see:
1. Sloths (two-toed and three-toed)
Where: Manuel Antonio National Park, Tortuguero, Monteverde
Features and habits: Slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammals with a permanent, faintly smiling expression. They can sleep up to 15 hours a day. Three-toed sloths are smaller with a distinctive facial “mask”.
Fun fact: Algae grow in their fur, giving them a greenish tint and natural camouflage.
2. Howler monkeys
Where: Manuel Antonio, Corcovado, Tortuguero
Features and habits: Large black or brown monkeys with grasping prehensile tails which can act like an extra limb for climbing, balance and support. They’re also known for their deep, roaring calls at dawn and dusk.
Fun fact: Their calls can travel up to 5km, meaning you’ll hear them long before you see them.
3. Scarlet macaws
Where: Central Pacific coast, Carara National Park, Corcovado
Features and habits: With brilliant red, blue and yellow plumage, these birds eat fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers, and nectar, using their strong beaks to crack hard shells. Once endangered locally, they’ve rebounded due to conservation efforts.
Fun fact: Scarlet macaws mate for life and are often seen flying in pairs.
4. Poison dart frogs
Where: Caribbean lowlands, Tortuguero
Features and habits: Tiny, vividly coloured frogs – in bright shades of blue, green, red or yellow – whose toxicity comes from their diet, which includes ants, mites and millipedes.
Fun fact: Indigenous people once used their poison on blow darts.
)
Jaguar, Costa Rica
If you are very lucky you might even see:
1. Jaguar
Where: Corcovado National Park (Osa Peninsula)
These big cats are very elusive due to their secretive, solitary nature, superb camouflage, nocturnal habits, and reliance on dense jungle habitats.
2. Tapir
Where: Corcovado National Park, La Amistad International Park
Mostly nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dawn/dusk), these herbivorous mammals are naturally shy and highly sensitive to the presence of humans.
3. Quetzal
Where: cloud forests such as Monteverde
These brightly coloured birds blend into the thick foliage of the dense, high-altitude cloud forests they inhabit, making them hard to spot unless they’re active during their breeding season (February-June) and you have an expert guide with you.
How can I experience this?:
)
Grizzly bears, Canada
Canada
Canada impresses with its vast wilderness, dramatic seasons, and some of the world’s most iconic megafauna (large animals which weigh around 99lbs or more).
You can see:
1. Grizzly bears
Where: British Columbia, Great Bear Rainforest
Features and habits: With a massive build and a prominent shoulder hump, they’re omnivorous and feed on salmon, berries and roots.
Fun fact: Over short distances they can run faster than a racehorse.
2. Polar bears
Where: Churchill, Manitoba (October-November)
Features and habits: The world’s largest land carnivore, they are excellent swimmers.
Fun fact: Their fur isn’t white – it’s transparent, reflecting light.
3. Moose
Where: Rockies, Algonquin Provincial Park
Features and habits: Long legs, pendulous nose and vast antlers. They’re often seen wading in lakes.
Fun fact: Despite their size, they’re excellent swimmers.
4. Bald eagles
Where: Pacific coast, Vancouver Island
Features and habits: With a white head and tail and huge wingspan, they’re often seen near water.
Fun fact: They mate for life and reuse nests for decades.
)
Bald eagle
If you are very lucky you might even see:
1. Wolves
Where: Banff, Jasper
Wolves require immense territories to hunt and thrive, with a single pack’s range sometimes spanning up to 3,000 square kilometres. This wide dispersal makes individual sightings rare in any one location.
2. Narwhal
Where: Arctic regions only
These are hard to observe, due to their shy nature, specialised adaptations for living in remote and harsh Arctic environments, and a life spent largely under dense sea ice.
3. Wolverine
Where: British Columbia, Alberta
These are extremely elusive thanks to their naturally low population density and solitary and wide-ranging nature.
How can I experience this?:
)
African elephants
On Safari
On an African safari, you’ll find an unmatched density of large mammals and plenty of predator-prey drama.
You can see:
1. African elephant
Where: Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, South Africa
Features and habits: The largest land animals on earth, they are highly intelligent and social herbivores, and live in female-led herds. With fan-shaped ears, they can stand up to 4m (13ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 7 tons.
Fun fact: They can recognise their own reflection in mirrors.
2. Lion
Where: Serengeti, Tanzania; Maasai Mara, Kenya; Kruger, South Africa
Features and habits: A social big cat which lives in prides. They have a powerful build and excellent night vision, essential as that’s when they tend to hunt.
Fun fact: A lion’s roar can be heard 8km away.
3. Leopard
Where: Kruger, South Africa; South Luangwa, Zambia
Features and habits: They are solitary, nocturnal, and tree-climbing.
Fun fact: They’re known for dragging their prey into trees to avoid scavengers.
4. Giraffe
Where: East and Southern African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
Features and habits: These herbivores have very long necks and distinctive patch patterns. Adult males can reach up to 5.5m (18ft) tall.
Fun fact: They only sleep about 30 minutes a day, in short bursts.
If you are very lucky you might even see:
)
Cheetah
1. Cheetah
Where: Serengeti, Tanzania; Maasai Mara, Kenya
Expansion of land for agriculture and settlements has shrunk their available range, making them harder to find and track.
2. Wild dog
Where: Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
They’re endangered, as farmers often try to kill them due to perceived threats to livestock.
3. Black rhino
Where: In protected areas across Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa
A critically endangered species, they prefer dense, protective cover, making them much harder to spot.
How can I experience this?:
)
Kangaroo
Australia
Evolution in isolation has produced wildlife here found nowhere else.
You can see:
1. Kangaroo
Where: Nationwide, even near cities
Features and habits: They have powerful hind legs, a hopping locomotion, and live in groups called mobs. Babies are kept in mothers’ pouches until they are around 10 months old.
Fun fact: Kangaroos can’t walk backwards.
2. Koala
Where: Eastern Australia
Features and habits: They are arboreal (live in trees) and live off a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They also sleep up to 20 hours a day.
Fun fact: Each koala has a unique nose print.
3. Platypus
Where: Eastern rivers and streams
Features and habits: They are egg-laying mammals with a duck-like bill and a beaver-like tail. The males have venomous spurs (spikes) on their legs which they can use to fight rivals. They eat crayfish, shrimps and larvae.
Fun fact: Early Europeans thought they were a hoax.
4. Cassowary
Where: Queensland rainforests
Features and habits: A large, flightless bird with a helmet-like casque, vibrant blue and red bare skin on its neck, and powerful legs with a lethal, dagger-like claw on its inner toe.
Fun fact: They’re considered one of the world’s most dangerous birds.
)
Cassowary
If you are very lucky you might even see:
1. Tasmanian devil
Where: Tasmania only
Nocturnal and naturally shy, their populations have been decimated by disease and habitat loss.
2. Wombat
Where: Tasmania, Victoria
Nocturnal marsupials, they spend most of their lives underground in burrows and have slow metabolisms, making them energy-efficient but hard to spot.
3. Dugong
Where: Northern waters
These marine mammals inhabit murky, shallow coastal waters, stick to dense seagrass meadows (their primary food), migrate seasonally, and are naturally shy, often only surfacing briefly.
How can I experience this?:
)
Bengal tiger
India
India offers extraordinary biodiversity spanning jungles, deserts, mountains and wetlands, plus a deep cultural reverence for animals.
You can see:
1. Bengal tiger
Where: Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh
Features and habits: Solitary, territorial predators who hunt at dusk, dawn or at night, targeting large mammals such as deer or wild boar.
Fun fact: Each tiger’s stripe pattern is unique.
2. Indian peafowl (Peacock)
Where: Nationwide
Features and habits: They have iridescent tail feathers which are used to attract mates, not flight.
Fun fact: India’s national bird.
3. Indian elephant
Where: Kerala, Assam
Features and habits: Indian elephants are generally smaller than their African counterparts and have proportionally smaller, more rounded ears. They spend up to 19 hours a day foraging, consuming as much as 150kg (330lbs) of plant matter, including grasses, bark, roots, and fruit.
Fun fact: Their trunks have more than 40,000 muscles, allowing them to breathe, smell (even water from miles away), drink, and lift food and heavy objects.
4. Sloth bears
Where: Central and southern India
Features and habits: Shaggy black fur, a pale V- or Y-shaped mark on the chest, and a long, flexible snout. Unlike most bears, they have no upper front teeth, allowing them to suck up termites and ants with surprising force, but they also eat fruit, honey and flowers.
Fun fact: Sloth bears are thought to have inspired Baloo in The Jungle Book
If you are very lucky you might even see:
1. Snow leopard
Where: Ladakh
Masters of stealth, they have incredible natural camouflage and live at high altitude.
2. Asiatic lion
Where: Gir Forest
They live in a restricted habitat and only exist in tiny numbers, having been rescued from near extinction.
3. Red panda
Where: Himalayan regions
Solitary and nocturnal, they live in remote, high-altitude cloud forests and face severe habitat loss.
How can I experience this?:
Discover our range of wildlife holidays and safari holidays
Recent articles
Published
)