Tag Archives: Wild Planet

Wild Planet Adventures Offers Insights into Animal ‘Valentines’ – Courtship Behaviors

Nature’s Great Neckers: Male Giraffes will establish dominance by swinging their heads and necks at each other, followed by a longer period where they will caress one another with their necks. The best place to see giraffes is Zambia, says Wild Planet.
Nature’s Great Neckers: Male Giraffes will establish dominance by swinging their heads and necks at each other, followed by a longer period where they will caress one another with their necks. The best place to see giraffes is Zambia, says Wild Planet.

SAUSALITO, CA – “All the world loves a lover,” mused American thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  That being said, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, here’s a week’s worth of romantic and beautiful courtship rituals of the wild kingdom.

Wild Planet Adventures, the recognized experts in viewing wildlife through habitat-sustaining practices, call these rituals “animal Valentines.” Following are founder Josh Cohen’s personal favorites.

1) Gibbons: Nature’s Great Crooners: For these tree-top swingers, marital harmony begins with sonic harmony. Each morning, males and females of these Asian apes sing love duets to each other as the mist burns off the rainforest. The duet is repeated in such precise sequences that it often takes newlyweds many months to learn to make beautiful music together. In a duet between a male and a female, the female’s part is a long, rising series of notes that end in a fast “twitter”. The male’s song is less complicated. He grunts, squeals and whistles in delight.

And the best place to see Gibbons in the wild: From an exotic treehouse in Thailand. Wild Planet Adventures suggested trip: Thailand – Ultimate Wildlife 15-Day EcoTour (also 11 days) starting at $4,498 per person double.

2) Tarsiers – Tiny Tenors: These tiny, uber-cute, wide-eyed primates also use sound as part of their courtship rituals, but these are performed by the male. During courting, potential partners often chase each other around while making distinctive soft sounds. The male, if aroused, will escalate his sound within five minutes of merely looking at an attractive female. The female, if receptive, will display her genitals invitingly; however, if she is not sufficiently wooed, she’ll emit an antagonistic call, often followed by biting and pushing the male away. Ironically, when mating begins, they maintain complete silence. Once bonded, Tarsiers are extremely vocal and make loud shrieks with their partners. In fact, they call in harmony, with each partner making its own distinct sounds.

Best place to see Tarsiers in the wild: Borneo.  Wild Planet Adventures arranges special nocturnal expeditions to see both Tarsiers and Slow Loris on Borneo – Weird & Wonderful Wildlife 12-Day EcoTour at $6,496 per person double.

3) Resplendent Quetzel: Beauty with Equality: Perhaps the most beautiful of all birds, the resplendent quetzal sports gorgeous two-foot-long green tail feathers, a red breast, blue sides and green crown. In February, just in time for Valentine’s Day, males begin an elaborate courtship ritual to entice females. In a dazzling display of color and sensuality, they circle in the sky with their long tails dancing behind them, then dive down to the cloud forest treetops in hopes of attracting females. By March, once a mate has been selected and the mating process is underway, males can easily be seen sharing nesting duties with females, alternating guarding the eggs every half hour, including sitting on them.

Best places to see Quetzals: Monteverde Cloudforest on Wild Planet Adventures Costa Rica – Ultimate Wildlife 14-Day EcoTour (also 10.5 and 9-day tours) starting at $4,998 per person double. La’ Amistad National Park, in Panama is another on Panama – Ultimate Wildlife 10-Day EcoTour (also available in 8 days) starting at $3,998 per person double.

4) Tigress – Saving Herself for True Love? Female tigers distinguish between true love and “friends with benefits”. Normally tigers take as long as a full day to develop mutual confidence, through ritualized purring, playing and moving their tails left to right with spring in their steps.  Once the tigress has developed confidence, she will roll over on her back in a playful manner, rub her face, and move closer to the male tiger, who will mount her. Their climax is signaled by a loud roar. Then the tigress turns her head and takes a swipe at the tiger with her foreleg. The tiger instinctively takes evasive action. The tigress then rolls over her back to facilitate insemination. However, if the tiger is a transient male just passing through the area and its dominance is not clearly established, the tigress will treat him like a “friend with benefits”, engaging in “false mating”, but not rolling over on her back.

Best places to see Tigers in the wild: Kanha National Park, India. Wild Planet Adventures suggested trip is India – Ultimate Wildlife Safari 19-Day: Leopards, Tigers & Palaces (other itineraries offered) at $7,498 per person double. Bardia National Park in Nepal is another great destination for tiger viewing. Untamed India & Nepal 19-Day Wildlife Safari is the trip to take.

5) Giraffes – Nature’s Great Neckers: Male Giraffes will establish dominance by swinging their heads and necks at each other, followed by a longer period where they will caress one another with their necks and then actually have sex, including reaching climax. Interested females also rub their necks against potential mates as part of their courtship. Recently, researchers also observed adolescent giraffes performing a complicated, prancing, dance-like step that some observers have compared to the fox-trot.  Could giraffes be nature’s greatest romantics?

Best place to see Giraffes in the wild: Zambia.  The trip: Zambia – Ultimate Wildlife 18-Day Safari (also 15, 12 and 10-day programs) at $13,998 per person double and less. Here you can see a journey of giraffes right from your luxury tent, and perhaps view a live birth on a unique walking safari.

6) Waved Albatross – Kissing Fools: The complex and expressive courtship ritual of waved albatross includes extensive kissing and bill-fencing, in which the partners bend, face each other in an exaggerated upright posture, open their bills wide and shut them with a loud clap, often alternating with rapidly clattering their bills or slapping them back and forth. If that isn’t strange enough, they will also bow and circle each another while swaying their heads from side to side in an exaggerated manner.  The newer the pair, the longer and more elaborate the dance.

Best place to see Waved Albatross: Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. The trip: Galapagos – Ultimate Wildlife Cruise – M/Y Eric, Letty and Flamingo at $4,100 per person double.

For detailed itineraries, exciting wildlife photos and video galleries and booking information, visit http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/, call 1-800-990-4376 or email [email protected].

Wild Planet Adventures Receives ‘World’s Best 50 Trips’ Award
In April 2014 the editors of National Geographic Traveler bestowed its fifth “World’s Best 50 Trips” award to Wild Planet Adventures for its “On the Jaguar’s Trail; from the Pantanal to the Amazon” wildlife safari in Brazil. Past awards have recognized their programs in India, Thailand, Panama and Zambia.

The expert wildlife guides of Wild Planet Adventures go the extra mile to explore remote wildlife habitat and study wildlife patterns in destinations not often accessible to the general public. Thanks to the company’s comprehensive itineraries that balance diverse and complex ecosystems and habitats, guests enjoy wildlife and game viewing that is carefully aligned with animals’ seasonal, daily and nocturnal migrations.

Following a philosophy that interacting with nature has the power to transform lives, tours are conducted in Africa, Baja, Belize, Borneo, Brazil, Costa Rica, Galapagos, India, Laos, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Thailand and Zambia. Wild Planet Adventures is recognized by top publications in the travel industry for its itineraries that combine intimate encounters with wildlife and local culture.

 

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Planning a Quest to See Animals in Their Habitat? When You Travel is as Important as Where You Go

Wild Planet's Josh Cohen says November to June are the best months for the Thailand & Laos wildlife ecotour, spanning four national parks and including exclusive ways of bringing guests right to the wildlife.
Wild Planet’s Josh Cohen says November to June are the best months for the Thailand & Laos wildlife ecotour, spanning four national parks and including exclusive ways of bringing guests right to the wildlife.

If you are planning a quest with a goal is to see wildlife, the experts in viewing wildlife through habitat-sustaining practices underscore that when a trip is to be taken is as important as the destination itself.

Josh Cohen, founder of Wild Planet Adventures, outlines the times of year his guests can experience the most intense sightings of the wildlife they travel far to discover.

BORNEO: March to October is the best viewing window for The Ultimate “Weird and Wonderful Wildlife” Safari that combines rainforest hiking and eco-responsible river cruises. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Bornean Gibbon, Macaques, Langurs, Pygmy Elephant, Bearded Pig, over 620 bird species. “Weird and Wonderful” animal sightings may include the color-changing Flying Frog, Flying Lemur and Draco Lizard. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) include Tarsier and Slow Loris (both primates), Marble Cat, Clouded Leopard, Bornean Rhinoceros, Sun Bear, and the Paradise Gliding Tree Snake and Lung-less Frog. This 10-day program is from $5,998 per person, double occupancy (exclusive of domestic flights) for a minimum of four. See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=borneo&trip=weird-wonderful-wildlife-12-day-borneo&tab=1

INDIA & NEPAL: November to April are preferred months for Untamed India & Nepal 19-Day Wildlife Safari that embraces national parks in two countries. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Macaque, Langur and Rhesus Monkeys, Elephants, Rhinoceros, Wild Buffaloes, Muntjac, Chital, Nilgai Bluebuck Antelope, Sambar Deer, Mongoose, Sloth Bear, Striped Hyena, Golden Jackal, Otter, Wild Boar, Tigers, Leopards, reptiles and 450 Bird species. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) include Fishing, Jungle and Desert Cat, Chinkara, Desert Fox and Cobras. The per person double occupancy rate is from $6,998 (minimum six). See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=india&trip=untamed-india-nepal-19-day-wildlife-safari

THAILAND & LAOS: November to June are the best months for Thailand & Laos Ultimate Wildlife 15-Day EcoTour spanning more than four national parks and including exclusive ways of bringing guests right to the wildlife. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include up to 13 primate species, Elephants, Civets, Braking and Sambar Deer, Monitor Lizards and Birds. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) include Tiger, Clouded Leopard, Gaur, Serow, Malaysian Sun and Asiatic Bear, Flying Fox, Giant Porcupine, Slow Loris and Flying Draco Lizard. The per person double rate is from $4,498 (minimum four). See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=thailand&trip=ultimate-wildlife-15-day-eco-tour-thailand&tab=1

COSTA RICA: Think December to May and again July (Veranito season) for the Costa Rica Ultimate Wildlife 14-Day EcoTour spanning 12 distinct ecological zones. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Squirrel Monkeys, Tamandua (Anteater), Kinkajou, Agouti, Dolphins, Tayra, Peccaries (collared and white-lipped), Red-Eyed Tree Frogs, Walking Sticks, Eyelash Pit Viper, Fer-de-lance, Leaf-Cutter Ants, and such birds as Resplendent Quetzals, Scarlet Macaws, Lovely Coatings, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Green Honeycreepers, Roseate Spoonbill, Woodstorks, Crested Caracara, Purple Gallinule, Northern Jacanas, and Great Curassow. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) include Jaguar and other cats, Tapir, Porcupine, Silky Anteater, Grey Fox, Olingo, Paca, Grison, Caiman, Fleishman’s Glass Frogs (see-through), Leatherback Turtles, Green Turtles, Hercules Beetles and more. The per person, double rate (minimum four) is from $4,798. See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=costa-rica&trip=ultimate-wildlife-14-day-eco-tour-costa-rica

PANAMA: December to July are the best months for a Panama Ultimate Wildlife 10-Day EcoTour that combines rain and cloud forest experiences with the sea. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Howler, White-faced Capuchin and Squirrel Monkeys, Three- and Two-toed Sloth, Coatimundi, Bats, Kinkajou, Agouti, Tayra, Peccaries (Collared and White-lipped), Dolphins, Crocodiles, Blue Morpho Butterflies, Basilisk (Jesus Christ lizards), Poison Arrow and Red-eyed Tree Frogs, Walking Sticks, Sea Turtles, Fer-de-Lance, Leaf-cutter Ants and 600 species of birds. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) may include Jaguar and other Cats, Tapir, Porcupine, Silky Anteater, Grey Fox, Olingo, Paca, Grison, Fleishman’s Glass Frogs (see-through), Leatherback and Green Turtles and more. The per person double rate is from $3,998. See http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=panama&trip=ultimate-wildlife-10-day-eco-tour-panama

BRAZIL: The best time for spotting wildlife here is July to October on a program called Jaguar’s Trail: Pantanal to Amazon 15-Day Adventure. Cohen calls this “our most value-packed itinerary” featuring wildlife safaris by jeep, boat and foot in three different regions of the Pantanal and a remote area of the Amazon. Cohen also reports, “We average spotting1.5 jaguars per day, and sometimes as many as 7!” Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Bown Capuchin, Black Howler, Duski Titi, White-Whiskered Spider, Gold & Black and Red-Handed Howler Monkey, Black-Tailed, Silvery and Emilia’s Marmoset, Giant and Neotropical Otter, Black and Spectacled Caiman, Collared and White-Lipped Peccary, Marsh, Red Brocket and Brown Brocket Deer, Brazilian Rabbit, Brazilian Porcupine, Short-Tailed Possum, Jaguar, Brazilian Tapir, South American Coati. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) may include Bare Ear Marmoset, Feline Night and Red-Nosed Bearded Saki Monkey, Emilae’s Marmoset, Harpy Eagle, Ocelot, Puma, Azara’s Agouti, Punare, Colocolo. The per person double rate is from $7,198 (minimum six). See http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=brazil&trip=jaguars-trail-pantanal-amazon-15-day

PERU: March to October are the preferred months for a program called Ultimate Wildlife Amazon & Machu Picchu 13-day Adventure including both Tambopata Biosphere Reserve and the remote Manu Biosphere Reserve. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include Brown Capuchin, Squirrel, Dusty Headed Titi, Red Howler, Spider, Night and Wooly Monkey; Saddleback Tamarin, Macaws in all hues, Toucan, Capybara, Giant River Otter, Tyra, Brown Agouti, Sloth, Pygmy Marmoset, Emperor Tamarin, Monk Saki and Tapir. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) may include Goeldi’s Monkey, Jaguar, Jaguarundi, Puma, Ocelot, Bush Dog, Harpy Eagle, Silky and Giant Anteater. The per person double rate is from $5,498 (minimum four). See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=peru&trip=ultimate-wildlife-amazon-machu-picchu-13-day

ZAMBIA: July to October are preferred months for an Ultimate Wildlife 18-Day Safari in one of Africa’s least crowded and most wildlife-rich destinations. Prolific & Likely wildlife sightings include African Elephant, African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Southern Giraffe, Plains (Burchell’s) Zebra, Roan, Sable, Bushbuck, Common Duiker, Impala, Puku, Greater Kudu, Warthog, Bush Pig, Aardvark, Banded Mongoose, Slender Mongoose, White-Tailed Mongoose, Lion, Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Side-striped Jackal, African Civet, Large-Spotted Genet, Cheetah, Leopard, Wild Dog, Honey Badger, Vervet (Green) Monkey, Yellow Baboon, Rodents, Shrews Reptiles and Birds. Rare or Endangered (possible sightings) include Grysbok, Steenbok, Suni, Tsessebe, Crawshay’s Zebra, Hartebeest, Black Rhino, Aardwolf, Bat-eared Fox, Tree Hyrax, Mongoose (Dwarf, Bushy-Tailed, Selous, Marsh Mongoose, Meller’s) Temminck’s Pangolin, Striped Polecat (Zorilla), Serval, Caracal, African Wild Cat, Small-spotted Genet, Black-Backed Jackal, Chacma Baboon, Samango (Blue) Monkey, Maloney’s Monkey, Night Ape and more. The per person double rate is from $13,998 (exclusive of domestic flights at $2,198 per person). See: http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/destinations/?country=zambia&trip=ultimate-wildlife-18-day-safari-zambia

In April 2014 Wild Planet Adventures received its fifth “Worlds’ 50 Best Trips” award from the editors of National Geographic Traveler for its “On the Jaguar’s Trail; from the Pantanal to the Amazon” wildlife safari in Brazil.

For detailed itineraries and booking information, visit http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/, email [email protected] or call 1.800.990.4376.

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For more travel features, visit:

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