Whether it’s in a South American cloud forest or a suburban alley, spotting native creatures is a wonderful way to really enter a place: An animal often seems to embody an entire landscape. It’s not easy defining the “greatest” wildlife destinations for the ecotourist. Kamchatka or Kodiak Island, with their gargantuan brown bears? How about the Galapagos, with its unique — and world-shatteringly influential, given Darwin’s investigations — endemic species? Everyone has his own list, but, in terms of diversity and visibility of wildlife, the nature enthusiast could do worse than the following destinations.
Kruger National Park
Africa is home to some of the largest and most famous wildlife preserves in the world, such as the Serengeti, Selous and Okavango Delta. Kruger National Park in eastern South Africa surely belongs in the top ranks. Sprawling more than 7,000 square miles along the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, Kruger links with other preserves in those countries to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. Its varied ecosystems – from mopane woodlands and acacia savannas to open grasslands and riverine forests – support a staggering array of animals: Kruger serves as home for 147 mammals, 507 birds and 114 reptiles. Big game like lions, elephants, painted hunting dogs and buffalo get a lot of the attention, but equally impressive are lone baobab trees, white-winged terns nabbing insects on the fly and a savanna hare at full speed.
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Encompassing Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks as well as surrounding national forests, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is nearly 30,000 square miles of Northern Rocky Mountain wilderness rich in wildlife. Its roster of animal species compares to any African game park, and the scale of the landscape offers a rare opportunity to witness fully functioning, large-scale ecosystem dynamics. Yellowstone National Park, the world’s oldest, is particularly fertile for wildlife-viewing, given the tolerance most of its creatures display toward people and the openness of the country: rolling sagebrush hills, grassland flats and burned woods are widespread. Grizzly and black bears, gray wolves, pumas, bison, elk, moose, mule deer, wolverine, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat are only some of the larger mammal species.
Great Barrier Reef
The world’s most extensive mosaic of coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef off the northeastern coast of Australia is unquestionably one of the grand wildlife destinations in the world – especially for those willing to strap on snorkel or scuba gear. Consisting of nearly 3,000 individual reefs along with hundreds of islands, cays and sandbars in the Coral Sea, the Great Barrier Reef harbors hundreds of species of corals — not to mention 5,000 to 8,000 kinds of mollusks, over 1,300 species of crustaceans and fish ranging from little wrasse to whale sharks. Up to 1.7 million seabirds nest within the reef’s boundaries. Six species of sea turtles use the reef for foraging and nesting, and estuarine crocodiles roam through on occasion.
Ranthambore National Park
Considering its geographic massiveness and ecological variety, it’s no surprise some of the world’s most critical wildlife reserves lie in Asia. India’s Ranthambore National Park is surely one of the standouts, not least because it’s one of the last places anywhere that you have a decent chance of spotting a wild tiger. Dry forest cloaking rugged hills and ravines of the Aravali and Vindhya highlands shelters stunning Bengal tigers, along with herds of sambar, troops of langur monkeys, prowling jackals and galumphing sloth bears. While on safari here, you’ll also appreciate the ruins of a medieval fort in the rocky woods. The dry season is a good time for wildlife-watching, given the bareness of the deciduous forests.
The Pantanal
One of the world’s largest wetlands, the Pantanal is a vast, fertile conglomerate of seasonally flooded grasslands, savannas, forest groves and marshes occupying a large basin along the Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay borders. Big predators like jaguars, anacondas and caimans crown the food chain, and birdwatchers have the opportunity to spot some superlative species, such as the world’s biggest parrot, the hyacinth macaw, and the massive jabiru stork. Odd-looking but endearing mammals like giant anteaters and maned wolves also roam the country. Four reserves in the region constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pantanal Conservation Area.
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