Looking for the ultimate trip? See rare animals in their habitats
Here are seven of the most sought-after wildlife encounters on Earth, along with bespoke accommodations
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The thrill of spotting rare animals in their natural habitats – where they can hunt, climb or swim beyond the confines of a zoo or aquarium – is drawing travellers like never before.
Fuelled by the safaris and adventure tours that accounted for more than a third of luxury globetrotting revenue in 2021, the global wildlife travel market is expected to grow by 7 per cent a year until 2030, when it will reach nearly US$300 billion in value, according to San Francisco-based Grand View Research.
The guests joining these trips are seeking to understand the local culture, get a sense of adventure and explore nature in less-crowded environments, Grand View’s analysts note.
From day trips to month-long excursions, the luxurious guided tours that follow highlight seven of the most sought-after wildlife encounters on Earth.
Bengal tigers in Bandhavgarh National Park, India
“Tyger tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night”: William Blake’s evocative verse celebrates the Indian subcontinent’s endangered Bengal tigers, which now number fewer than 3,000 in the wild. As one of the largest felines on Earth, these beasts weigh about 75 times as much as the average housecat, and prey not on Meow Mix but on water buffalo, wild boar, deer and, occasionally, people.
Central India’s Bandhavgarh National Park is home to the highest density of Bengal tigers in the world, and in turn the highest density of wildlife resorts. Among the most highly regarded is the opulent Oberoi Vanyavilas, which offers full-day guided tiger safaris in 4x4s that conclude with sunset views and Champagne atop a 52-foot observation tower.
Black rhinos in Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa
Once the most numerous of all rhino species — and still the heftiest, with adult males weighing up to 3 tonnes — the black rhino is now critically endangered, with about 4,200 estimated to roam eastern and central Africa. The good news: Thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers have nearly doubled over the past decade.
As well as being instrumental to this work, South Africa’s Tswalu Kalahari private game reserve gives guests the opportunity to tag and microchip young rhinos in the wild. Available from April to September, the experience involves joining the Tswalu ground crew in harmlessly notching a rhino’s ear, inserting a microchip, and monitoring body temperature and breathing while the animal is anaesthetized. Guests then hover overhead in a helicopter to watch the rhino awake and lumber into the Kalahari bush.
Spirit bears in the Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia
With fewer than 400 members of this black-bear subspecies estimated to inhabit coastal B.C. and Alaska, the spirit bear is already among the rarest of large land mammals. Rarer still are the 10 per cent that sport cream-coloured coats, a trait that Indigenous people deem sacred.
Lodges based in and around the 6.4-million-hectare Great Bear Rainforest offer wildlife excursions, with a notably versatile approach being offered by the M/V Pacific Yellowfin. The luxuriously refitted former U.S. military vessel takes guests on a five-night Great Bear Rainforest Safari when the beasts gather to feed on migrating salmon in late summer and early fall. A member of Canada’s “Magnificent 7 Luxury Wilderness Lodges” partnership, the Yellowfin provides a plush home base for daily small-boat excursions that focus on bear-tracking while kayaking through remote fjords and visiting historic First Nations cultural sites.
Mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Often weighing more than 500 pounds, the world’s second-largest primate is not only powerful and fascinatingly human-like, but also vanishingly rare, with about a thousand estimated to dwell in the jungles of central Africa.
Managed by the Wilderness Collection, a Gorillas and Savannah safari splits its six-day itinerary between two luxurious camps. While the first offers upscale guided game drives in Akagera National Park, it is the three days spent at Wilderness Bisate in Volcanoes National Park that gives guests an hourlong visit with the mountain gorillas living near the grave of world-renowned primatologist Dian Fossey.
Great white sharks off Seal Island, South Africa
The largest great whites on record have been as long as a railway car and heavier than an adult rhinoceros, with some attacking swimmers and divers, and others assailing, and even sinking, boats much larger than themselves.
Great whites are impressive enough underwater, but just off the coast of South Africa they literally leap into view. Seal Island is home to thousands of Cape fur seals, which the sharks hunt by suddenly launching themselves out of the water. This awesome spectacle can be part of the 12-day Winelands, Whales and Wildlife trip with South Africa’s high-end tour operator &BEYOND, with shark cage diving available as an optional add-on.
Komodo dragons in Komodo National Park, Indonesia
The world’s largest lizard is up to three metres long, can outweigh an adult human, and kills its prey — deer, wild pigs and, occasionally, us — with shark-like teeth and deadly venom. The dragon’s namesake national park, located on its namesake island in the middle of Indonesia, provides mandatory interpretive guide services so that visitors can a) find the lizards and b) survive the trip.
Delaware-based Kensington Tours, meanwhile, offers a 14-day Bali, Flores & Komodo Dragons tour that combines activities such as cycling, spa visits and whitewater rafting with exclusive opportunities to observe and photograph Komodo dragons in their natural jungle habitat.
Beluga whales in the Seal River estuary, Manitoba
With its gregarious nature, modest size and beautiful white body, it’s no wonder the endangered beluga is one of the most popular marine mammals in aquariums and on the whale-watching tours out of Churchill, Man., that crowd Hudson’s Bay in summer.
To take the experience to the next level, another Magnificent 7 Luxury Wilderness Lodges member, Churchill Wild, offers a seven-night Birds, Bears & Belugas safari out of its plushly appointed Seal River Heritage Lodge.
During this Canadian Signature Experience, guests view polar bears and other Arctic wildlife on foot and on ATVs, and use Zodiacs to interact with beluga whales near the mouth of the Seal River estuary, where they congregate in the thousands during July and August.
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