Noctourism is a growing travel trend – and while many travellers head to dark sky places for stargazing experiences, others yearn to watch nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife.
In heading out after dark, you can catch some incredible animals and natural spectacles. Here are 10 of the best wildlife noctourism destinations.
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Best wildlife noctourism destinations
Tasmania, Australia
Head to Narawntapu, Tasmania’s ‘Serengeti’, to watch grazing Forester kangaroos, Bennett’s wallabies and pademelons; Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary or Devils@Cradle for quolls and Tasmanian devils; and Bicheno to see little penguins come ashore.
Zambia
Take late-evening drives in South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi national parks to spot leopards and lions, servals and civets, grazing hippos, bushbabies, and four-toed elephant shrews.
Poland
Nocturnal tours here use thermal imaging to find bears, wolves, bisons, wild cats and Eurasian lynxes in and around Bieszczady National Park in south-east Poland.
Sri Lanka
Night visits around national parks such as Udawalawe, Wilpattu, Yala and Lunugamvehera can yield sightings of slender loris, pangolins, leopards, jungle cats, rusty-spotted cats and fishing cats, civets and spot-bellied eagle owls.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is home to nearly 5 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, so its nocturnal wildlife is rife. Visit Monteverde Cloud Forest for kinkajous, tree frogs and vipers, and Tortuguero National Park for nesting turtles.
Finland
Hides in the north-eastern region offer overnight opportunities for close sightings of brown bears, plus occasional wolves and even wolverines.
Madagascar
A good proportion of the Red Island’s endemic wildlife is nocturnal. Look for mouse and sportive lemurs, comet moths, tree frogs, leaf-tailed geckos, tenrecs and the unusual-looking aye-aye.
Sabah, Malaysian Borneo
Across Deramakot Forest Reserve, Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary and Danum Valley Conservation Area, spot Sunda clouded leopards, flying squirrels, slow loris, tarsiers, colugos and binturongs.
Scotland
Heated hides are the settings for evening sessions to watch badgers and pine martens at close range. You might also see tawny owls, woodcocks, red squirrels, and red and roe deer.
Pantanal, Brazil
Watch for eyeshine from caimans on night drives in the tropical wetland, when you could also enjoy sightings of ocelots, jaguars, armadillos, coatis and southern tamanduas – a kind of tree-climbing anteater.
