Top 10 winter wildlife activities
While every season has its wildlife spectacles to offer, from courting rituals to new babies and epic migrations, perhaps winter is most special of all. This is when many animals must fight for survival, competing for limited food. Others revel in wintry conditions, finding it easier to hunt or to breed. For the wildlife watcher, winter promises sensational encounters, with vegetation thinner, and many sightings framed elegantly against snowy backdrops.
At the heart of all our winter wildlife activities, from cruises to snorkelling, wilderness camping and safaris on foot, is a commitment to conservation. Whether it be employing expert local guides, contributing financially to habitat protection efforts, or using eco-friendly lodgings, our holidays help you make a positive impact on the animals you’re tracking.
Keep reading to discover our top 10 winter wildlife activities around the world…
At the heart of all our winter wildlife activities, from cruises to snorkelling, wilderness camping and safaris on foot, is a commitment to conservation. Whether it be employing expert local guides, contributing financially to habitat protection efforts, or using eco-friendly lodgings, our holidays help you make a positive impact on the animals you’re tracking.
Keep reading to discover our top 10 winter wildlife activities around the world…
1. Wilderness wonders in Swedish Lapland
Winter wildlife tours in Swedish Lapland are a fab introduction to the activities you can enjoy just south of the Arctic Circle. Husky sledding, wilderness camping, snowshoeing and exploring local Sámi culture and traditions, particularly through their food, are all on the agenda. The wildlife is the main event though: reindeer, moose and red squirrel and a host of birdlife make for amazing photo opportunities.
Our top trips: Northern Lights and wildlife holiday in Swedish Lapland
See all our trips: Sweden wildlife holidays
Read more: Sweden wildlife travel guide
Our top trips: Northern Lights and wildlife holiday in Swedish Lapland
See all our trips: Sweden wildlife holidays
Read more: Sweden wildlife travel guide
2. Track polar bears by buggy in Canada
The thing about tracking polar bears is, you can’t get too close. But in Hudson Bay, Canada, they solve that problem by taking bear safaris in huge, comfortable ATVs that coast across the rugged Arctic tundra. As well as a chance to meet a local musher and go for a dog sled ride, our polar bear tracking tours in Canada are a great way to explore Inuit culture in the region.Our top trip: Churchill polar bear adventure
See all our trips: Bear watching holidays
Read more: Bear watching travel guide
3. Photograph the famous snow monkeys of Japan
The famous snow monkeys of Jigodukani are used to being the centre of attention, and the click of the cameras, as they bask in hot thermal pools. But winter wildlife photography in Japan can also take in red-crowned cranes as they dance and slide elegantly across the snow, and Kushiro National Park, where your lens might track foxes, eagles, deer and martens. With expert local guides leading the way, you can be confident of some superb sightings.Our top trip: Winter wildlife photography tour in Japan
See all our trips: Wildlife photography holidays
Read more: Wildlife photography travel guide
4. Spy elusive snow leopards in Ladakh
Winter is the ideal time for tracking Ladakh’s elusive snow leopards, as these beautiful big cats descend from the high peaks in search of food. With the expertise of knowledgeable local guides in Hemis National Park (and powerful spotting scopes), you may well get a spectacular sighting. Explore Ladakhi culture too, with a night in a family-run homestay, and a visit to a local festival.
Our top trip: Snow leopard searching holiday in Ladakh
See all our trips: Snow leopard tracking holidays
Read more: Snow leopard tracking travel guide
Our top trip: Snow leopard searching holiday in Ladakh
See all our trips: Snow leopard tracking holidays
Read more: Snow leopard tracking travel guide
5. Explore Yellowstone with an ecologist guide
Yellowstone National Park, and its wildlife, need little introduction. But you’ll learn new sides to their stories by exploring the park in the company of an ecologist guide. Discover the ecosystems at play, and how bison, elk and wolves co-exist in this vast volcanic landscape. Plus, through park entry fees and donations to specific projects, our Yellowstone tours directly support conservation.Our top trip: Yellowstone winter wildlife tour
See all our trips: Yellowstone holidays
Read more: Yellowstone travel guide
6. Follow wolves in the French Alps
Your heart will pound with excitement on a wolf tracking tour, spartan accommodation only adding to the sense of adventure as you follow them on foot. Once extinct in France, wolves have made a natural comeback, and now coexist uneasily with rural communities. Our wolf watching trips bring financial benefits to these areas, encouraging tolerance of an often-misunderstood predator.Our top trip: Alpine wolf tracking holiday in France
See all our trips: Wolf tracking holidays
Read more: Wolf tracking travel guide
7. Snow leopards & tigers in India
What’s new pussycat? How about a combined snow leopard and tiger-spotting trip in India. Snow leopard breeding season broadly coincides with the main tiger-watching season in Bandhavgarh National Park, so it makes perfect sense to combine the two. Especially when you’ll be travelling with expert local guides and trackers, on a holiday with a 100 percent success rate when it comes to sightings. If you’re a cat person, you’re really going to love India in winter
Our top trips: India snow leopard and tiger tracking tour
See all our trips: Snow leopard tracking holidays and Tiger safari holidays
Read more: Tiger safaris travel guide and Snow leopards travel guide
Our top trips: India snow leopard and tiger tracking tour
See all our trips: Snow leopard tracking holidays and Tiger safari holidays
Read more: Tiger safaris travel guide and Snow leopards travel guide
8. Seek out rare red pandas in India
Winter is ideal for tracking endangered red pandas in India, when vegetation is thinner and the cute critters are breeding. The main threat they face is habitat loss, and our tours provide an incentive for communities to protect trees. In doing so they help protect not only red pandas but also clouded leopards, bears, pangolins and countless other species in Singalila National Park.Our top trip: Red panda and bird tour in India adventure
See all our trips: India wildlife holidays
Read more: India wildlife travel guide
9. Orcas & Northern Lights in Norway
It doesn’t get much more exciting than this. Hop onto a liveaboard sailing boat and head into the fjords of northern Norway. When your crew spots a pod of orcas, you slip into drysuits and climb over the sides for a brief swim with these incredible, playful creatures. Getting back onboard, you warm up again in an onboard hot tub, then while your crew makes dinner you watch out for the Northern Lights overhead.When to go: December
Our top trip: Norway orca swimming and Northern Lights holiday
See all our trips: Swimming with whales and dolphins holidays
Read more: Swimming with whales and dolphins travel guide
10. Trail the wolves of Yellowstone National Park
Winter is the best season to track wolves as this is their mating season, and also because their dark coats are in stark contrast to the white snow. Even so, wolves are shy creatures, so the assistance of an ecologist guide with decades of experience gives you the best chance of a successful sighting. All encounters are recorded, contributing to wolf research and conservation projects.
Our top trip: Wolf watching in Yellowstone
See all our trips: Yellowstone holidays and Wolf tracking holidays
Read more: Yellowstone travel guide and Wolf tracking travel guide
Our top trip: Wolf watching in Yellowstone
See all our trips: Yellowstone holidays and Wolf tracking holidays
Read more: Yellowstone travel guide and Wolf tracking travel guide
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