Royle Safaris

Royle Safaris specialises in Mammal Watching Holidays with a special emphasis on some of the rarest mammal species in the world. We have pioneered mammalwatching trips for some of animals which were previously deemed impossible. We started with snow leopard tours to India and that has spread to us offering snow leopard watching holidays to Russia, Nepal and China in addition to India. We have also established sustainable eco-tourism in the Russian Far East where we have an incredible success record in seeing Amur leopards and Siberian tigers whilst helping out the local community and in particular with our reforestation project in the Russian Far East (Trees For Tigers).

It is not just big cats we have developed trips for, we have also pioneered the first successful trips for Javan Rhinos, Giant Pandas, Mandrills, Sand Cats and many more, we even have a whole category of wildlife tours which focus on Rare Mammal Watching Holidays.

Many of the mammals we aim to find are very elusive, and so it takes a very dedicated trip, with long hours of staking out waterholes or silently cruising down a river scanning the banks; some trips require all night long spotlighting sessions as the mammals are nocturnal.

We have a range of very specialist tours which focus on nocturnal spotlighting and some which are specialist for marine mammals, whale watching, dolphin watching, bat watching, snow leopards tours, wild dog watching, lynx watching, tiger safaris, big cat safaris, orca watching, bear watching, ape tours, small cat tours, primate holidays, orangutan watching, jaguar safaris, gorilla tracking, wolf watching, red panda watching and marsupial tours.

Whether you are a casual wildlife lovers who want to see a polar bear or elephant in the wild or a hardcore mammalwatcher we have the perfect mammalwatching holiday for you.

Eco-tourism is not just a word to us, it is our guiding principle and foundation of all of our trips and safaris. Everywhere we run trips to we carefully choose accommodation, suppliers and transportation that either minimises its effect on the environment or helps to contribute to its sustainable development. By choosing small, privately owned accommodation where possible we also look to only stay in truly eco-lodges that abide by basic and also pioneering methods of ecological sustainability. Where possible, we make sure that the lodges, hotels, guesthouses, camps and ranches that we use support local projects for the protection of the wildlife and local communities which rely on tourism as the principal source of income.

We are a guiding light for many small independent accommodation providers when it comes to educating the use of solar power and water recycling pumps etc as well as making sure that all the food consumed is produced locally. We also contribute and participate in as many studies that the local researchers are conducting as possible.

Some of the destinations we visit have strong environmental problems which we are also keen to address and educate further. These range from poaching and illegal logging to mining and habitat encroachment. We believe that with the increase in sustainable eco-tourism we can show a would-be or former logger or poacher that there is a better long term financial benefit of having the environment intact and thriving instead the short-term gain from exploitation.

Much of this work is done through our very own non-profit organisation Trees for Tigers which helps to reforest areas of the Russian Far East as well as education local schools about living sustainably with the forests and wildlife within it. But we also contribute to a myriad of other conservation, research, educational and eco-tourism projects around the world.

At the forefront of all of our trips is a conservation of the animals, areas and habitats we visit. Only through the sustained conservation will there be areas of wilderness and animals around to explore and watch in the wild. Our director and founder is a zoologist and nearly all of our guides have history or education in conservation, research, biology or another environmental science. It is this ethos and ethic that gives Royle Safaris’ wildlife watching the edge on other tour operators.

We plan our trips around the best current data, wildlife movements, seasonal trends and conservation models. Being based around the science of wildlife watching and not hospitality we are able to be more flexible and change and move trips around to make the most of new sightings, new hotspots and other quick changes which will drastically increase our chances of seeing wildlife.

We also remain up to date with the latest conservation projects and research and do our best to educate our clients on the importance of conservation and sustainable eco-tourism for the world’s wildlife and wilderness to thrive into the future. Whether that is highlighting the hugely important role of bats in ecosystems as we go looking for bat colonies in caves or if we are showcasing the move from poaching to guiding that many people throughout Africa and Asia have undertaken over the last 10-20 years.

Whether big or small the conservation measures that we see being done around the world are all very important. We are part of and contribute to many projects from small scale habitat restoration in the gardens of eco lodges to international level reintroduction programs for the rarest species in the world.

There has never been a more important period in history for conservation and we go out of our way to highlight and support sustainable conservation projects globally on all of our trips. For anyone who is interested in wildlife conservation and research we encourage you to contact us and we can help to provide as much information and answer questions you may have.