16 May 2015

Mammal watching in Romania

Hi everyone,

We’re planning a short trip to Romania in a couple of weeks and were wondering if anyone had any mammalwatching tips?

We’ll be based in the Carpathians near Zarnesti for a week and would appreciate any advice about good mammal spots and/or places to see interesting birds and herps (fire salamander?) . We’ll visit one of the bear watching hides but would love to see bears outside of a hide if possible. Wolves would also be great and I guess there’s always a (very remote!) chance of lynx…

Bats, martens, wild cats, chamois… any advice would be much appreciated!

Sarah & Andy Young

Sarah and Andy Young

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8 Comments

  • 16 May 2015
    stevebabbs

    I’ve been a couple of times although the second was a laid back trip with my wife. This is one is probably of more use: http://www.stevebabbs.com/home/trip-reports/2011romania
    We saw fire salamander only after heavy rain.

  • 16 May 2015
    stevebabbs

    Feel free to email, via my website. I’m away in a week so it will be tricky for me to respond after that. Although I didn’t see bear, I get the impression that bumping into them is a reasonable possibility. We spent a lot of time, on the first trip, driving around at night but were unlucky.

  • 16 May 2015
    Sarah Young

    Thanks Steve, just had a look at both trip reports, really helpful. Very impressed that you saw a wild cat! I’ll definitely drop you an e-mail over the next day or two.

  • 16 May 2015
    vdinets

    I’ve found fire salamanders under rocks and logs on grassy lakeshores and riverbanks, usually after rain. Look also for gorgeous blue or green slugs.

    • 19 May 2015
      europesbig5kej

      Best way to see wolf/bear (avoiding baiting sites) is to go with shephers into the mountains where their sheep graze in meadows. Mayeb a bit early in the season? Bear and wolf can’t resist to pop up during night time while the cattle is locked up in enclosures. Fresh cheese and milk a sure too!

  • 17 May 2015
    Jurek

    For fire salamander, essential is not the location but the weather. They live in beech forest, and show almost only in warm and wet evenings, especially after warm rain. Then you see many – once a year or so.

  • 28 May 2015
    Sarah Young

    Thanks everyone for the tips! We’re off on Saturday, so we’ll let you know how we get on.

    Sarah

    PS. Vladimir – our copy of your book just arrived and it’s fantastic! I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to put it together. We’re heading to the US in September, so look forward to putting it to good use then.

    • 29 May 2015
      vdinets

      Thank you! Looking forward to your trip report – I’ve crossed Romania twice, but both times I was in a hurry and never saw any wild mammals 🙁

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