10 August 2021

South Africa mammal watching – molerats and golden moles

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Kyle Finn and a PhD student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. I have been studying Damaraland and common mole-rats for the past 6 years. I am very familiar with a number of sites in Southern Africa to get some of the special mammals we have here.

I have permits to capture molerats and golden moles in most of South Africa. Anyone who wishes to check these hard to see species off their life list can get in touch with me.

As a PhD student my priorities are finishing my studies. But I hope to have more free time towards the end of this year and mid 2022 to plan some trips. One trip I have in mind is to see the fruit bat migration at Kasanga National Park in Zambia.

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10 Comments

  • 10 August 2021
    Keith Barnes

    Hi Kyle,

    Please email me. I would love to chat with you about this.

    Cheers
    Keith

  • 10 August 2021
    Vladimir Dinets

    Welcome to the club! Why didn’t you show up earlier? Four years ago I had to dig for moles in Kirstenbosch with my bare hands 🙁
    Anyway, I’m still missing a lot of golden moles and a few molerats, so I’ll certainly be contacting you the next time I manage to get to your wonderful country.

  • 11 August 2021
    Venkat Sankar

    Welcome to mammal watching, Kyle! Would appreciate if you could email me too (vnsankar123 at gmail.com) – golden moles in particular are one of my top 10 African mammal targets currently. I’m quite keen to get over to South Africa in the next year to try for those and a few other special mammals.

  • 11 August 2021
    mac hunter

    Add me to the list…I have dipped entirely on golden moles and seen only one dead mole-rat.
    And RSA is one of my favorite countries…. mac hunter

    mhunter AT maine.edu

  • 11 August 2021
    Jon Hall

    Hi Kyle – this is very exciting! Thank you so much for letting the world know. I will write to you. I love looking for subterranean rodents and have not seen any of the South Africa species, nor any of your Golden Moles. I am also contemplating a return to SA soon

  • 11 August 2021
    KyleFinn

    Hi guys, I will send an email to everyone just now. Sorry I should have included my email, it’s kyletfinn at gmail. Drop me a message and we can chat about planning trips or one trip.

    Other mammals I can probably provide are bat eared foxes, Cape fox, porcupines, wild cat, serval, caracal (location dependent), zorilla, yellow mongoose, slender mongoose, white tailed mongoose (rare), civets, genet (2 species), oribi, duiker, mountain reedbuck, grey rhebok, pangolin (depending on location), aardwolf, aardvark, and a smattering of rodents and elephant shrews (if I can use Sherman traps).

  • 11 August 2021
    Charles Foley

    You’re offering the chance of seeing Pangolins and Golden moles? You might just have opened Pandora’s box, Kyle. Expect a hefty surge to your email in-tray…. If you can also find a place to see Striped weasel then you’d better put the kettle on, as I’ll be on the next flight.

  • 12 November 2022
    Cindy

    Hi Kyle ,

    I’m planning my trip to South Africa next June/July 2023. I’m a wildlife biologist and every trip I try to get to see wildlife!!! Golden moles are on my high priority list ! Please email me : cindybertran35@gmail.con

    Cindy

  • 15 November 2023
    Esadalla

    Hi Kyle,

    Would appreciate if you could email me too (elias@kasa.org.br)
    I will be in South Africa in January 2024 to try for those and a few other special mammals.

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