Animals Around the World
An interactive wildlife map of 1,214 species across 157 countries: where each animal lives, the parks to see it in, the best months to go and how to see it ethically.
Search an animal and the map highlights every country where you can realistically see it, or pick a destination and get its full wildlife list. Each entry shows the national parks to see it in, a month-by-month sighting chance, its IUCN Red List status and practical how-to-see advice.
Free, no account. Use the ethics filter to hide encounters with welfare problems, such as riding and shows.
How it works
Pick your direction
Two modes: “I’m looking for an animal” highlights every country where that species lives, while “I have a destination” lists everything you can see there, grouped by mammals, birds, reptiles, marine life, insects and amphibians.
Filter to what matters
Narrow by animal type, conservation status, how you want to observe (safari, trekking, snorkeling, diving, observation hide) or flight time from home. Toggle iconic-only for the species a destination is known for, or endemic-only for animals found nowhere else.
Open a country
Each animal card shows the parks and reserves to see it in, a 12-month colour bar with sighting chances, danger level, IUCN status and one practical sentence on how to actually see it. Flight and hotel links sit next to the list when you are ready to plan.
Methodology and data sources
Wildlife maps are usually either range maps (where a species technically exists) or zoo directories. This one answers a different question: where can a traveller realistically see the animal, in which park, and in which month. That requires curation, not scraping.
How the species list is built
Every country’s list is hand-curated in tiers: flagship species first (the animals a destination is known for), then regional depth, then marine life, insects and amphibians. Each entry is written with sighting practicality in mind: a species only makes the list if there is a real place and season where visitors see it. Duplicates are merged and every entry passes through versioned enrichment scripts kept in the repository.
| Data point | Source |
|---|---|
| Species selection and how-to-see advice | Hand-curated per country, in five languages |
| Conservation status | IUCN Red List categories (LC, NT, VU, EN, CR) |
| Best sighting months | Curated 12-month chance gradient per species per country |
| Parks and reserves | 2,223 named national parks and reserves linked to specific species |
| Animal photos | Wikimedia Commons, each with a source link for attribution |
| Map icons | OpenMoji open-source icon set |
Ethics are part of the data
Where an animal encounter has known welfare problems (riding, shows, captive selfies), the entry carries an ethical note, and the ethics filter removes those encounters entirely. Endemic and captive-only species are labelled, so you know whether you are looking at wild viewing or something else.
Wildlife is wildlife: a peak-season month raises your odds, it does not guarantee a sighting. Book licensed guides and keep distance rules; the how-to-see notes tell you what responsible viewing looks like per species.
Who uses this map
- Safari and wildlife-first travellers
Start from the animal: pick gorillas, tigers or whale sharks and compare every country where you can see them, with the specific parks and the months that actually work. - Divers and snorkelers
567 marine entries with observation tags for diving and snorkeling, so you can check whether your trip dates line up with manta, whale or turtle season. - Trip planners with fixed dates
Already booked? Open your destination and sort by the month colour bar: green means good odds, red means wrong season. No more elephant treks in the months elephants stay in the forest. - Travellers who care about welfare
The ethics filter hides encounters with documented welfare problems, and ethical notes explain why a popular activity is flagged.
FAQ
1Is Animals Around the World free?
Yes. The map is free, with no account and no paywall. Open it, search an animal or a country and read the full profile.
2Where does the wildlife data come from?
The species lists, parks and best-month data are hand-curated per country and maintained through versioned scripts. Conservation status follows the IUCN Red List, photos come from Wikimedia Commons with source links, and map icons use the open-source OpenMoji set. There is no automated external feed: every entry was placed deliberately.
3How do I find where to see a specific animal?
Switch to “I’m looking for an animal” and type its name. The map highlights every country where you can realistically see it; open a country for the exact parks, the best months and one practical sentence on how sightings work there.
4What do the month colours mean?
Each animal card has a 12-month bar: deep green is peak sighting season, light green is good, amber is average and red means the wrong season. The gradient is set per species per country, because the same animal peaks in different months in different places.
5Does the map include zoos and captive animals?
The focus is wild viewing. Captive-only entries are labelled as such, and encounters with documented welfare problems (riding, shows, captive selfies) carry an ethical note. Turn on the ethics filter and those entries disappear from your results.
Find your animal
Search the species on your list, see every country where you can spot it and check whether your travel month is green or red.
Open the wildlife map