What are the real chances
of seeing wildlife?

We calculate sighting probabilities from millions of real observations

22,807 Species tracked
277 National parks
18.2M+ Observations analyzed
114,532 Probability calculations

Where the data comes from

Every number on Where Wildlife comes from real observations made by real people — birdwatchers, biologists, park rangers, and nature lovers who record what they see in the wild.

All this data is aggregated by GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) — the world's largest open biodiversity data portal, with over 2.6 billion records from institutions and citizen scientists across 200 countries.

How we show it

For each species in each park, we estimate your chance of seeing it from real GBIF observations: how often it's recorded relative to its whole group (birds, mammals, reptiles…), calibrated against known sighting rates so the % reflects what you'd actually experience. Each species gets a probability bar showing your chances at a glance:

SIGHTING PROBABILITY Share of citizen-science records from the park that report this species
<5%
Rare
5–15%
With luck
15–40%
Possible
40–70%
Likely
>70%
Very likely

When to look

Probabilities change throughout the year. We show you the best months for each species so you can plan your visit:

📅 Monthly Probability Humpback Whale
64%
Jan
54%
Feb
13%
Mar
0%
Apr
0%
May
0%
Jun
51%
Jul
79%
Aug
93%
Sep
89%
Oct
48%
Nov
14%
Dec

Best months: Aug–Oct (93% peak in September)

We also show you the best hours of the day to spot each species — so you know whether to wake up early or head out at dusk:

☀️ When They're Spotted ☀️ Diurnal
☀️ 🌙 🌙 12am6am12pm6pm12am

Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

All together in a species card

Every species gets its own card with photo, conservation status, activity pattern, and probability — so you know exactly what to expect:

EN Endemic
Baird's Tapir
☀️ Diurnal Mammal
Tapirus bairdii
63% · Likely
Conservation status
Activity pattern
Taxon group
Sighting probability

Where Wildlife Score

Each park gets a 0–5 star score based on three things:

4.4 ★★★★★ ★★★★★ Excellent

Click each category on a real park page to see the full breakdown. Here's what's inside:

🦜
Biodiversity How rich is the wildlife?
4.5 ★★★★★ ★★★★★
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds
661
🐒 Mammals
208
🦎 Reptiles
122
🐸 Amphibians
77
1068 Total Species
37 Threatened 66 Endemic
🔭
Sighting How likely to see animals?
4.4 ★★★★★ ★★★★★
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
58%
📊
Coverage (267 species at ≥5% of 1068 in the inventory)
25%
🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (6 bird, 4 mammal, 2 reptile)
81%
🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
163
🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
30
High-prob species (>40%)
22
🧭
Experience What's the visit like?
2.0 ★★★★★ ★★★★★
☀️ Climate 4 comfortable months
Low
👥 Tourists ~103K visitors/yr
Good
🗺️ Accessibility Boat & Trek
Low
🥾 Trails Challenging
Low
🎫 Entry fee $15 USD · Guide req.
Low