Tom Mabbett

Tom has been fascinated by wildlife since childhood and it was at primary school that he set about learning all the British bird species and has been enjoying finding, watching and learning about them ever since. After completing a degree in Biology at Exeter University, Tom travelled extensively around the world in search of wildlife which included a lot of SCUBA diving and special encounters with Whale Sharks, Bull Sharks, Manta Rays and too many birds and mammals to mention!

After working for an environmental charity and at the fantastic WWT Slimbridge reserve as grounds warden, Tom was delighted to join the Naturetrek operations team in March 2013. Since then Tom has enjoyed leading over 50 tours around the world, while also managing the operations of a range of holidays. Whether it is finding Hawfinch in the Forest of Dean, Wallcreepers in the Pyrenees or searching for Jaguars in the Pantanal, any time spent in the field, finding and showing people wildlife is regarded as a real privilege and thrill. The tours Tom has led and manage are varied and range from weekends to the Forest of Dean and Somerset Levels to the wilds of Ardnamurchan in Scotland along with various birding and butterfly focussed European tours in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Albania and Macedonia with dedicated mammal-watching tours in Poland, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden. Big Cats are also a passion and Tom has spent time in the Brazilian Pantanal searching for Jaguars, India tracking Tigers, Chile for Pumas and Borneo in search of Clouded Leopard as well as exploring Guyana’s fabulous rainforests.

In Tom’s spare time he is happiest out in the field on his local patches around the Cotswolds in his home county of Gloucestershire. Tom is lucky to have an area of land he manages as a small nature reserve and a lot of Tom’s time is now spent trying to inspire his children Max and Harry to enjoy the outdoors and our wildlife.