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2025 Expedition: Help Save Mongolia’s Lost Dinos!

2025 Expedition: Help Save Mongolia’s Lost Dinos!

Odontuya Adiya
March 19, 2025

Sain baina uu? (Hello in English). Spring has finally arrived after we’ve successfully endured another harsh winter. Earlier this month, we celebrated Tsagaan Sar, Mongolia’s biggest winter festival, also known as the Lunar New Year, and welcomed the Year of the Tiger. As the season changes, life is stirring once again—herders are busy welcoming newborn livestock, and wildlife emerging from hibernation is returning to the land.

Now, let’s talk about 🦖 dinosaurs! We have been organizing paleontological expeditions in the Mongolian Gobi Desert for nearly a decade. These tours are co-organized with the Institute of Paleontology under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and are often led by internationally renowned paleontologists. The goal of these tours is not only to support scientific research in Mongolia and beyond but also to engage participants in meaningful contributions to science.

Sneak Peek from Our 2024 Paleontology Expedition in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia

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This time, we want to highlight one of our dinosaur expeditions that not only advances scientific discovery but also plays a crucial role in restoring Mongolia’s lost dinosaurs.

LOST DINOSAURS OF THE GOBI DESERT 2025
📅 Sep 10-24, 2025

Mongolia is home to one of the richest dinosaur fossil deposits in the world. However, since the early 2000s, illegal excavations and fossil poaching have severely impacted its natural history heritage. Many significant specimens have been lost to the black market, removed from both public knowledge and the scientific community. Today, international efforts are underway to repatriate seized fossils and trace their origins back to the Gobi Desert.

The goal of this expedition is to assist paleontologists in discovering and documenting new dinosaur fossils while contributing to global efforts against the illegal fossil trade.

One critical step in this effort is determining exactly where these fossils were originally discovered. By analyzing the unique elemental composition of fossilized bones and surrounding rock formations, researchers can restore lost information about these prehistoric specimens. But to complete their mission, they need 🫵 YOUR help exploring the vast, rugged landscapes of the Gobi.

Whether you’re a student, a researcher, a dino nerd, or you just want to try something new, come help paleontologists access new areas of the Gobi and understand it’s long-extinct dinosaur communities.

Dr. Nic Campione, Trip Leader

MEET THE LEADERS

University of New England paleontologists, Associate Professor Phil Bell and Dr. Nic Campione, are leading this two-week expedition this September for the second consecutive year.

From left: Dr. Nic Campione, Dr. Phil Bell, Flaming Cliffs, Mongolia, 2024.

This will be an unforgettable experience for anyone out there with a love of dinosaurs and a sense of adventure. With this expedition, we’re helping to restore lost locality and geological information for some of the specimens that have been repatriated and also find plenty of new things.

Dr. Phil Bell

MAP & ITINERARY

Day 1 / Sep 10: Arrival in Ulaanbaatar
Day 2: Flight to the Gobi Desert – Travel to Tost Toson Bumbat Mountains
Day 3: Travel to Bugiin Tsav and Ingeny Khovur Basin
Day 4-10: Paleontological surveys in Bugiin Tsav and Ingeny Khovur Basin
Day 11: Travel from Bugiin Tsav to Tost Toson Bumbat Mountains
Day 12: Visit Flaming Cliffs
Day 13: Explore Tugrugiin Shiree & Flaming Cliffs
Day 14: Return to Ulaanbaatar from the Gobi Desert
Day 15 / Sep 24: Departure.

Reserve your seat for the trip of a lifetime—one you'll remember forever! 👆️

QUICK UPDATES ABOUT MONGOLIA

Recently, Mongolia featured in TIME magazine as one of the world’s greatest places of 2025.

The Kazakh man on the cover is our local friend, Dalaikhan—a herder, owner of fast horses, eagle hunter, and founder of the Altai Eagle Festival. A proud father of five and grandfather of nine, Dalaikhan has been warmly welcoming our guests for over a decade to experience the traditional art of Kazakh eagle falconry. Through the Altai Eagle Festival, he brings together local eagle hunters to showcase their skills and passion. Unlike the larger Golden Eagle Festival in Ulgii, this festival is entirely run by the eagle hunters themselves, without the involvement of external businesses or NGOs seeking profit. This grassroots approach ensures the event remains focused on cultural preservation rather than commercialization.