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ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2015

Discussion in 'Quizzes, Competitions & Games' started by ThylacineAlive, 31 Dec 2014.

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  1. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Well here we go again! 2014's challenge thread (pheasants) went a lot better than 2013's (penguins), so why not keep the fun going for all of those who want to play, but don't live in the UK!

    This year's theme- Rodents! Members of the order Rodentia are found on every continent except Antarctica so I feel this is a good, solid group to work from. They're usually well represented in captivity but not to the point where someone could visit one zoo and more or less instantly win.

    Rule are the same as last year:
    1. You have to actually see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
    2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
    3. You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically the species has to be seen as Joe Public would;
    4. Any severely limited opening or private collections don't count for this challenge. Controversial I know, but see previous point and I didn't think it fair to include a handful of days these collections might be open to the public as this might logistically disadvantage a large number of people;
    5. Pet stores and shops also don't count. Let's keep the exotic pet trade out of this, plus animals are often too vaguely displayed here to know whether something is a domestic or wild species.
    6. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
    7. Only one subspecies per species can be counted. If you see a subspecies that's controversial (i.e. is believed to be in need of a split) just ask about it in here and I'll decide on a case-by-case basis;
    8. Domestics do not count, the animals must be in a non-domesticated form. You can count a species that's been domesticated just as long as the animal you're looking at isn't (i.e. non-domesticated varieties of House Mouse and Brown Rat count);
    9. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity under all the conditions listed above;
    10. Except for the unlikely event that someone gets to see all the species potentially see-able by 12/31/15 the winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most at that date.

    As always, thanks to Shorts for the majority of the rules and for the challenge idea in general! And congrats/thanks to TLD for winning last year's challenge and coming up with the idea for this years!

    Now get out there, have fun, and good luck!:)

    Apologies to anyone who lives in a country/continent/region where you're either unable or at a disability to compete (i.e. probably New Zealand)!

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
    Last edited: 31 Dec 2014
  2. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Congrats TLD and Rodents is a nice challenge although I had been hoping for Parrots. And New Zealand based people are always in a dissadvantage unless you pick ratites.
     
  3. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Parrots was thought about. Though it wasn't picked largely due to the fact that there are places such as Loro Parque which could pretty much guarantee someone's win just with one visit and because I wanted this year's to be mammals since the past two years have been birds.

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  4. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Good choice TA (via TLD), as long as you don't pop into Bronx's Mouse House! :D

    Should be much better for Australians, although there are just a handful of exotic rodents displayed here compared with Europe and North America (but a not insignificant number of natives if you travel around a bit). Anyone in NZ is screwed again though!
     
  5. cloudedleopard

    cloudedleopard Well-Known Member

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    Rodents-
    Chinchilla (Bronx)
    Acouchi (Bronx)
    Agouti
    Some sort of ground squirrel
     
  6. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Which species of Acouchy?
    Which species of Agouti, and where?
    And you'll have to ID the squirrel and which collection you saw it in.
     
  7. cloudedleopard

    cloudedleopard Well-Known Member

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    Oops, I put 2013 sightings in this thread by mistake. Sorry TLD :)
    If you see an animal in 2013 for example and put it under the 2014 thread, does it count?
     
  8. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    No, as that challenge was regarding Galliformes seen in 2014 - not rodents seen in 2013.

    Considering this is a 2015 challenge it doesn't count for this year either :p
     
  9. GerbenElzinga

    GerbenElzinga Well-Known Member

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    Canadian Porcupine (Antwerp Zoo, 02-01-15)
    Coypu (Antwerp Zoo, 02-01-15)
    South African Springhare (Antwerp Zoo, 02-01-15)

    Year Total: 3
     
  10. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    No Australian water and pouched rats in Antwerp?
     
  11. GerbenElzinga

    GerbenElzinga Well-Known Member

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    They probably were there, I've seen the signs, but sadly couldn't spot them.
     
  12. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    On my last visit ( Oct. 2014 ) I saw the Australian water rats but missed also the Gambia pouched rats. Does somebody know if the Aperea wild cavys are still kept at Antwerp ? I've seen them on previous visits but in Oct. 2014 I missed this species also.
     
    Last edited: 8 Jan 2015
  13. GerbenElzinga

    GerbenElzinga Well-Known Member

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    I'll ask one of the zookeepers for you. I didn't see them there this year, so I think they're gone.
     
  14. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    They are in Planckendael in the area of the tamarins
     
  15. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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  16. GerbenElzinga

    GerbenElzinga Well-Known Member

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    According to my contact, there are some Greater Guinea Pigs behind the scenes in Antwerp.
     
  17. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    As said, I saw them a few years ago at Antwrp Zoo ( see picture http://www.zoochat.com/35/wild-cavy-308560/?highlight=cavy ) but didn't know if they were still there ( Zootierliste still mention them ) or if they had left the collection.
    BTW for such a large collection Antwerp has a very poor rodent-collection !
     
  18. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    And it seems I was mistaken as Planckendael has Cavia magna and not aperea.
     
  19. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    I think I'll give this challenge a go, although I'm not sure how well I can do from Australia. Here are my first two species:

    1. Spinifex Hopping Mouse (Notomys alexis) - Healesville Sanctuary
    2. Australian Water Rat (Hydromys chrysogaster) - Healesville Sanctuary
     
  20. korhoen

    korhoen Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I'd also like to participate!:D

    1) Capybara (Burgers' Zoo)
    2) Rock squirrel (Burgers' Zoo)
    3) Hispid cotton rat (Burgers' Zoo)
    4) Cactus mouse (Burgers' Zoo)

    Only the Merriam's kangaroo rat remains invisible at Burgers' sofar but maybe I'll be lucky some next time...:)
     
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