ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2016

Thanks!
The muntjac were labelled as Muntiacus muntjak and looked a little different from standard M. reevesi. I've since been told they're likely to be M. vaginalis. For Gobi argali, I was going off this individual - the ID is consistent with what I've found: do you feel differently about it? Ovis darwini (6)

Also, I'm told what I thought might be johnston's wildebeest are more likely to be juvenile white-beardeds, so that can come off the list too.

 

For ths muntjac, I am really sure they are Reeve's muntjac, not only because the Chinese text on their sign says they are Reeve's muntjac, but also because the red muntjac is a really huge animal compare to the Reeve's muntjac. You can see the muntjac in Beijing is very small, but the red muntjac is much larger than it. For the color, the Reeve's muntjac's color is variable, thus may making you feel they are not very "standard"
This is a red mutjac I photographed in Xishuangbanna, south Yunnan, and you could see what the SW Chinese subspecies looks like.


For the argali, I can't identify the female's subspecies Thus I am just confusing about it The Beijing Zoo used to have two magnificant male Tibetan argali, but I have never seen a typical male Gobi argali in Beijing Zoo.

 

Oh great - thanks for the photo, a very interesting comparison. You're right, it's very different to the animals at the zoo.
We can knock another one off my list then

 

I remember when I got back from the UK and thought I had this one in the bag...

~Thylo

 

Most likely my final two entries for the year.

Mystic Aquarium:
98) Beluga Whale Delphinapterus leucas

Roger Williams Park Zoo:
99) Barbary Sheep Ammotragus lervia

~Thylo

 

I spoke to devilfish in June and even at that point it was obvious the game was up.

I've still got a few to add though

 

The tapirs in the Jaime Duque aren't kabomani, just the common lowland tapir

 

Taking into account that my college teacher in mastozoology worked there making a guide of the paw prints of the mammals there, and he explicicitly said that it was a lowland tapir, i am pretty sure it is a lowland.

Plus all the tapirs in captivity in colombia are tapirs caught in the Llanos, which are not in the range of kabomani

 

Thanks for your response Caviar, and welcome to zoochat - it's always exciting to have new members, especially from more zoologically intriguing parts of the world.

I posted a photo of one of the animals here: Kabomani(??) tapir, March 2016 | ZooChat

As you can tell from the title and subsequent discussion, the ID is far from certain but we can't find anything which explicitly contradicts the ID - out of interest, which features make your college teacher sure that these are lowland tapirs?

For the purposes of this challenge it doesn't make a huge difference to me as I have seen other small dark tapirs in Amazonian zoos in Peru this year (and previously in Brazil), which are reasonably likely to be Kabomani, and as you mention, would be more consistent with locally captured animals (despite the Peruvian zoos being some distance from the established range of these tapirs).

I would object to your second statement, however, that all Colombian tapirs were caught in the Llanos - take Cali's mountain tapirs, for instance, one of which came from the USA and another from the Andes in the far south of the country.

 

Hi devilfish. Did the other adult have a white throat patch? The YouTube videos were a bit blurry.

 

Well i was refering to the lowland tapirs i know about the mountain tapirs in the cali zoo, plus the calf who was recued from farmers this year, particulary speaking Jaime Duque is located in bogota which has a colder climate than the rest of the country and is very close to the Llanos and the tropical dry forest of the andean slopes which is where the majority of the tapirs came from in the country, as it is close to the park i wouldn´t think it might have come from anywhere else, plus the park isn't a well-known zoological park, a theme park yes, but zoological speaking it is not that important for being allowed to capture any animals from the amazon.

And about my teacher i don't really asked him much about this subject, he works with big mammals and the guide he recently published about paw prints was endorsed by the humboldt institute so i trust his word, even if i don't like him that much hehe.

 

I've got some but given that we can't post photos in replies any more it might be a while until I get round to it, sorry.

Hi GP, I didn't see any throat patches at all on either adult. What's on your mind?

But given we were discussing Kabomani (another species) anyway, I assumed you were talking about all native tapir species.

Thanks - do you have any more details on this year's rescued mountain tapir? I hadn't heard about this before.

My understanding is that many species enter Colombian zoos from rescue centres and confiscations - which explains the diversity displayed in many zoos. Parque Jaime Duque has animals from around the country, including the far north, the Amazon and the Andes. Their assumed provenance is therefore a weaker argument in my eyes.

It's good that your teacher is such an authority, but there is a chance that such a newly discovered and little-studied animal might easily (still) be overlooked - after all, it has been for decades. As a scientist and an enthusiast with a thirst for knowledge, I'd like to learn about why these animals wouldn't count rather than following authority blindly.

 

Now there's a question! Focusing on the issue at hand, though, camera trap images show female Kabomani tapir with ear-to-ear whitish throat patches. Assuming the individual in your photo was a male and the other was a female (based on the presence of a calf), that would have clinched it for me. I'm not sure whether the throat patches are a universal, however.

Either way, I'm super jealous of your travels.

 

About the baby at the cali zoo it was rescued from farmers in april last year, and the zoo struggled with keeping him alive, fortunately the baby survived and they are raising him, if i'm not mistaken he is offshow most of the time as they are planning him to mate with the female.

and yes i am aware that if the zoo doesn't make part of an organization who can trade animals, like cali or Ukumari zoo, most animals comes from rescued individuals or from Napoles the private zoo that escobar made, but coming back to Jaime Duque, this zoo isn't much of a zoo , it's a theme park and the animals that live here are in the majority from Napoles with a few rescues and other caught in the wild, i'm wondering which animals are from the North and the Amazon, i'm guessing they are small animals like parrots and tamarins which indeed are victims of illegal trade. but i doubt any tapirs let it be lowland or kabomani come form the amazon, most of them comes from napoles and llanos where encounters with them are more common, after all any injured or confiscated animals in the amazon probably ends up in zoos in leticia or in brasil.

 

Sacramento Zoo (Sacramento, California)
1 - Grevy’s Zebra (Equus grevyi)
2 - Maasai Giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)
3 - Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus)
4 - Yellow-backed Duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor)

Fresno Chaffee Zoo (Fresno, California)
5 - Addax (Addax nasomaculatus)
6 - Asian Tapir (Acrocodia indica)
7 - Cape Blue Duiker (Philantomba monticola)
8 - Cape Greater Kudu (Strepsiceros strepsiceros)
9 - Cape Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis)
10 - Chacoan Peccary (Catagonus wagneri)
11 - Common Eland [Patterson’s Eland] (Taurotragus oryx pattersonianus)
12 - Common Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
13 - Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
14 - Eastern White-bearded Wildebeest (Connochaetes albojubatus)
15 - Plains Zebra [Burchell’s] (Equus quagga burchelli)
16 - Speke’s Gazelle (Gazella spekei)
17 - Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)

Wildlife Safari (Winston, Oregon)
18 - American Bison (Bos bison)
19 - American Wapiti [Roosevelt & Rocky Mountain] (Cervus canadensis roosevelti & C. c. nelsoni)
20 - Barbary Sheep (Ammotragus lervia)
21 - Blackbuck Antelope (Antilope cervicapra)
22 - Common Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
23 - Dybowski Sika (Cervus hortuloram (dyboswkii / mantchuricus ?))
24 - Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)
25 - Kirk’s Dik-Dik (Madoqua kirkii)
26 - Mule Deer [Sitka Black-tailed Deer] (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis)
27 - Nilgai Antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus)
28 - River Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)
29 - Scimitar-horned Oryx (Oryx dammah)

San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Escondido, California)
30 - Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)
31 - Somali Wild Ass (Equus africanus somaliensis)
32 - Greater One-horned / Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
33 - Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli)
34 - Southern Pudu (Pudu puda)
35 - Barbary Stag (Cervus corsicanus)
36 - Southeast Asian Sambar Deer [Malayan Sambar Deer] (Cervus equinus equina) *
37 - Western Barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii) *
39 - Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)
40 - Black Duiker (Cephalophus niger)
41 - Cavendish’s Dik-Dik (Madoqua cavendishii)
42 - Uganda Kob (Kobus kob thomasi)
43 - Eastern Thomson’s Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsoni)
44 - Southern Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri walleri)
45 - Red Lechwe (Kobus leche leche)
46 - Sudan Red-fronted Gazelle (Eudorcas rufifrons rufifrons)
47 - Grant’s Gazelle (Nanger granti)
48 - Lake Victoria Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus defassa)
50 - Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
51 - Northern Giraffe [Rothschild’s Giraffe] (Giraffa camelopardalis)
52 - Fringe-eared Oryx (Oryx callotis)
53 - Gemsbok (Oryx gazella)
54 - Southern Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger)
55 - Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus)
56 - Nyala [Lowland Nyala] (Nyala angasii)
57 - Nile Sitatunga [East African Sitatunga] (Tragelaphus larkenii)
58 - Eastern Bongo [Mountain Bongo] (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci)
59 - Nile Lechwe (Kobus megaceros)
60 - Eastern Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus gigas)
61 - Okapi (Okapia johnstoni)
62 - Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus)
63 - Bontebok (Damaliscus phillipsi)
64 - Steenbokkie (Raphicerus campestris)

* Seen via camera lens

San Diego Zoo (San Diego, California)
65 - Western Pygmy Hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis)
66 - Siberian Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus [sibiricus])
67 - Cuvier’s Gazelle (Gazella cuvieri)
68 - Southern Lesser Kudu (Ammelaphus australis)
69 - Sichuan Takin (Budorcas tibetanus)
70 - Soemmerring’s Gazelle (Nanger soemmerringi)

SeaWorld San Diego (San Diego, California)
71 - Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
72 - Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorynchus)
73 - Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)
74 - Orca (Orcinus orca)
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Here's my year's list, after what was the wonkiest San Diego trip ever...

 

Just to add a little spice to the dying throes of this challenge:
I'm going to spend tomorrow morning completing my list. I have quite a few zoo visits to cover; I don't really have any idea how much my final total will be but I think there is a chance I could overhaul devilfish.
May the odds be ever in your favour!

 

Now that'll make for an interesting win! With the entry coming in last minute I might not be able to tally up the winner and get to posting the new challenge until after the New Year due to work restrictions since I like to discuss the topic with the previous year's winner. I do, however, have an idea which I think could make for a very fun challenge with some very high totals.

~Thylo

 

I made this suggestion on the UK thread, inspired by Shorts' excellent suggestion of counting visits to zoos of a certain age (calling them 'old' being rather impolite).

I'd like a category that's based on characteristics of the institutions themselves, in addition to a species-based game. Whether it's visits to centenarian zoos, or half-centenarian zoos, or maybe some other distinctive feature.

Full disclosure: I may be taking renewed interest in these threads because for the first time I feel I might have a fighting chance to compete!