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Planet Zoo Species Challenge 2023

Discussion in 'Quizzes, Competitions & Games' started by Leaf Productions, 6 Feb 2023.

  1. Leaf Productions

    Leaf Productions Well-Known Member

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    Hello everyone, I am hoping to start a fun challenge for this year, in line with my history of Planet Zoo, I think it would be fun to see who is able to see the most amount of animals from the game officially as possible.

    For the sake of all, I am including a template below to help you all stay organized:
    Planet Zoo Species Challenge

    This is all for fun. No reward or anything, just a fun way to document what species within a predefined list that you have seen. The list can be found below.

    African Savannah Elephant
    Grizzly Bear
    West African Lion
    Plains Zebra
    Hippopotamus
    Timber Wolf
    Ring Tailed Lemur
    Galapagos Giant Tortoise
    Reticulated Giraffe
    Western Chimpanzee
    Pygmy Hippo
    Komodo Dragon
    Thomson's Gazelle
    African Wild Dog
    Cheetah
    Saltwater Crocodile
    Springbok
    Black Wildebeest
    Lesser Antillean Iguana
    Indian Peafowl
    Boa Constrictor
    Bengal Tiger
    Brazilian Wandering Spider
    Spotted Hyena
    Bactrian Camel
    Green Iguana
    Bornean Orangutan
    Common Ostrich
    Common Warthog
    Lehmann's Poison Frog
    Snow Leopard
    Aldabra Giant Tortoise
    Goliath Birdeater
    Titan Beetle
    Yellow Anaconda
    Indian Rhinoceros
    Okapi
    Indian Elephant
    Gharial
    Pronghorn Antelope
    Aardvark
    Mandrill
    Baird's Tapir
    Himalayan Brown Bear
    Goliath Frog
    Giant Forest Scorpion
    Gemsbok
    African Buffalo
    Red Panda
    Western Lowland Gorilla
    Sable Antelope
    Formosan Black Bear
    Nile Monitor
    Golden Poison Frog
    Bongo
    Bonobo
    Chinese Pangolin
    Giant Tiger Land Snail
    Siberian Tiger
    Greater Flamingo
    Giant Panda
    Nyala
    Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula
    Eastern Brown Snake
    Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion
    Red Ruffed Lemur
    Japanese Macaque
    Amazonian Giant Centipede
    Gila Monster
    Puff Adder
    Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
    Common Death Adder
    American Bison
    Goliath Beetle
    Giant Burrowing Cockroach
    Mexican Red Knee Tarantula
    Polar Bear
    Reindeer
    Arctic Wolf
    Dall Sheep
    Llama
    Jaguar
    Giant Anteater
    Red-Eyed Tree Frog
    Colombian White-Faced Capuchin Monkey
    Red Kangaroo
    Dingo
    Southern Cassowary
    Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard
    Koala
    King Penguin
    Giant Otter
    Grey Seal
    Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman
    Diamondback Terrapin
    European Fallow Deer
    Sun Bear
    Clouded Leopard
    Proboscis Monkey
    Malayan Tapir
    North Sulawesi Babirusa
    Binturong
    Dhole
    Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect
    African Penguin
    Meerkat
    Fennec Fox
    Southern White Rhinoceros
    Sacred Scarab Beetle
    American Alligator
    American Bullfrog
    North American Beaver
    Moose
    California Sea Lion
    Cougar
    Arctic Fox
    Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
    Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur
    Eurasian Lynx
    Alpine Ibex
    European Badger
    Fire Salamander
    Capybara
    Platypus
    Wild Water Buffalo
    Nile Lechwe
    Asian Small-Clawed Otter
    Red-Crowned Crane
    Spectacled Caiman
    Danube Crested Newt
    Przewalski's Horse
    Amur Leopard
    Siamang
    Scimitar-Horned Oryx
    Axolotl
    Raccoon
    Red Fox
    Common Wombat
    Striped Skunk
    Egyptian Fruit Bat
    Red Deer
    Nine-Banded Armadillo
    Maned Wolf
    Emu
    Caracal
    Red-Necked Wallaby
    Striped Hyena
    Blue Wildebeest
    Cloudless Sulphur
    European Peacock
    Menelaus Blue Morpho
    Monarch
    Old World Swallowtail

    For the purposes of making the challenge actually doable (and fun), I have made exceptions for Himalayan Brown Bear (Any Brown Bear Sub), West African Lion (Any Lion), Tiger and more. I am happy to discuss this more as more people join.

    Thank you all for being a fun community, here is a fun game, let's have fun :)
     
  2. ZooElephantMan

    ZooElephantMan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Do species we’ve already seen this year count? Or only species seen starting from today?
     
  3. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Does this follow the basic ZooChat challenge ruleset, or can we see the species in any way (ex. in the wild or at a pet store).
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    There appears to be rather a lot missing from this Challenge - i.e. any sort of rules or even simple guidelines.

    I'm gathering that these species are to be seen in real life, and not just in the game?

    If in real life, can they only be seen in zoos, or in both zoos and wild? Do pet shops count (or, indeed, someone's own pets)? Do they have to be alive?

    And you realise that you are going to have to be collating all the results for the entire year and checking them for accuracy?
     
  5. Leaf Productions

    Leaf Productions Well-Known Member

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    Starting from January 1 2023 :)

    Zoo animals only, aquariums etc.

    And yes Chilidonas, I understand that but I trust the respected members of Zoochat to submit truthful and accurate accounts of their animals. It’s for fun
     
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  6. CrashMegaraptor

    CrashMegaraptor Well-Known Member

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    The only zoo I've been to thus far is Banham Zoo, but I've seen the following...

    1. Ring-Tailed Lemur
    2. Reticulated Giraffe
    3. Cheetah
    4. Bactrian Camel
    5. Snow Leopard
    6. Red Panda
    7. Siberian Tiger
    8. Llama
    9. Red Kangaroo
    10. Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman
    11. African Penguin
    12. Meerkat
    13. California Sea Lion
    14. Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
    15. Black & White Ruffed Lemur
    16. Asian Small-Clawed Otter
    17. Siamang
    18. Axolotl
    19. Maned Wolf
    20. Emu

    Sounds fun, although you'll have to consider the odds the animal list may grow if new packs come out.
     
  7. ZooElephantMan

    ZooElephantMan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    What about species like the Proboscis Monkey, which you didn't give any exceptions for even though they are impossible to see in captivity in the United States?
     
  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I just looked at your "template to help you all stay organized", and you have a section on there for where the animal was seen which is titled "Zoological Facility or Wild"?
     
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  9. StoppableSan

    StoppableSan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    If Bronx was able to get Indian gharial back, I'm sure they can hash something out with the governments of Borneo and Malaysia to bring them back.

    All poor attempts at a joke aside, Leaf did say that "equivalents" would be acceptable with stuff like the Himalayan brown bear (impossible to see in a zoo in the US, so something like a Eurasian brown bear or an ABC Island bear would be acceptable). I have no way of seeing a Chinese pangolin anytime soon unless I go to Prague, which is a highly unlikely for me. HOWEVER - I did see Indian pangolin when I went to the Alipore Zoo in January, so *a* pangolin species (white-bellied in the States) would be acceptable.
     
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I guess this does fit in with the "no rules" which appears to apply in this Challenge. So any species can be substituted for any animal in the list.
     
  11. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Yeah, you can't see Chinese Pangolin in the US so just sub in any Chinese animal. I did a Peregrine Falcon though, so close enough since they are both found in China.
     
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  12. Leaf Productions

    Leaf Productions Well-Known Member

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    then you wouldn't see it lol, it's not really a swappable animal like the chinese pangolin
    whoops that's from the other challenges with my friends, i know zoochat tends to be pretty anal about zoo's only :p
    well in that case i would sub out chinese pangolin for any pangolin species lol
     
  13. Neil chace

    Neil chace Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Proboscis Monkeys are in the same tribe as the langurs, so perhaps seeing a langur would be an acceptable alternate for proboscis monkey?

    A few others that are impossible to see in zoos would be lehman's dart frog and goliath frog. I'm not aware of either species being found in US Zoos (or zoos anywhere, for that matter). Another would be reticulated giraffes. Unless you're referring to generic hybridized giraffes, in which case they are easy to find, but purebred reticulated giraffes are not kept in US zoos. A few of the other herps/inverts may also be impossible, but I'm not as certain on those.
     
  14. ZooElephantMan

    ZooElephantMan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Two more questions:

    Does Grizzly Bear count towards both the Grizzly Bear AND Himalayan Brown Bear requirements?

    Also, do animal IDs have to be accurate down to the subspecies level? Or is species level ok? I am assuming the former, but the typical zoochat challenges use the latter.
     
  15. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Personally I think you should stick with as few substitutions as possible, I wouldn't even do pangolins. It just ends up being a slippery slope I think, and this game wouldn't be super unbalanced towards any part of the world. No one will get to see every species and that's okay.
     
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  16. CrashMegaraptor

    CrashMegaraptor Well-Known Member

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    Substitutions should really only apply to subspecies level, I think, and even then when it's not completely clear what the animal you're looking at is. I mean, you see an African Lion, are you going to lose sleep over the fact it's not a West African Lion specifically? Especially as it's a subspecies that technically no longer exists?

    It's not like no zoos have Proboscis Monkeys. An incentive to go to Singapore Zoo, perhaps?
     
  17. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I will join in but it will take me a while to do my list, I am on well over 50 at a quick run through.
    As mentioned surely it would be easier to stick to species level only so any 1 subspecies of tiger, brown bear, Asiatic black bear etc
     
    Last edited: 7 Feb 2023
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  18. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    My list so far:

    Colchester ( 2 visits)

    1 African Elephant
    2 Lion
    3 Plains Zebra
    4 Grey Wolf
    5 Ring-tailed lemur
    6 Reticulated Giraffe
    7 Chimpanzee
    8 Spotted Hyaena
    9 Green Iguana
    10 Bornean Orangutan
    11 Warthog
    12 Aardvark
    13 Mandrill
    14 Red Panda
    15 Siberian Tiger
    16 Giant Anteater
    17 Eastern Blue tongued lizard
    18 Sun Bear
    19 Binturong
    20 Meerkat
    21 Fennec fox
    22 White Rhino
    23 Black & White ruffed lemur
    24 Amur Leopard
    25 Red necked wallaby

    Linton Jan 2nd

    26 Snow Leopard
    27 Red Kangaroo
    28 Aldabra Giant Tortoise
    29 Red ruffed lemur

    Hamerton

    30 Cheetah
    31 Greater Flamingo
    32 Gila monster
    33 Dingo
    34 Southern Cassowary
    35 Asian small clawed otter
    36 Red crowned Crane
    37 Common Wombat

    Whipsnade

    38 Common Hippo
    39 Pygmy Hippo
    40 Bactrian Camel
    41 Ostrich
    42 Indian Rhino
    43 Indian elephant
    44 Gemsbok
    45 Bongo
    46 Eurasian Lynx
    47 Reindeer
    48 European fallow deer
    49 Babirusa
    50 African penguin
    51 Prezwalskis Horse
    52 Emu
    53 Scimitar horned oryx

    Drusilla's

    54 Boa constrictor
    55 Capybara
    56 N American Beaver
    57 Black tailed prairie dog

    One missed from Colchester

    58 Komodo Dragon

    I think I've seen a couple of the spiders and some butterflies but didn't take much notice at the time!
     
    Last edited: 8 Feb 2023
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  19. StoppableSan

    StoppableSan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    This is what I've seen so far:

    Alipore Zoo
    Bengal Tiger (!!!)
    Saltwater Crocodile
    Indian Rhinoceros
    Jaguar
    Indian Elephant
    Plains Zebra
    Common Ostrich
    Chimpanzee (unsure if Western or Common)
    Indian Pangolin (best equivalent for Chinese Pangolin I can get)
     
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  20. ifesbob

    ifesbob Well-Known Member

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    I think I'll join this, it'll be a bit before I can get my list done though.