Planet Zoo Species Challenge 2023

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary - January 2 2023
1. Timber Wolf Canis lupus
2. Boa Constrictor Boa constrictor
3. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
4. Striped Skunk Mephitis mephitis
5. Cougar Puma concolor

Lake Superior Zoo - January 4 2023
6. Ring Tailed Lemur Lemur catta
7. Green Iguana Iguana iguana
8. Gila Monster Heloderma suspectum
9. Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard Tiliqua scincoides
10. Egyptian Fruit Bat Rousettus aegyptiacus

Manitowoc Lincoln Park Zoo - January 7 2023
11. American Bison Bison bison

Jack R. Facente Serpentarium - January 7 2023
12. Puff Adder Bitis arietans
13. Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus atrox
14. American Alligator Alligator mississippiensis

Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo & Adventure Park - January 15 2023
15. African Lion Panthera leo leo
16. Aldabra Giant Tortoise Aldabrachelys gigantea
17. Red Panda Ailurus fulgens
18. Japanese Macaque Macaca fuscata
19. African Penguin Spheniscus demersus
20. American Bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus
21. Moose Alces alces
22. Black-tailed Prairie Dog Cynomys ludovicianus
23. Raccoon Procyon lotor

Bruemmer Park Zoo - January 18 2023
24. Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus
25. Arctic Fox Vulpes lagopus

 

1. African Savannah Elephant ZooMiami
2. Grizzly Bear Bronx Zoo
3. West African Lion Alt: Any Lions ZooMiami, Naples Zoo, Bronx Zoo
4. Plains Zebra ZooMiami, Naples Zoo
5. Ring Tailed Lemur Naples Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Animal Adventures
6. Galapagos Giant Tortoise ZooMiami, Naples Zoo
7. Reticulated Giraffe ZooMiami, Naples Zoo, Bronx Zoo
8. Western Chimpanzee ZooMiami
9. Pygmy Hippo ZooMiami
10. Komodo Dragon ZooMiami, Bronx Zoo
11. Thomson's Gazelle Bronx Zoo
12. African Wild Dog ZooMiami, Bronx Zoo
13. Cheetah Naples Zoo
14. Indian Peafowl Everglades Wonder Gardens, Bronx Zoo
15. Boa Constrictor American Adventures
16. Bengal Tiger Alt: Any Tigers ZooMiami
17. Spotted Hyena ZooMiami, Bronx Zoo
18. Bactrian Camel ZooMiami, Bronx Zoo
19. Green Iguana Wild
20. Bornean Orangutan ZooMiami
21. Common Warthog ZooMiami
22. Lehmann's Poison Frog
23. Snow Leopard Bronx Zoo
24. Aldabra Giant Tortoise ZooMiami, Naples Zoo, Animal Adventures
25. Yellow Anaconda ZooMiami
26. Indian Rhinoceros ZooMiami
27. Okapi ZooMiami
28. Indian Elephant ZooMiami
29. Gharial Bronx Zoo
30. Aardvark Bronx Zoo
31. Red Panda Bronx Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo
32. Western Lowland Gorilla ZooMiami
33. Sable Antelope ZooMiami
34. Golden Poison Frog Bronx Zoo
35. Bongo ZooMiami, Naples Zoo
36. Siberian Tiger Bronx Zoo
37. Red Ruffed Lemur Naples Zoo, Bronx Zoo
38. Gila Monster Bronx Zoo, Animal Adventures
39. American Bison Bronx Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo
40. Jaguar ZooMiami
41. Giant Anteater ZooMiami
42. Red-Eyed Tree Frog ZooMiami
43. Red Kangaroo Animal Adventures
44. Southern Cassowary ZooMiami
45. Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard Animal Adventures
46. Koala ZooMiami
47. Giant Otter ZooMiami
48. Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman Maritime Aquarium
49. Diamondback Terrapin Maritime Aquarium
50. Clouded Leopard ZooMiami, Naples Zoo
51. Malayan Tapir ZooMiami, Bronx Zoo
52. North Sulawesi Babirusa ZooMiami
53. Dhole ZooMiami
54. Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect Alt: Any Leaf Insect Bronx Zoo
55. Meerkat ZooMiami, Maritime Aquarium
56. Southern White Rhinoceros Bronx Zoo
57. American Alligator ZooMiami, Naples Zoo, Everglades Wonder Garden
58. American Bullfrog Maritime Aquarium
59. California Sea Lion Bronx Zoo
60. Cougar ZooMiami, Ecotarium
61. Arctic Fox Animal Adventures
62. Eurasian Lynx Animal Adventures
63. Asian Small-Clawed Otter ZooMiami
64. Red-Crowned Crane Roger Williams Park Zoo
65. Amur Leopard Bronx Zoo
66. Siamang ZooMiami, Naples Zoo
67. Raccoon ZooMiami
68. Red Fox Animal Adventures
69. Striped Skunk Maritime Aquarium, Animal Adventures
70. Emu Animal Adventures
71. Red-Necked Wallaby Animal Adventures
72. Striped Hyena Naples Zoo

hehe i like planet zoo

 

I don't think ANY Lions or ANY Tigers should be substitutable for West African Lion or Bengal Tiger (respectively). I think subbing any African Lion for West African Lion is fair (since West African Lion doesn't exist anymore anyway) and I think we should keep Bengal Tiger as meaning pure Bengal Tiger - they are around in zoos.

How should Arctic Wolf be defined? Maybe we should just ignore that one?

 

If you're willing to go to Plumpton Park Zoo (or Toronto) to see Arctic wolf...

 

North Carolina Zoo:
- African Elephant
- American Alligator
- American Bison
- Arctic Fox
- Cougar
- Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard
- Gila Monster
- Grizzly Bear
- Plains Zebra
- Polar Bear
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Southern White Rhino
- Western Lowland Gorilla

 

Not just generic wolves showing an Arctic-like phenotype? I doubt it.

 

I've noticed lots of people counting generic Giraffes as Reticulated - I don't really like that either.

 

I thought you said wild sightings were not allowed?

I am a fan of the idea that you should only be allowed to substitute animals if they are of the same species but different subspecies. Since Mexican Gray Wolves and Arctic Wolves are both Canis lupus, I think Mexican Gray Wolves should be allowed to be substituted for Arctic Wolves. A simple catch-all rule like this also means people won't have to keep track of dozens of exceptions for each individual entry.

 

That kind of falls under the 'substitute any animal for any other animal' issue, no? There are tons of Gray Wolf subspecies, and Arctic and Mexican Gray aren't particularly closely related (relatively speaking).

Perhaps we should just ignore subspecies level as a whole for this entire challenge?

 

The peafowl at Everglades Wonder Gardens must have been wild, right?

 

Wolves are one of the (many) groups of animals that the taxonomy/phylogeny of is a hotly debated mess at the moment. It's unfortunate no one can seem to agree on what is or isn't a species or subspecies, as it has real-world consequences in the realm of conservation, but for a challenge like this I agree the best course of action is to pick a taxonomic database to use, and stick with whatever they define at species-level (e.g. IUCN Redlist)

 

Where in the world did you see a Lehmann's Poison Dart Frog?!?

 

Where outside India has pure Bengal Tiger. This has been discussed many times but there are not any in Europe

 

Nowhere. But plenty of places in India do.

 

All Henry Vilas Zoo, 2/5/23

• West African Lion (sub: any lion)
• Bengal Tiger (sub: any tiger)
• Bactrian Camel
• Bornean Orangutan
• Aldabra Giant Tortoise
• Aardvark
• Red Panda
• Siberian Tiger (the tiger HVZ actually has)(please correct me if I'm wrong)
  
• Gila Monster
• American Bison
• Polar Bear
• American Alligator
• Black-and-white ruffed lemur

 

The rules seem incredibly messy at the moment, especially with the species substitutions. An improved and more detailed overview, as provided in many of the long running ZooChat challenges, would be appreciated.

 

To be fair, if it's called a "Planet Zoo Species Challenge" and the object is to see as many as possible, and there's no leaderboard for who wins (besides, what would you win - brownie points?) it should be pretty self explanatory. For challenging stuff like West African Lion, Bengal Tiger, Proboscis Monkey or Chinese Pangolin, I'd *personally* just do full substitutions for the lion and the tiger or give half points for subspecies that are similar enough (e.g. Indian pangolin). For stuff that's just flat-out impossible, hate to be so blunt about it, but tough noogie.

 

The lions, tigers, and pangolins have substitutions for any lion/tiger/pangolin (I think there's a specific substitution for the pangolin but I haven't seen one of those yet so I'm not concerned yet personally), but as has been said earlier the proboscis monkey just straight up does not have a substitution. I mean, if the Global Challenge is designed to be near (if not entirely) impossible to 100%, I think it's okay if this one also is. Especially since it's just for fun, even more so than the other challenges like the North America and Global challenges. Also not to put words in someone's mouth, but I think it's really just to see how many of the Planet Zoo species can be seen. I want to complete as much of it as possible, but I really think everyone would benefit from taking this particular challenge a little less seriously. (Unless I'm missing something and there are rules for the rules challenges have)

 

The problem with the challenge is not that it is impossible to complete. The problem instead lies in the challenge’s other vague rules, and the fact that these rules are not enforced. Are we counting animals at the species level only, or do we care about the subspecies level as well? Are we counting animals seen only in captivity, or do wild sightings also count? If I have to see a Grizzly Bear and a Himalayan Brown Bear for the challenge, and if I am allowed to sub the Himalayan Brown Bear with any Brown Bear, does that mean that seeing a single Grizzly Bear counts towards both challenges? These are just a couple of the questions that currently have no clear answers.

Also, I’d argue that having a leaderboard would be valuable for this challenge. Winners seem to usually be announced at the end of other zoochat challenges, and the fact that there is no prize for winning doesn’t make having a leaderboard any less valuable. If 10 people raced around a track, they would still all want to know how they scored even if there was no prize. The same applies here.

 

Linton Feb 15

59 Goliath Birdeating Spider