Mammals: Eastern lowland gorilla (Antwerp), Amazon river dolphin (Duisburg), aye aye (London) Birds: Philipine monkey-eating eagle (Planckendael), grey-necked rockfowl (Bronx), sicklebilled vanga (Walsrode) Reptiles: Gharial (Prague), tuatara (Berlin), Jameson mamba, Amphibians: Japanese giant salamander (Duisburg), Montserrat mountain chicken (Antwerp), Luristan newt (Antwerp) Inverts: giant spider crab Fish: common shovelnose ray, Zoos: Bronx, Leipzig, Berlin Exhibits: Congo Gorilla Forest (Bronx), Burgers' Desert (Burgers), Masoala rainforest (Zurich) Guilty Pleasure: all curassow, all guenons, all small cats Life ticks: black grouse (High Fenns Belgium), wolf (Georgia, Caucasus), Buildings: Antelopehouse (Berlin Zoo), World of birds (Bronx), Egyptian temple (Antwerp)
My choices are all animals I have seen and aren't chosen based on rarity ( mainly anyway) Mammals Polar Bear, Snow Leopard, Okapi ( others considered were Malayan Tapir, Indian Rhino, Common Hippo, Ratel, Golden Cat, Striped hyaena) The others were much harder: Birds Cassowary, Rockhopper Penguin, Ground Hornbill Reptiles Tuatara, Gharial, American Alligator Amphibians Giant Salamander Fish Arapaima, Puffer Fish, Electric Eel Invertebrates Don't really pay much attention to them but Blue Ringed Octopus at Weymouth Sealife a few years ago Exhibits Polar bear - Yorkshire Wildlife Park Brown Bear - Whipsnade Common Hippo - Zoo Berlin Zoos Tierpark Berlin, Zoo Berlin, Chester Best life ticks Fanaloka, Little Penguin, Hecks Macaque, Black footed cat Most people on here will have seen those, but may be a while before anyone sees them onshow in a European zoo again
Mammals: Numbat, Spotted Cuscus and Attenbrough's Long-Beaked Echidna. Birds: Kagu, Kakapo and Night Parrot. Reptiles: Thorny Devil, Tentacled Snake and Saltwater Crocodile. Amphibians: Holy Crucifix Toad, Southern Corroberre Frog and Northern Corroboree Frog. Fish: Long-Nosed Hawkfish, Spotted Eagle Ray and Epaulette Sharks. Invertebrates: Lava Snail, Giant Scholopendra and Mantis Shrimp. Zoos: David Fleay Wildlife Park, Singapore Night Safari and Singapore River Safari. Proudest Life Ticks: Platypus, Leopard Seal and Crescent Nailtail Wallaby. Guilty Pleasures: Ringtail Lemurs, Tigers and Red-Necked Wallabies.
Mammal: Flat headed cat Risso's dolphin Calabar angwantibo Bird: Sulu hornbill Secretary bird Violet-backed starling Reptile: Mugger crocodile Green basilisk Geometric tortoise Amphibian: Enstina newt Purple frog Whipping frog Fish: Frilled shark Bicolor angelfish Gurnard lionfish Zoos: Omaha Minnesota Cincinnati Exhibits: Dolphin dome, International orangutan center Kingdoms of the night Guilty pleasure animals: King penguin Sumatran tiger Chinese crocodile lizard
Only animals / exhibits / zoos I've seen: Mammal species (not based on rarity - for those see lifeticks): Giant panda; Polar bear; Snow leopard Bird species: Harpy eagle; Shoebill; Bearded vulture Reptile species: Salt water crocodile; Komodo dragon; Gharial Fish (all wildlife): Whale shark, Manta ray, Hammerhead sharks Zoos: Pairi Daiza, San Diego (Zoo & Safari Park), Berlin (Zoo and Tierpark) Exhibits: African and Asian plains (San Diego Zoo Safari Park); Gondwanaland (Leipzig); The Last Frontier (Pairi Daiza) Guilty pleasure animals: Meerkats, Ring Tailed Lemurs, Giant Pandas Proudest Lifeticks: Sumatran Rhino (San Diego Zoo), Northern White Rhino (San Diego Zoo Safari Park), Platypus (Sydney)
All choices are based on zoos, experiences and animals I've seen in person Mammal species: Southern white rhinoceros, Eastern black rhinoceros, Indian rhinoceros (I have a thing for rhinos) Bird species: Great blue turaco, Northern gannet, Phillipine duck Reptile species: Zoutpansberg girdled lizard, William's dwarf gecko, Mangrove snake Amphibian Species: Red-eyed tree frog, Lake Pátzcuaro salamander, Kaiser's spotted newt Invertebrates: Partula snails, Phryganistria heusii yentuensis, Bullseye pistol shrimp (Alpheus soror) Fish: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Sandtiger shark, Pyramid butterflyfish Zoos: Burgers' Zoo, Rotterdam Zoo, Avifauna Exhibits: Burgers' Desert (Burgers' Zoo), Pandasia (Ouwehands Dierenpark), Snavelrijk (Dierenpark Amersfoort) Guilty pleasure animals: Pygmy goats (domestics in general), Gila monster, Plains zebras Proudest Lifeticks: Baby the river dolphin, Spotted cuscus, Sandtiger shark
You have a few species on here that are probably in my top 10 species to see in their respective groups! Are the slippery frogs on-exhibit at Brookfield now? Same here, I imagine the main difference is that they're likely Extinct in the Wild so an actual endangered species. ~Thylo
Reading this back, I'm going to make a few small changes. Mammal species (captive): Long-beaked Echidna at Taronga Zoo; Sunda Pangolin at Singapore Night Safari; Beluga at Beijing Aquarium Here I'm going to take out Sunda Pangolin because I have recently seen that in the wild (so I'm moving it to the category below). Thinking of cool mammals I've seen to replace it, I considered Marbled Cat at Taiping Zoo but that's just a cat. I settled on Pigmy Hog at the Nameri Breeding Centre in Assam because probably even fewer Zoochatters have seen one of those than have seen a Marbled Cat. Mammal species (wild): Red Panda in China; Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey in China; Tibetan Wolf in India I need to place Sunda Pangolin in this category (seen in Singapore a couple of months ago). I can't take out Red Panda because that is just a species which is amazing to have seen. If I went back in time and said to child-me "you will go see Red Pandas in the wild", child-me would have replied "watchoo talkin' about Willis?" (because that's how we talked back then). And Tibetan Wolf was one of the most memorable mammal sightings I've had. So the Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey has to get shuffled out to make room for the pangolin. Bird species (captive): Australian Owlet-nightjar at Moonlit Sanctuary; Picathartes at Frankfurt Zoo; Blue-rumped Parrot at Dusit Zoo Removing Blue-rumped Parrot because I've seen it in a few places now, and replacing it with Philippine Eagle at Jurong Bird Park. Bird species (wild): Crested Ibis in China; Rock Wren in New Zealand; Ibisbill in India Here I decided Indian Skimmer was too cool not to include... not sure which of the above three to remove though. Crested Ibis was supposed to be extinct by the time I grew up but it isn't. Rock Wren is my favourite NZ bird. Ibisbill is just so difficult to see. Closing my eyes and stabbing at the screen, Rock Wren gets removed.
I had to spend a long time on this but I think I've settled on my answers: Top Three Mammals: Sumatran Rhinoceros, pangolin, Amazon River Dolphin Top Three Birds: California Condor, Hawai'i 'Amakihi, Rufous-Fronted Laughingthrush Top Three Reptiles: Tuatara, Bornean Earless Monitor, Arakan Forest Turtle Top Three Amphibians: Kihansi Spray Toad, Fleischmann's Glass Frog, Puerto Rican Crested Toad Top Three Invertebrates: Lord Howe Stick Insect, Bigfin Reef Squid, any of the nine Partula snails I've seen Top Three Fishes: Whale Shark, Scalloped Hammerhead, either of the two Manta I've seen Top Three Major Zoos: Bronx Zoo, Chester Zoo, Prague Zoo Top Three Minor Zoos: Highland Wildlife Park, Tennessee Aquarium, Nashville Zoo Top Three Exhibits: Afrykarium (Wroclaw Zoo), Desert Dome (Omaha), Ocean Voyager (Georgia Aquarium) Guilty Pleasure Animals*: African Bush Elephant, Barred Owl, American Alligator *I considered typical ABC zoo animals for this. ~Thylo
Don't see how TN Aquarium is "minor." Top Three Mammals: Royal antelope, Soemmerring's gazelle, Black duiker Top Three Birds: Golden-headed quetzal, Harpy eagle, Kagu Top Three Reptiles: New Guinea crocodile, Tuatara, Southeastern five-lined skink Top Three Invertebrates- Black widow, Golden orb weaver, Blue morpho Top Three Fishes: Whale shark, Lemon shark, Manta ray Top Three Major Zoos: Bronx Zoo, Columbus Zoo, St. Louis Zoo Top Three Minor Zoos: NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, Toledo Zoo, Virginia Zoo Top Three Exhibits: World of Birds, North America at Columbus Zoo, St. Louis's herpetarium. Guilty Pleasure: Meerkat, Snowy owl, Asian elephant
His own fault for refusing to visit South Asian collections because they don't fit his standards of luxury
Mammals: Aardvark, Okapi, Western lowland gorilla Birds: King vulture, Shoebill, Southern cassowary Reptiles: Indian gharial, King cobra, Komodo dragon Amphibians: Don't really have any except maybe glass frog Invertebrates: Chambered nautilus, Giant pacific octopus, Japanese spider crab Fishes: Alligator gar, Great white shark, Ocean sunfish, Aquariums/Zoos: Monterey Bay Aquarium; San Diego Zoo; Sacramento Zoo (I'm very bias) Exhibits: Africa Rocks (San Diego Zoo); Okapi Forest (Sacramento Zoo); Open Ocean (Monterey Bay Aquarium) Guilty pleasure animals: Elephants, Giraffes, Gorillas Proudest Lifeticks: Flapjack octopus, Great white shark; Okapi (I just like them a lot)
I think I need to post an update for me, given my first time posting in this thread was quite a few years ago and my views have changed a substantial amount! Top Three Mammals: Bonobo, Babirusa, Aye-aye Top Three Birds: Shoebill, Pesquet's parrot, Javan green magpie Top Three Reptiles: Tuatara, Ploughshare tortoise, Gharial Top Three Amphibians: Chinese giant salamander, Titicaca water frog, Cameroon slippery frog Top Three Invertebrates: Regal jumping spider, Lord Howe Island stick insect, Peacock mantis shrimp Top Three Fishes: Scalloped hammerhead shark, Splitfin flashlightfish, Electric eel Top Three Major Zoos: Chester Zoo, Prague Zoo, Burgers' Zoo Top Three Minor Zoos: Hamerton Zoo, Zie-ZOO, Walsrode Weltvogelpark Top Three Exhibits: Indonesian Pavilion (Prague Zoo), Mangrove (Burgers' Zoo), Oceanium (Blijdorp) Guilty Pleasure Animals: Chimpanzee, Budgerigar, Royal python
Difficult choices, species here are often not the rarest, but ones I am happiest of/thought I would never see them. Mammal species (captive): Proboscis monkey (Apenheul & Singapore), Northern white rhino (Ol Pejeta), Saiga (Cologne) Mammal species (wild): Kipunji (Tanzania), Sunda pangolin (Singapore), Indri (Madagascar) Bird species (captive): Spix' macaw (Pairi Daiza & Jurong), Shoebill (Pairi Daiza, Wuppertal, Frankfurt, Walsrode, Zuerich, Prague, Jurong), Capuchin bird (Zlin, Walsrode, Veldhoven) Bird species (wild): Sickle-billed vanga (Madagascar), Torrent duck (Chile), Wallcreeper (Bulgaria) Reptile species (captive): Mangshan pit viper (Lausanne & Prague), Indian gharial (Prague, Singapore & Berlin), Perentie (Zurich) Reptile species (wild): King cobra (Singapore), Uroplatus sikorae (Madagascar), Tuatara (New Zealand) Amphibian Species: Chinese/Japanese giant salamander (many places), Great crested salamander (Netherlands, completing the set of all 21 wild terrestrial herp species in the NL), Peacock tree frog (Tanzania) Invertebrates: Gulella spec. (Madagascar), Violet copper (Germany), Madagascar moon moth (Madagascar) Fish (captive): Atlantic hagfish (Two Oceans Aquarium), Ocean sunfish (Lisbon), Manta ray (SEA Singapore) Fish (wild): Sevengill shark (New Zealand), European salmon (Netherlands), Moray eel spec. (Croatia) Zoos: Zoo Zurich, Burgers' Zoo, Tiergarten Schonbrunn Minor zoos: Zoo Helsinki, Tierpark Bern, Alpenzoo Innsbruck Exhibits: Bird house in Vienna, Coral reef tank Burgers' Zoo & Masoala hall Zurich Guilty pleasure animals: Meerkat! It feels unfair to leave Elephant seals, 3 Kiwi species, Rock wren, Mountain nyala, Euopean souslik and so many others of the list, so tomorrow this list would probably look different...
Part 2! Mammal: Gray mouse lemur-Zebra duiker-Black-footed Cat Bird: Lesser bird-of-paradise-Northern bald ibis-Temmick's tragopan Reptile- Samar cobra-Saltwater crocodile-Cave-dwelling rat snake Amphibian: Emperor newt-African clawed frog-Indian bullfrog Fish-Gold-spotted snake eel-Arapaima-Tripodfish Invertebrate: Skeleton shrimp-Lesser octopus- Venus's girdle Guilty pleasure animals: Meerkat-Queen angelfish-American bullfrog
Mammal species: - Killer whale (cetaceans in general) - Clouded leopard - Orang-utan (all species) Bird species: - Yellow-eyed penguin (penguins in general) - Cassowary - Rhinoceros hornbill Reptile species: - Gharial (crocodilians in general) - Heloderma (all species and subspecies) - Tuatara Amphibians: - Giant salamanders (all species and subspecies) - Phyllomedusa (all species and subspecies) - Ambystoma (all species and subspecies) Invertebrates: - Pacific giant octopus - Emperor scorpion - Velvet worms (all species and subspecies) Fish: - Sturgeons (all species and subspecies) - Scalloped hammerhead shark - Sawfish (all species and subspecies) Zoos: - Prague Zoo - Bronx Zoo - Whipsnade Zoo Exhibits: - Congo Gorilla Forest (Bronx Zoo) - La Selva (Faunia) - Feline and Reptile Pavilion (Prague Zoo) Guilty pleasure animals: - Ring-tailed lemur - Red-necked wallaby - Asian small clawed otter Proudest Lifeticks: - Sunda pangolin (Singapore Night Safari) - Leopard seal (Taronga Zoo) - Emperor penguin (Wellington Zoo, The Nest)
The list is only about animals held in captivity that I have seen myself Mammal species: - Phillips dik-dik - Black and rufous elephant shrew - Aardvark Bird species: - Flame bowerbird - Andean flamingo - Lear's macaw Reptile species: - Geoemyda spengleri - Agkistrodon contortrix - Phelsuma quadriocellata Amphibians: - Ameerega bilinguis - Andrias davidianus - Pipa pipa Invertebrates: - Cambarellus patzcuarensis - Phyllorhiza punctata - Acromyrmex coronatus Fish: - Austrolebias nigripinnis - Diodon hystrix - Doryichthys martensii Zoos: - Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation - Cabárceno Natural Park - Beekse Bergen Exhibits: - Burgers Bush (Burgers Zoo) - Monsoon forest (Chester Zoo) - La Réserve des Hippopotames (Beauval zoo) Guilty pleasure animals: - Pygmy marmoset - Flamingo - Asian small clawed otter Proudest Lifeticks: - Giant ibis - Beira - Spix macaw