What animal looks different in real life to what you expected?

I agree with being surprised at the tiny-ness of Musk Ox and the largeness of Takin, presumbaly this is because of the implication of largeness in the word "ox", and goat-sized-ness in the word "goat", which is how Takin are typically described.

I'm not sure of any others, although I did see my first Osprey today, and it was smaller than expected, especially compared to bulkier Sea Eagles.

 

When I first saw giant otters I was shocked at how large they were! I knew they would be giant but these were massive!

When I was about 16 I was waking through whipsnade towards the elephants and I saw a Gaur on the top of a hill in it's enclosure, I had never heard of a Gaur before and initially thought it was an elephant from a long distance!
When I got close I saw it wasn't an elephant but it was massive and much more interesting to me than the elephants were!

 

Agouti seemed a lot bigger than I expected, I don't know why but I thought they were the size of a Guinea Pig!

 

Platypus as stated in earlier posts. I thought they would be about the size of an otter or even a badger. Also reindeer I thought they would be much larger than they are, and funnily enough Zebra I was expecting something as big as a race horse.(We once had a horse sit on our car while driving in Northumberland, when I was nearly 3 years old, shortly before I first saw a zebra, It seamed huge, especially as it's backside moved up the bonnet to the windscreen. I can see it to this day. Funny thing though I can't recall any of the damage to the car.)

Also it can depend on the size of the enclosure if viewed in a zoo, the larger the enclosure the smaller the inhabitant looks and the smaller the larger.

 

The first duikers that I ever saw were Maxwell's, in Edinburgh. The next species that I encountered was Blue, in Antwerp. Consequently, it wasn't until made an overdue visit to Tring that I discovered just how big animals like Jentink's or Yellow-backed actually are.

 

When I first saw a polar bear, I was surprised how small it was!

 

I don't know why I thought they would be bigger. It could be I had seen them in museums as a very small child, but not recently in museums. Also it could be that in YWP's exhibit, Victor was very far away also it is a large exhibit, so could make a lot of big things seem smaller than usual.

 

I agree with your comments about duikers.

I had seen several species of duiker (blue duiker, Maxwell’s duiker and, my favourites, zebra duiker) a number of times before I saw the larger species; consequently I tended to think of duiker as small antelopes.

Although I knew that both Jentink’s duiker and yellow-backed duiker were much larger animals, it still came as a surprise to see just how big they are when I saw them for the first time.

(I was fortunate enough to see a Jentink’s duiker in Berlin Tierpark in 1985 and again in 1986. It wasn’t in the collection on any of my subsequent visits and, sadly, I very much doubt that I’ll ever see another one.)

 

I also thought this! I remember the first time I saw one,it seemed so unimpressive! Golden lion tamarins seemed tiny to me the first time i saw one as well. The most striking size shock I got was with nautilus and cuttlefish though. I don't know why this was,but I expected something much,much larger than what I ended up seeing.

 

My list isn't necessarily about initial expectations being corrected upon an initial encounter, but also about differences to "expectations" that get me time and again.

Smaller than:
- female african elephants
- european brown bear
- siberian tiger
- zebra
- buffalo (american/european)
- reindeer (almost tiny)
- large crocodile species (in captivity)
- komodo dragons
- reticulate python (though v. large nontheless)
- giant anteater
- leopard
- rattle snake

Larger than:
- bairds tapir
- elephant seal
- aardvark
- male gorilla (huge! - lion sized)
- male asian elephant
- male rat
- macaw (in flight)
- takin
- manta (van sized!)
- grouper
- large crocodile species (in the wild)
- dendrobates auratus
- catfish
- wombat
- cobra
- ostrich
- lionfish
- humphead wrasse
- tuna
- domestic pig (!, 2x a lion)
- albatross
- eagle owl
- indian rhinoceros males
- arapaima (!)
- banded archerfish

generally i have observed, that (most) animals will typically appear smaller and less impressive in poor (i.e. cage-style or functional) zoo exhibits, larger and more impressive in naturalistic and/or immersive zoo exhibits, and yet more impressive and large in the wild (...if one can see them in the first place in the latter two cases).

 

I guess it depends on the breed, as a micro Pig is quite different from a pot belly!

 

I fully agree with the last point - animals in the wild do look bigger, and it doesn't seem to matter whether you are viewing them through binoculars or with the naked eye. Perhaps it is due to anticipation as you look for them and then concentration when you see them because you know that they may disappear as suddenly as they appeared. I have experienced that phenomenon with species as different as cordon bleu, pygmy kingfishers, bottle-nosed dolphins and African elephants. Of course the wild animal may actually be bigger; the dolphins I have seen in British waters are significantly larger than specimens from Florida and I have only seen a few adult bull African elephants in zoos, the wild one was casually felling a tree by nudging it a couple of times which was impressive.
Species that surprised me by being so small include Demidoff's galago, uakaris and Kloss's gibbon (and unfortunately there are few zoo-goers who can give alternative opinions about those wonderful species ).
PS. TLD's disappearance thread has reminded me of another long lost species which is surprisingly large, the pacarana.

Alan

 

Chimps always seemed smaller than I expected although now I've seen too many too much to feel this. Orangutans on the ground can fold up into a surprisingly small space.

 

I was surprised by the intensity and depth of color in a tigers coat. No photo that I had seen could capture that.

 

It probably sounds really stupid for me to say giraffes are bigger than I expected, since everyone knows giraffes are big, but my perception of size doesn't seem very good... When I went to feed giraffes at the Houston Zoo, man, it's when you get up close that you REALLY realize how big they are!

 

I agree, when in a paddock they don't seem that big, but when up close (this time behind a barrier in a house) you really get a feeling of their immense size!

 

Totally agree, I always knew they are big, tall animals but when I stood next to Thorn in the house at Chester I got a whole new perspective on what enormous animals they are, even without the neck length, their shoulder height is mind boggling.

 

I agree, it was a delight when Dudley had the two in the same enclosure. It was also great to compare the size difference as the girls got older!

Unrelated note, my facebook messenger is playing up so any chance you can resend your last message Dave? I'm not ignoring you, honestly!