Worst Zoo Misses, Regrets and Gut Punches

When were you there? At the moment they only have Rufous Hare-wallaby.

Yep, Western Barred is the hardest to see and I was unlucky.

 

Ocean Sunfish, Monteray Bay Aquarium. I just missed them being off display in 2012 My favorite fish, ever since I was a little girl.

Fisher, Safari Niagara. They must have had him/her before I started to visit, because when I started going there, no Fisher and the species listing was taken off the page a little while after that.

 

Visiting the Hogle Zoo a day before the Pallas Cat Kittens debut, and then only seeing them at adulthood.

 

Going to the Bronx Zoo a few weeks ago and hoping to see a fairy penguin for the first time and only seeing one hiding inside a dark burrow.

 

How I felt when I went to Safari Niagara last week and finally saw the American Badger, in a dark den

 

One of the first that I could remember as a few years ago when I went to the Minnesota Zoo, it was the year I had fallen in love with binturongs and it was my first chance to see them, only for them to be off exhibit because the exhibit was facing some changes as they had a tapir give birth the day I arrived. (The tapir gave birth before, it was not seen by guests.)

One of the more recent ones were not seeing the Snow Leopard cub at Henry Doorly Zoo.

 

I went to the National Zoo in Canberra to see the King Cheetah and when I got there I found out that he had died

 

I love making animal lists, and I think this one is appropiate for this thread, tough they're not "the worst misses" but all species that I've seen in captivity (mainly in zoos) but I didn't photographed (to get a complete collection of photos is the most important for me):

Mountain reedbuck Redunca fulvorufula (Berlin, was too much unaesthetic because the wire wall)
Siberian musk deer Moschus moschiferus (Berlin I think, too much far for my compact camera)
White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus (animal exposition, before I had a camera)
Javan mouse deer Tragulus javanicus (Fuengirola zoo, a quick sight before it hide in the bushes)
Raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides (Oasis del Valle park, without a camera)
Corsac fox Vulpes corsac (Jardin des Plantes, unaesthetic behid the wire wall)
Bobcat Lynx rufus (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photograph)
Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis (I think same than previous)
Yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula (Berlin, unaesthetic behind the wire wall)
Kinkajou Potos flavus
Sloth bear Melursus ursinus (Berlin, too much far for my compact camera)
Franquet's epauletted fruit bat Epomops franqueti (Plzen, nocturnal house, too much dark for photograph)
Greater hegdehog tenrec Setifer setosus (pet shop, but asleep, just a spiny ball surrounded by frass, too much unaesthetic)
Gray short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica (pet shop, before I had a camera)
Brown dorcopsis Dorcopsis muelleri (Prague, nocturnal house, too much dark for focus, I've tried desperately but it was impossible)
Sugar glider Petaurus breviceps (the old Valencia zoo, nocturnal house, much behore I had a camera)
Ground cuscus Phalanger gymnotis (Prague, behind scenes, in personal office room, inside a cage but impossible to make a photo that is not just wire mesh with a cuscus shape behind the wire)
Long-haired spider monkey Ateles belzebuth
Red-faced spider monkey Ateles paniscus
White-faced capuchin Cebus capucinus (I think it was in Aguilas Jungle Park, Canary Is)
Bolivian squirrel monkey Saimiri boliviensis (various different zoos, but always behind a wire mesh)
Mantled guereza Colobus guereza (Fuengirola, I don't know why I didn't took photos)
Fat-tailed dwarf lemur Cheirogaleus medius (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)
Alaotra gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis
Grey mouse lemur Microcebus murinus (I think it was in Faunia, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)
Sunda slow loris Nycticebus coucang (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)
Potto Perodicticus potto
Buff-cheeked gibbon Hylobates gabriellae
Southern gray gibbon Hylobates muelleri
Azara's aguti Dasyprocta azarae
Red-rumped aguti Dasyprocta leporina
Malayan porcupine Hystrix brachyura (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)
Natal multimammate mouse Mastomys natalensis (pet shop, too much hidden for photos)
Malagasy giant jumping rat Hypogeomys antimena (London, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)


Grey-faced buzzard Butastur indicus (Taipei zoo, too much far for photos)
Red-backed hawk Buteo polyosoma (Raptor exhibition at medieval fair, without camera. After Faunia during show, but too much supercrowded for try a photo)
Himalayan griffon Gyps himalayensis (Jardin des Plantes, I was just stupid for not take a photo!)
Brahminy kite Haliastur indus (Taipei zoo, too much far for photos)
Green-winged teal Anas crecca (Köln zoo, but a female, I need a male for photos)
Ring-necked duck Aythya collaris (Köln zoo, females, I want male for photos)
Tufted duck Aythya fuligula (in several places before getting a camera, but none after)
Greater scaup Aythya marila
Blue-winged goose Cyanochen cyanopterus (Berlin, too much far for photos)
Black-bellied whistling duck Dendrocygna autumnalis (Cosmocaixa Barcelona, too much dark for photos and behind a too much dirty glass)
Hooded merganser Mergus cucullatus (I only had good photograph chances with females, I want a male)
Freckled duck Stictonetta naevosa (Berlin, behind a wire mesh, too much unaesthetic)
Black-faced ibis Theristicus melanopis (London, I don't know if also seen at Liberec?)
Ashy wood pigeon Columba pulchricollis (Taipei zoo, too much branches and foliage)
Zoe's imperial pigeon Ducula zoeae (London, enclosure too much dark)
Sulawesi ground dove Gallicolumba tristigmata (Berlin. I was too pendant of Trumpet Manucode in same enclosure, and when I turned my attention to the other birds in the enclosure, the ground dove had evanished)
Dusky turtle dove Streptopelia lugens (Plzen, enclosure too much full of branches and vegetation and dense wire mesh, good photograph was almost impossible)
Blyth's hornbill Aceros plicatus
Black and white casqued hornbill Bycanistes subcylindricus
Fischer's turaco Tauraco fischeri
Yellow-knobbed curassow Crax daubentoni (Faunia, was a female, I want a male)
Bare-faced curassow Crax fasciolata (Cosmocaixa Barcelona, hiding behind branches and foliage, impossible to get a good photo)
Tongan megapode Megapodius pritchardii (San Diego, too much dark (near closure of the zoo) and too much far inside the enclosure)
Chinese painted quail Coturnix chinensis (pets shops and various places, but either inside an unaesthetic cage with bars appearing in the photo, or quickly hiding under bushes)
Japanese quail Coturnix japonica (found one escaped and caught it, but I had my camera under repair)
Blue eared pheasant Crossoptilon auritum (Taipei zoo)
Ceylon junglefowl Gallus lafayettei (Berlin, it was a female, I need a male)
Salvadori's pheasant Lophura inornata (Plzen, too close to the wire mesh for photograph)
Jungle bush quail Perdicula asiatica (Plzen, a couple, they was crazy nervous, running endless from side to side of the enclosure if I was enough close, so impossible to take a photo of a never quiet animal. A great miss, I like this species a lot)
Reeve's pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii (some places before I had a camera, others such as Berlin too much dark for photograph)
Black crake Amaurornis flavirostris (Plzen, Madagascar house, seen from far while I was photographing other animals, when I arrived to it's enclosure, the crake had evanished)
Yellow grosbeak Pheucticus chrysopeplus (Pet shop, without camera)
Jungle crow Corvus macrorhynchos (Taipei zoo)
Plush-crested jay Cyanocorax chrysops (Berlin, too much far for photos)
Formosan blue magpie Urocissa caerulea (Taipei zoo)
Grey-headed silverbill Lonchura griseicapilla (pet shop, impossible to take photos, there is a glass that don't allow to get close to the cages)
Scaly-breasted munia Lonchura punctulata (had it as pet, but my camera was under repair)
Desert finch Rhodopechys obsoleta (Berlin, too much dark for photos)
Grey finch Serinus leucopygius (pet shops, wire cages unaesthetic)
Yellow-fronted canary Serinus mozambicus (same than previous plus London Butterfly House, where it flied quickly not allowing a photo)
Red-rumped cacique Cacicus haemorrhous (Berlin, too much far for photos)
Green oropendola Psarocolius viridis (Faunia, seen just a brief sight flying and disappearing in the treetops)
Helmeted friarbird Philemon buceroides (Prague, too much dark for photos)
Grey-headed parrotbill Paradoxornis gularis (Prague, behind the scenes (because of flooding), the bird was too nervous for get it close to my compact camera... Ahhh if I had then the much better camera that I got after my Czech visit...! One of the worst misses, I like this bird very much)
Village weaver Ploceus cucullatus (had one as pet, but without camera)
Village indigobird Vidua chalybeata (seen at pet shop, without camera)
Pin-tailed wyhdah Vidua macroura (seen at diverse pet shops and a garden center, but without camera)
Red-whiskered bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus (Fuengirola)
Lesser necklaced laughingthrush Garrulax monileger
Rusty laughingthrush Garrulax poecilorhynchus (Taipei zoo)
Common flameback Dinopium javanense (Barcelona, much before I had a camera)
Crimson-rumped toucanet Aulacorhynchus haematopygus (Barcelona, much before I had a camera)
Yellow-tailed black cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus (Loro Park, sitting again the wire mesh, too much unaesthetic)
Black-winged lory Eos cyanogenia (San Diego, seen at the enclosure but I was pending of orientation problems, when I passed again by the enclosure, the lory had evanished)
Saint Vincent amazon Amazona guildingii (Loro Park, before I had a camera. In my next visit with the good camera, it had evanished from the public collection (going to the private breeding center) and replaced with Lear's macaws in the same enclosure... A great miss)
Cuban amazon Amazona leucocephala (I think Munich? Too much dark for photos)
Fiery-shouldered parakeet Pyrrhura egregia
Crimson-bellied parakeet Pyrrhura perlata (Jardin del Papagayo)
Painted parakeet Pyrrhura picta (Jardin del Papagayo)
Vermiculated eagle owl Bubo cinerascens (Berlin, too much far for photos, I've tried, but the result was too blurry)
Spot-bellied eagle owl Bubo nipalensis (Jardin des Plantes, too much hidden in the foliage and looking backwards)
Barred eagle owl Bubo sumatranus (Berlin, too much dark for photos)
Tawny fish owl Ketupa flavipes (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)
Indian scops owl Otus bakkamoena (Taipei zoo)
Rusty-barred owl Strix hylophila (Berlin)
African grass owl Tyto capensis (Taipei zoo, nocturnal house, too much dark for photos)


Bell's hingeback tortoise Kinixys belliana
Spiny softshell turtle Apalone spinifera
Cuvier's dwarf caiman Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cosmocaixa Barcelona, just two eyes above water surface, not enough for a photo)
New Guinea crocodyle Crocodylus novaeguineae (Berlin, too much far for photos)
Children's python Antaresia childreni
Cook's tree boa Corallus cooki (Cosmocaixa Barcelona, too much far/hidden/dirty glass for a decent photo)
Kenya sand boa Eryx colubrinus
Tartar sand boa Eryx tataricus
Japanese rat snake Elaphe climacophora
Russian rat snake Elaphe schrenkii
Tentacled snake Erpeton tentaculatum (San Diego, seen only part of the body in the most hidden and far corner of the enclosure, very bad for a photo, an important miss...)
Pacific gopher snake Pituophis catenifer (pet shop, seen only a very small portion of body under the covering)
Monocled cobra Naja kaouthia
Nubian cobra Naja nubiae
Tokay gecko Gekko gecko (seen as a pet of a friend but didn't took photos, seen also in pet shops but only the tail in one and also partially hidden in the soil in other)
Pasteur's day gecko Phelsuma pasteuri (pet shop, too much hidden)
Crested gecko Rhacodactylus ciliatus (various places, always too much hidden)
Dune gecko Stenodactylus sthenodactylus (pet shop, too much hidden)
Giant leaf-tailed gecko Uroplatus fimbriatus (much before I had a camera)
Knight anole Anolis equestris (pet shop)
Iberian rock lizard Lacerta monticola (private pet)
Algerian skink Eumeces algeriensis (pet shop)
Rainer Günther's monitor Varanus rainerguentheri (Köln zoo, I took a photo and I accidentally deleted it!!!!)
Tricolor monitor Varanus yuwonoi (Köln zoo, too much hidden behind some branches, unaesthetic photo)
Malayan ground pit viper Calloselasma rhodostoma (London)
Saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus (London)
Ceylon pit viper Trimeresurus trigonocephalus (Faunia, too much hidden between foliage)


Cururu toad Bufo schneideri
European fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina (Berlin)
Riobamba marsupial frog Gastrotheca riobambae (Jardin des Plantes)
Long-nosed horned frog Megophrys nasuta (Madrid and a pet shop)
Madagascar tomato frog Dyscophus antongilii (Barcelona)
Surinam toad Pipa pipa
Bangkimtsing frog Rana swinhoana (Taipei zoo)
Cayenne caecilian Typhlonectes compressicauda (pet shop. It swimmed too quicky hiding before I had the chance of photograph it. A very great miss since I have a photo of the other species (T. natans) but is the most horrible of all the thousands of animal photos that I have, so I need to replace it)
Great crested newt Triturus cristatus (private pet)



European conger Conger conger (Oceanographic Valencia, against the tank glass, very unaesthetic photo)
Banded rainbowfish Melanotaenia trifasciata
Splitfin flashlightfish Anomalops katoptron (Berlin - obviously too dark for photograph! A very bad miss!)
Redflank bloodfin Aphyocharax rathbuni
Mexican tetra Astyanax mexicanus (Berlin)
Black widow tetra Gymnocorymbus ternetzi (realized that my photo is misidentified, so I need to replace it)
Rosy tetra Hyphessobrycon rosaceus
Red line lizard tetra Iguanodectes geisleri (pet shop, swimming too quickly)
Stone loach Barbatula barbatula (König museum, hiding between pebbles too much far from the glass front of the tank)
Beaufortia leveretti (pet shop)
Beautiful hillstream loach Traccacichthys pulcher (pet shop)
Barbus trispilos (pet shop)
Dadio Laubuca dadiburjori (pet shop)
Valencia toothcarp Valencia hispanica (old Valencia zoo, much before I had a camera)
Flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus (Barcelona aquarium)
African arowana Heterotis niloticus (Taipei zoo)
Black arowana Osteoglossum ferreirai (Prague sea world aquarium)
Greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Barcelona aquarium)
Beaked coralfish Chelmon muelleri (Berlin)
Blacknosed butterflyfish Johnrandallia nigrirostris (SeaWorld San Diego, Voyage to Atlantish, former Commerson's dolphin tank. A great miss... I saw the fish in a small corner of one of the photos of the spotted eagle rays. But at home, I incidentally deleted just the photo that had the butterflyfish )
Altolamprologus calvus
Chilotilapia rhoadesii (pet shop)
T-bar cichlid Cryptoheros sajica (pet shop)
Blood-red jewel cichlid Hemichromis lifalili (pet shop)
Pearlscale cichlid Herichthys carpintis (pet shop)
Lamprologus tigripictilis (pet shop)
Daffodil cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher
Dwarf egyptian mouthbrooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor (pet shop)
Three-spotted eartheater Satanoperca daemon (pet shop)
Spotted tilapia Tilapia mariae
Zebra goby Lythrypnus zebra (Birch Aquarium. I looked exhaustively at every corner of the tank during long time, looking for it... The tank was shared with Catalina gobies, but I didn't saw the zebra goby. However at home, part of the body of a Zebra goby appeared in a corner of one photo of Catalina goby... Too blurry and cut for be saved )
Jeweled wrasse Halichoeres lapillus
Symphodus rostratus (Barcelona aquarium)
Eyespot gourami Parasphaerichthys ocellatus (pet shop, swimming too quickly for photos)
Snakeskin gourami Trichogaster pectoralis
Gray angelfish Pomacanthus arcuatus
Chocolatedip chromis Chromis dimidiata
Shi drum Umbrina cirrosa (Barcelona aquarium, swimming too quickly for photos)
Bogue Boops boops (Loro Park, penguin house, inside an enormous acrylic cylinder. I had not a digital camera then. During my second visit, with a good camera, the bogues has been replaced by European seabass )
Sharpsnout seabream Diplodus puntazzo (Barcelona aquarium)
Saddled seabream Oblada melanura
Red porgy Pagrus pagrus (Barcelona aquarium)
Black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus (Barcelona aquarium)
European flounder Platichthys flesus
Crystal-eyed catfish Hemibagrus wyckii (Saragossa fluvial aquarium. Pressed against the fron glass with head hidden in the submerged trunks used for decoration. Too much unaesthetic photo)
Red fin thresher pleco Squaliforma emarginata (pet shop)
Barred spiny eel Macrognathus pancalus (pet shop)


Swellshark Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Birch Aquarium. Under the front glass, in a way that only a very oblique angle of photo is possible, the result was very blurry and distorsioned so I had to delete the photo)
Bullray Pteromylaeus bovinus (Oceanographic Valencia, before having a digital camera)


Common starfish Asterias rubens (Berlin, too blurry glass)


Tiger spider Linothere fallax (Köln zoo, too much hidden inside the spiderweb)
Bluegreen pinktoe tarantula Avicularia geroldi (pet shop, too much hidden)
Asian fawn tarantula Chilobrachys huahini (pet shop, too much hidden)
Belize cinnamon tarantula Crassicrus lamanai (pet shop, too much hidden)
Brazilian blue beauty tarantula Dolichothele diamantinensis (pet shop, too much hidden)
Bahia scarlet tarantula Lasiodora klugi
Lowland ornamental tarantula Poecilotheria bara (pet shop, too much hidden)


Purple hermit crab Coenobita brevimanus (pet shop, too much hidden)
Danas hermit crab Clibanarius striolatus (Duisburg, too far from front glass)
Striped reef lobster Enoplometopus daumi (pet shop, hidden behind some corals/rocks, impossible to make a decent photo, a very big miss )
Donald Duck shrimp Leander plumosus (pet shop, far from the (too much dirty) glass front and quickly moving even more far... A very big miss)
Small European locust lobster Scyllarus arctus (Barcelona aquarium, embibbed into rock crevice, not possible a decent aesthetic photo)
Blue boxer shrimp Stenopus tenuirostris (aquarium shop, various visits but always very far from the glass front, until every individual was sold or died)


Thermonectus nigrofasciatus (San Diego, insect house, in aquarium mixed with many Th. marmoratus, only one nigrofasciatus seen, but swimming too quickly and disappearing in aquatic mosses quickly)
Australian cockroach Periplaneta australasiae (Berlin, insidde the terrarium of Chalcosoma atlas, probably an escaped one used for reptile food, but it was in a position that made photographs impossible)
Ghost mantis Phyllocrania paradoxa
Automedon giant owl Eryphanis automedon (Faunia)


Great ramshorn snail Planorbarius corneus (pet shops, not photographed due to lack of interest basically)
Dolabella auricula (aquarium shop, pressed in a corner of the tank, in a very unaesthetic way for photographs)
Achatina albopicta (Plzen, the terrarium is in bad position for photographs, seen from over a wall)


Jewell anemone Corynactis viridis (La Rochelle aquarium)
Brush coral Acropora hyacinthus (Madrid)
Octopus coral Galaxea fascicularis (Madrid)


There are also some domestic forms that I've seen several times but not photographed because I need photos of natural-looking individuals withy a coat colour as similar as wild ancestor as possible, and I only saw different coloured ones. Including domestic sheep and goat, llama, Guinea pig, golden hamster, etc. Certainly not regretable misses.

Anybody here also keeps a list of the species that they have seen in captivity but didn't managed to photograph yet?

 

How are you alive after that many punches in the gut?

 

Just because the list of photographed ones is much times bigger than the list of missed ones!

 

Went to the St. Louis Zoo and the tuataras, one of the main animals I wanted to see, were off display. I did get to see the Tasmanian devils, though they were asleep.

The biggest miss was that as a teenager on a family trip to Hawaii I didn’t go to the Honolulu Zoo.

 

The same thing just happened to me a few days ago. Except, one of the devils was awake.

 

Definitely missing the aye-ayes at the Denver Zoo.

 

If you're ever in the area, Philly has them now!

 

One of my local zoos, the San Francisco zoo had an aye-aye exhibit for a couple years but it was only open for certain hours each day. I really wanted to see them but every time my family visited by the time we made it to the exhibit it either wasn't open yet or had already closed. About two years ago they closed the exhibit and I never got a chance to see them. I'm sure I'll see them one day at another zoos but I was upset I missed them there

 

Got a new one:Volcano rabbit in Nagoya

 

This is a pretty minor instance but on my most recent visit to the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium, we had to leave pretty soon because my brother had something going on at home, and for our final exhibit I could choose between either the great apes habitats or the penguins. I chose the penguins because unlike the gorillas and orangutans, we had not gotten good views of them on our previous visit. When we make it over there, however, there were no penguins to be seen.
While I’m at it, I thought I’d mention: despite visiting the Toledo Zoo’s “Penguin Beach” exhibit seven times since it opened in 2014, I’ve only actually seen the African penguins twice. So I guess that’s the bigger gut-punch here.

 

Saw them yesterday and they were up and active

 

I last visited the zoo a year and a half ago, so I'm not sure what the aye aye situation was for them back then. I was still glad because I got to see golden lion tamarins and gorillas.