I have read different posts of how some zoochatters declaring themselves that have some particular groups or related taxa of animals that are their favorite, or would want to work with, eg. small carnivores and tea , invertebrates, ant-eating mammals (aardvark250), felids (Arizona Docent), venomous snakes (Batto?), apes (ShonenJake13), small herptiles (jayjds2, Gulo gulo), various others or their zoochat name implies on particular animal (eg. lowland anoa, Loxodonta,Cobra). I will start with myself, I would definitively be most interested in: -Arboreal mammals (koala, sloths, tree kangaroos, cuscus, etc.) -Monkeys, apes, lemurs -Spotted felids and clouded leopard, some other small cats like goldens, Malayan tiger, spotted hyena (Feloidea) -Giraffes, okapi, black rhino, elephants, hippos -Psittacines (all) -Rhamphastidae, hornbills, great blue turaco -Old World vultures, King vulture, African fish eagle -Snakes (Viperinae, Crotalinae, Elapidae, Boidae) -Smaller islands lizards (iguanas-various, excluding green and sea iguanas, skinks, giant geckos) -Australasian monitor lizards What are yours? Hope so I am not borring, I have plenty of time. In part I have been inspired by a thread - What kind of zookeeper are you?
Insect eating mammal such as aardvarks(will see them in Sunday),armadillo,anteater Invertebrates like scorpion,antlion,beetle(but not cockroach) Marsupial(not kangaroo and koala) such as Tasmanian devil or quoll Color variats animal such as albino and king cheetah Whales or dolphins
1. Elephants (hence the screen name) 2. Ungulates, especially antelope 3. Felines 4. Canines 5. Pheasants Not that there's really animal I don't like.
Some of my favourites: -Lemurs -Psittacines -Frogs -Birds-of-paradise -Small and medium sized feline species
I am most interested in apes, particularly chimpanzees. Other favourite animals include hyena, big cats (not so much tigers for some reason, but all the other big cats), rhino, okapi, and pretty much all primates.
Me not so much lions, but all other big cats I guess because lions are very common in zoos... contrary some tiger subspecies are so intriguing and rare in zoos (Malayan, Indochinese, Bengal (outside India)..
As you can tell by my username, my #1 favorite animal in the whole wide world is the okapi. In all seriousness, orcas are my most favorite, ha ha. Cetaceans in general are pretty great, though nearing the top of the list are spinner dolphins, pygmy killer whales, vaquitas, and South Asian river dolphins. I've always been a cat lover too. You can't go wrong with tigers! I have a hard time choosing a favorite subspecies, they're all pretty great, but if I had to choose I'd probably lean toward the Sumatran tiger. My other favorite cats are cheetahs, ocelots, and fishing cats. Lately I've been really into birds. I live in Texas, you can do quite a bit of bird watching around here, especially on the coast. The osprey is my favorite bird. I'm also really into parrots. I have a fascination with non-primate animals that have lots of "human" traits despite not being closely related to us. So things like cetaceans, elephants, and parrots. I'm developing an interest in octopus as well. The funny thing is, I've never been big on primates. Pangolins are also cool. They look like mythical creatures. For the same reason, I'm a fan of the frilled shark, ha ha.
My Top 5 1. Felines, especially Cheetahs 2. Ungulates, especially Giraffes 3. Frogs 4. Primates 5. Birds
The wild counterparts to everyday domestic animals. Horses and Asses Cattle and other Bovids Cats Dogs Fowl, Grouse, Pheasants Swine "Cavy" type rodents
I am already listed in the opening post as being a cat (felid) fanatic. This is followed by mammalian carnivores in general.
Gorillas and gentle lemurs, of course and Demidoff's galagos and tree pangolins and golden lion tamarins, golden-headed lion tamarins and pied tamarins and grey seals and bottle-nosed dolphins and fairy blue flycatchers and wattle-eyed flycatchers and pygmy kingfishers and giant kingfishers and lories and peregrine falcons and Bewick's swans and whooper swans and long-tailed ducks and New Caledonian crows and tuataras and African freshwater pipefish Enneacampus ansorgii and all the different cichlids from Lake Tanganyika And perhaps a few more Alan
I really do like frogs, though my favorite would be the Panamanian golden frog, which is a toad. I like most toads too. I'd make a big list but you could put just about any in front of me and I'd be happy. I'm a lot more familiar with bird taxa, so it's easier to list those which I am partial to: Anseriformes, except for the magpie goose. They're a bit weird looking (though they have adorable babies!) Quetzals, especially the resplendent quetzal. Cocks-of-the-rock (both species) Mesoamerican Eagles (I've seen 4 out of the 5 species) Storks Pond-herons Shoebills Secretary birds Quails Large African eagles (African fish eagle, crowned eagle, martial eagle, a few others) African Vultures, King vultures, California condors I'll stop there with the birds My tastes in mammals are a bit obscure: Prosimians (pottos, bushbabies, lorises, and lemurs. I like most lemurs so I won't bother listing them) Elephant shrews Flying foxes Guenons Squirrels Three-toed sloths White-handed gibbons Deer Takin Snow leopards Pandas Otters White-bellied tree pangolins Tamanduas As you can see, there's not really one category I can fit any of that into.
I chose the name "zygodactyl" because a lot of the birds I find really interesting have zygodactyl feet. I love birds, with a preference for birds which like to climb around the trees rather than fly, and zygodactyly seems like it might have evolved to make that easier in parrots, mousebirds, and piciiforms. In order, my favorite groups of birds probably are: Parrots New Zealand wattlebirds (especially kokakos) Corvids Penguins Bucerotiformes (hornbills, ground hornbills, hoopoes, wood hoopoes) Ramphastides (barbets and toucans) Mousebirds Non-brood-parasitic cuckoos Turacos Apostlebirds/white-winged choughs Lyrebirds Cuckoo-rollers Ground rollers New Zealand wrens Vangas Auks Owls (well, I find most owls boring, but there's about half a dozen species I really like) Woodpeckers Pigeons Ducks Cypselomorphae (oilbirds, owlet-nightjars, swifts, hummingbirds, etc.) Coraciiformes (except ground-rollers) Hawks (including eagles) Regarding mammals, I have a strong fondness for: Bats (in fairness, I'm biased towards certain groups of bats, but I like almost all bats) Hyraxes (I just find them absolutely adorable, like a prairie dog designed by Dr. Seuss) Primates (hardly surprising) Bilby Sloths Social mongoose species (especially the banded mongoose) Quolls Opossums Armadillos Pangolins Possums Tenrecs Bandicoots Red pandas Raccoon family Springhares Bettongs Koalas Ground squirrels (esp prairie dogs) Platypodes Desmans Flying squirrels In terms of all other animals I have a fondness for: Crocodillians Members of the seahorse family Jellyfish Mantis shrimp Butterflies, skippers, and hawk-moths Dragonflies and damselflies Praying mantises Treehoppers In other words, I'm biased stronlgy towards warm-blooded animals of about the right size for cuddling, whether they're actually cuddly or not. I also really like taxonomic distinctiveness and/or distinctive behaviors.
