ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2019

New Year, new challenge! We are now on the seventh installment of this competition and every year I face my own challenge of coming up with a new group of animals that are engaging for participants, well represented in zoos around most of the world (with Oceania usually getting snubbed unfortunately…), and that doesn’t give one particular region an automatic advantage over the other. This year I spent quite a lot of time pondering over potential groups to cover and even made a shortlist of groups I hope to use over the coming years. After quite a few scrapped ideas I eventually settled on a group of animals that zoos themselves tend to overlook despite them being one of the largest and most diversified groups on the planet. The fact that I feel most ZooChatters tend to overlook them as well also played into my decision as part of the reason I love these challenges is it gets members focusing on animals that they might otherwise not pay much attention to. I am, of course, talking about Amphibians!

Rules are as follows:
1. You have to actually see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
3. All entries must be presented in numbered list form, with scientific names included (simply to make it easier to keep track of and to avoid uncountable species being slipped in due to vagueness);
4. You have to see the animal via normal public access (zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes do not count) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically the species has to be seen as Joe Public would;
5. Any severely limited opening or private collections don't count for this challenge. Controversial yes, but see previous point and it isn't fair to include a handful of days these collections might be open to the public as this might logistically disadvantage a large number of people;
6. Only public zoological collections count, animals seen at farms or pet stores do not count.
7. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
8. Only one subspecies per species can be counted;
9. Controversial entries due to splits will be discussed on a case-by-case basis;
10. Domestics do not count, the animals must be in a wild form. You can count a species that's been domesticated just as long as the animal you're looking at isn't;
11. Hybrid animals do not count;
12. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity under all the conditions listed above;
13. Anyone caught severely violating any of the above rules and/or participating in extremely unsportsmanlike conduct on or even off the forum is subject to disqualification (these are made for fun, by all means take them seriously but please do not ruin the fun for anyone else. I do not expect to have any problems, but I've added this in just in case);
14. Any issues with any of the above rules is open to discussion but the rules are set and any decisions made are final;
15. Apart from the unlikely event that someone gets to see all the species potentially viewable by 12/31/19, the winner will be deemed to be the person who's seen the most at that date.

Undoubtedly the lists this year will be much shorter than in the last few years and I’m not expecting anyone to crack 100, however I also expect this year to be a lot more competitive as a result. Zoos often snub amphibians, despite how endangered many are, and as a result most zoos exhibit the same species as each other. This will mean that every individual species seen is very important, and that one extra zoo visit for that one extra species could make all the difference between winning and losing.

As always, thanks to @Shorts for the original challenge idea and the general rules format.

I wish everyone the best of luck and happy spotting!

 

Why is that @Chlidonias ? Is it because there are few amphibians in NZ?

 

What is an example of a domestic amphibian?

 

I was warned you would ask this question.

As TLD said I was simply retaining the rules from previous years for consistency.

I probably would have gone with island endemics had I known both the North American and European challenges were going with them.

Funny thing is I very nearly went with snakes

~Thylo

 

That would have been a mistake I think; although I think the winner of these challenges will inevitably be whoever hits the right European zoos, it at least adds to the challenge if they have to hit different ones for different challenges.

 

Certain Axolotl morphs and pacman frog morphs would be examples as domestics. I will count the albino form because that's the most common one in zoos but the more "fancy" varieties are not allowed. The "adult form" Axolotl also does not count.

~Thylo

 

There is also the question of commercially farmed frogs; something I know nothing about. Are there recognized domestic breeds?

 

Chester Zoo- 01/01/2019

1) Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates ternbilis)
2) Blue Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius)
3) Green and Black Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus)
4) Crowned Tree Frog (Anotheca spinosa)
5) Morelet's Tree Frog (Agalychnis moreletii)
6) Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca)
7) Marañón Poison Frog (Excidobates mysteriosus)
8) Rio Cauca Caecilian (Typhlonectes natans)
9) Mountain Chicken (Leptodactylus fallax)

 

Don't forget Riga Zoo which has more than 30 amphibian species on show. Though as I mentioned in another thread, it's somewhat out of the way if one wants to combine several zoo visits in one trip...

 

Roger Williams park Zoo
1. Yellow-banded poison dart frog
Dendrobates leucomelas
2. Dyeing poison dart frog
Dendrobates tinctorius

 

Cincinnati Zoo 1/1/19

1. Argentine horned frog (Ceratophrys ornata)

 

Walkabout Creek Nature Centre 2/1/19
1. Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)
2. White-lipped Frog (Litoria infrafrenata)

I predict I’ll probably get under ten species this year. There aren’t many local zoos/aquaria that display many amphibians (bar maybe Currumbin).

 

Artis

1. Common spadefoot (Pelobates fuscus)
2. Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
3. Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl)
4. Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra)
5. Red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidrias)
6. Blue poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius)
7. Golden mantella (Mantella aurantiaca)
8. Anthony’s poison frog (Epipedobates anthonyi)

 

Well, you’ve got to start somewhere.

David Fleay Wildlife Park
1. Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

 

Sylvan Heights Bird Park 1/4/18

1. Dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius

The only non-bird at the park, as far as I’m aware.