Originally started by @Shorts - the ZooChat Challenges have become a ZooChat institution. This post from the 2018 UK challenge explains some of the history and motivation: About fifteen or so years ago my then girlfriend (now wife) and I picked up a copy of an “Usborne Spotter's Guide” for Wild Animals which featured various, you guessed it, wild animals with spaces to tick off each one as you saw them. Whilst it was a little optimistic with some of the species featured we had a good few years of fun ticking off most of the available animals viewable in UK zoos and a smattering of European zoos (frustratingly a small handful which are still potentially spottable still evade us to this day). There have been various similar challenges started by other members - so this post is simply an index to all the various challenge threads to make it easy for members to look through the history. UK Challenge (@Shorts) ZooChat Challenge UK 2012 ZooChat Challenge UK 2013 ZooChat Challenge UK 2014 ZooChat Challenge UK 2015 ZooChat Challenge UK 2016 ZooChat Challenge UK 2017 ZooChat Challenge UK 2018 ZooChat Challenge UK 2019 Global Challenge (@filipinos and then @ThylacineAlive and then @ZooBinh) ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2013 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2014 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2015 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2016 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2017 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2018 ZooChat Challenge (Global) 2019 ZooChat Challenge Global 2020 ZooChat Challenge Global 2021 Belgium / Netherlands Challenge (@KevinVar) ZooChat Challenge BE/NL 2016 Europe Challenge (@Vision and then @ShonenJake13) ZooChat Challenge Europe 2017 ZooChat Challenge Europe 2018 Zoochat Challenge Europe 2019 ZooChat Challenge Europe 2020 ZooChat Challenge Europe 2021 North America Challenge (@jayjds2 and then @Coelacanth18) ZooChat Challenge North America 2018 ZooChat Challenge North America 2019 ZooChat Challenge North America 2020 ZooChat Challenge North America 2021 Here is a summary of the rules used by @Shorts for the 2018 UK Challenge - other challenges may have specific rules based on the species in the list or the geography: 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); Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond; You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) 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; Any severely limited opening or private collections (e.g. Heythrop, WHF, and any similar collections or refuges) don't count for this challenge. Controversial I know, but see previous point and I didn't think it 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; Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along (let's say mandatory reporting from fifteen species and above); The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most by the 31st of December My (final) decision is final but I'm open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
