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ZooChat Challenge North America 2020

Discussion in 'Quizzes, Competitions & Games' started by jayjds2, 1 Jan 2020.

  1. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    New year, new decade, new challenge. Sad to see @Vision and @KevinVar go, of course, and this year North America and Europe are not mirroring challenges. Last year we broke away from taxonomic boundaries for geographic ones; this year, North America’s challenge will be splitting from the norm even further: this year’s challenge is IUCN Threatened Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, with thanks to @d1am0ndback for the idea!

    As I’m sure we all know, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has a sliding scale rating the likelihood of extinction of animals. Not every animal is evaluated, but most zoo animals are. With the modern zoo often existing for the purpose of conservation, many collections have shifted to the keeping and breeding of Threatened species. These species are those which fall in the categories of Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Extinct in the Wild. So, these are the species that count for the challenge. To avoid bloating our lists too much, I’m restricting the challenge to non-fish vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

    And before I get into the actual rules, I thought I’d mention the fun one: put all your lifer species in bold! This is a great way to track your personal growth throughout the year.

    Now, for the rules, with thanks to @Shorts for coming up with the initial set from which these are modified:

    1. You have to actually see the animal, even if just for a second. Seeing the sign for the animal or simply visiting the collection that has it does not count.
    2. Photographic proof is not required, though it of course always helps to keep track of what you’ve seen. Your word is your bond.
    3. All entries must be presented in numbered list form, with scientific names included.
    4. You have to see the animal via normal public access during normal public opening hours. Behind-the-scenes tours, whether offered by the zoo commercially or by a certain individual privately, do not count, nor do keeper-for-a-day programs or anything of the sort. Basically the species has to be seen as Joe Public would, from the public area of the zoo while it is open.
    5. Any severely limited opening or private collections don't count for this challenge. While some may disagree with this rule, it disadvantages others who are unable to arrange visits to such collections during those times. Facilities that may only be visited by tours are acceptable as long as the tours are offered during a large portion of the year. An example of this is Duke Lemur Center.
    6. Only public zoological collections count. Animals seen at farms, exotic animal expos, or pet stores of any kind do not count. If a certain collection is confusing to you, please feel free to reply here with questions.
    7. Report your progress on this thread as you go along. While you won’t lose points for not doing so, it is more competitive if each person can see how all the other participants are faring. You do not need to re-type your list every time you update, quoting the previous post is sufficient. Include the collection you saw the species at and the date you visited it.
    8. Only one subspecies per species can be counted. If you do not see a pure subspecies, it is still okay to count the species. Refer to the accepted taxonomy for any subspecies questions or elevations.
    9. Similarly, refer to the accepted taxonomy (in this case, IUCN) for any species splits.
    10. Hybrid animals do not count. Any issues that may arise due to the taxonomy we are following will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
    11. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity in North America under the conditions listed above.
    12. Any issues with any of the above rules is open to discussion but the rules are set and any decisions made are final.
    13. The winner will be the person who has seen the most species by December 31, 2020. Please be sure to have all of your entries in by or on that date.

    Here’s IUCN for reference: IUCN

    And the master lists of species:

    1. Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii

    2. Matschie’s tree-kangaroo, Dendrolagus matschiei

    3. Sulawesi bear cuscus, Ailurops ursinus

    4. Brush-tailed bettong, Bettongia penicillata

    5. Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus

    6. Addax, Addax nasomaculatus

    7. Aoudad, Ammotragus lervia

    8. Gaur, Bos gaurus

    9. Banteng, Bos javanicus

    10. Lowland anoa, Bubalus depressicornis

    11. Takin, Budorcas taxicolor

    12. Nubian ibex, Capra nubiana

    13. Red-fronted gazelle, Eudorcas rufifrons

    14. Cuvier’s gazelle, Gazella cuvieri

    15. Rhim gazelle, Gazella leptoceros

    16. Speke’s gazelle, Gazella spekei

    17. Goitered gazelle, Gazella subgutturosa

    18. Nile lechwe, Kobus megaceros

    19. Addra gazelle, Nanger dama

    20. Soemmerring’s gazelle, Nanger soemmerringii

    21. Chinese goral, Naemorhedus caudatus

    22. Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx

    23. Beisa oryx, Oryx beisa

    24. Scimitar-horned oryx, Oryx dammah

    25. Mouflon, Ovis orientalis/gmelini

    26. Giant eland, Tragelaphus derbianus

    27. Pere David’s deer, Elaphurus davidianus

    28. Calamian deer, Axis calamianensis

    29. Hog deer, Axis porcinus

    30. White-lipped deer, Cervus albirostris

    31. Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus

    32. Barasingha, Rucervus duvaucelii

    33. Eld’s deer, Rucervus eldii

    34. Sambar, Rusa unicolor

    35. Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis

    36. Okapi, Okapi johnstoni

    37. Pygmy hippopotamus, Choeropsis liberiensis

    38. Common hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius

    39. Siberian musk deer, Moschus moschiferus

    40. Babirusa, Babyrousa celebensis

    41. Visayan warty pig, Sus cebifrons

    42. Chacoan peccary, Catagonus wagneri

    43. Red wolf, Canis rufus

    44. Dhole, Cuon alpinus

    45. African wild dog, Lycaon pictus

    46. Fossa, Cryptoprocta ferox

    47. Fanaloka, Fossa fossana

    48. Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus

    49. Black-footed cat, Felis nigripes

    50. Mainland clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa

    51. Lion, Panthera leo

    52. Leopard, Panthera pardus

    53. Tiger, Panthera tigris

    54. Snow leopard, Panthera uncia

    55. Fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus

    56. Eastern spotted skunk, Spilogale putorius

    57. Asian small-clawed otter, Aonyx cinereus

    58. Sea otter, Enhydra lutris

    59. Black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes

    60. Giant otter, Pteronura brasiliensis

    61. Pacific walrus, Odobenus rosmarus

    62. Hawaiian monk sea, Monachus schauinslandi

    63. Giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca

    64. Sun bear, Helarctos malayanus

    65. Sloth bear, Melursus ursinus

    66. Andean bear, Tremarctos ornatus

    67. Polar bear, Ursus maritimus

    68. Asian black bear, Ursus thibetanus

    69. Binturong, Arctictis binturong

    70. Grey-headed flying fox, Pteropus poliocephalus

    71. Rodrigues flying fox, Pteropus rodricensis

    72. African wild ass, Equus africanus

    73. Przewalski’s horse, Equus ferus

    74. Grevy;s zebra, Equus grevyi

    75. Mountain zebra, Equus zebra

    76. Black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis

    77. Greater one-horned rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis

    78. Baird’s tapir, Tapirus baridii

    79. Malayan tapir, Tapirus indicus

    80. Mountain tapir, Tapirus pinchaque

    81. Lowland tapir, Tapirus terrestris

    82. White-bellied tree pangolin, Phataginus tricuspis

    83. Giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactylus

    84. Grey-handed night monkey, Aotus griseimembra

    85. Nancy Ma’s night monkey, Aotus nancymaae

    86. Black spider monkey, Ateles fusciceps

    87. Geoffroy’s spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi

    88. Brown spider monkey, Ateles hybridus

    89. Callimico, Callimico goeldii

    90. Wied’s marmoset, Callithrix kuhlii

    91. Golden-headed lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysomelas

    92. Golden lion tamarin, Leotopithecus rosalia

    93. Pied tamarin, Saguinus bicolor

    94. Cotton-top tamarin, Saguinus oedipus

    95. Crested capuchin, Sapajus robustus

    96. Red-capped mangabey, Cercocebus torquatus

    97. Diana monkey, Cercopithecus diana

    98. Black-crested mangabey, Lophocebus aterrimus

    99. Black-crested macaque, Macaca nigra

    100. Booted macaque, Macaca ochreata

    101. Lion-tailed macaque, Macaca silenus

    102. Drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus

    103. Mandrill, Mandrillus sphinx

    104. Javan langur, Trachypithecus auratus

    105. Francois langur, Trachypithecus francoisi

    106. Aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis

    107. Western lowland gorilla, Gorilla gorilla

    108. Bonobo, Pan paniscus

    109. Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes

    110. Sumatran orangutan, Pongo abelii

    111. Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus

    112. Eastern hoolock, Hoolock leuconedys

    113. White-handed gibbon, Hylobates lar

    114. Silvery gibbon, Hylobates moloch

    115. Mueller’s gibbon, Hylobates muelleri

    116. Pileated gibbon, Hylobates pileatus

    117. Buff-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus gabriellae

    118. Northern white-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus leucogenys

    119. Siamang, Symphalangus syndactylus

    120. Coquerel’s sifaka, Propithecus coquereli

    121. White-fronted lemur, Eulemur albifrons

    122. Collared lemur, Eulemur collaris

    123. Crowned lemur, Eulemur coronatus

    124. Blue-eyed black lemur, Eulemur flavifrons

    125. Black lemur, Eulemur macaco

    126. Mongoose lemur, Eulemur mongoz

    127. Red-bellied lemur, Eulemur rubriventer

    128. Northern red-fronted brown lemur, Eulemur rufus

    129. Eastern lesser grey bamboo lemur, Hapalemur griseus

    130. Ring-tailed lemur, Lemur catta

    131. Red-ruffed lemur, Varecia rubra

    132. Black-and-white ruffed lemur, Varecia variegata

    133. Red slender loris, Loris tardigradis

    134. Pygmy slow loris, Nycticebus pygmaeus

    135. Red uakari, Cacajao calvus

    136. Asian elephant, Elephas maximus

    137. African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana

    138. Long-tailed chinchilla, Chinchilla lanigera

    139. New England Cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis

    140. Malagasy giant jumping rat, Hypogeomys antimena

    141. West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus

    1. Somali Ostrich, Struthio molybdophanes

    2. North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli

    3. Double-wattled Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius

    4. Blue-billed Curassow, Crax alberti

    5. Black Curassow, Crax alector

    6. Red-billed Curassow, Crax blumenbachii

    7. Wattled Curassow, Crax globulosa

    8. Great Curassow, Crax rubra

    9. Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus

    10. Northern Helmeted Curassow, Pauxi pauxi

    11. Southern Helmeted Curassow, Pauxi unicornis

    12. Maleo, Macrocephalon maleo

    13. Tongan Scrubfowl, Megapodius pritchardii

    14. Congo Peafowl, Afropavo congensis

    15. Brown Eared-pheasant, Crossoptilon mantchuricum

    16. Edward's Pheasant, Lophura edwardsi

    17. Malayan Crestless Fireback, Lophura erythrophthalma

    18. Green Peafowl, Pavo mucus

    19. Mountain Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron inopinatum

    20. Malayan Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron malacense

    21. Palawan Peacock-pheasant, Polyplectron napoleonis

    22. Reeve's Pheasant, Syrmaticus reevesii

    23. Blythe's Tragopan, Tragopan blythii

    24. Cabot's Tragopan, Tragopan caboti

    25. Greater Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido

    26. West Indian Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna arborea

    27. White-headed Duck, Oxyura leucocephala

    28. Red-breasted Goose, Branta ruficollis

    29. Hawaiian Goose, Branta sandvicensis

    30. Swan Goose, Anser cygnoides

    31. Scaly-sided Merganser, Mergus squamatus

    32. Blue-winged Goose, Cyanochen cyanoptera

    33. Marbled Duck, Marmaronetta angustirostris

    34. White-winged Wood Duck, Asarcornis scutulata

    35. Baer's Pochard, Aythya baeri

    36. Common Pochard, Aythya ferina

    37. Madagascar Teal, Anas bernieri

    38. Laysan Teal, Anas laysanensis

    39. Phillipine Duck, Anas luzonica

    40. Hawaiian Duck, Anas wyvilliana

    41. Long-tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis

    42. Chimney Swift, Chaetura pelagica

    43. Socorro Dove, Zenaida graysoni

    44. Salvin's Pigeon, Patagioenas oenops

    45. Philipine Collared Dove, Streptopelia dussumieri

    46. European Turtle Dove, Streptopelia turtur

    47. Pink Pigeon, Nesoenas mayeri

    48. Mindanao Bleeding-heart Dove, Gallicolumba crinigera

    49. White-naped Pheasant Pigeon, Otidiphaps aruensis

    50. Western Crowned Pigeon, Goura cristata

    51. Mariana Fruit Dove, Ptilinopus roseicapilla

    52. African Black Crowned Crane, Balearica pavonina

    53. Grey Crowned Crane, Balearica regulorum

    54. Siberian Crane, Leucogeranus leucogeranus

    55. White-naped Crane, Antigone vipio

    56. Sarus Crane, Antigone antigone

    57. Wattled Crane, Bugeranus carunculatus

    58. Blue Crane, Anthropoides paradiseus

    59. Red-crowned Crane, Grus japonensis

    60. Whooping Crane, Grus americana

    61. Hooded Crane, Grus monacha

    62. Black-necked Crane, Grus nigricollis

    63. Guam Rail, Hypotaenidia owstoni

    64. Ridgeway's Rail, Rallus obsoletus

    65. Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica

    66. Kagu, Rhynochetos jubatus

    67. Humboldt Penguin, Spheniscus humboldti

    68. African Penguin, Spheniscus demersus

    69. Southern Rockhopper, Eudyptes chrysocome

    70. Macaroni Penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus

    71. Northern Rockhopper Penguin, Eudyptes moseleyi

    72. Milky Stork, Mycteria cinerea

    73. Storm's Stork, Ciconia stormi

    74. Oriental White Stork, Ciconia boyciana

    75. Lesser Adjutant, Leptoptilos javanicus

    76. Northern Bald Ibis, Geronticus eremita

    77. Southern Bald Ibis, Geronticus calvus

    78. Shoebill, Balaeniceps rex

    79. California Condor, Gymnogyps californianus

    80. Lappet-faced Vulture, Torgos tracheliotos

    81. White-backed Vulture, Gyps africanus

    82. White-rumped Vulture, Gyps bengalensis

    83. Cape Vulture, Gyps coprotheres

    84. Ruppel's Vulture, Gyps rueppellii

    85. Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus

    86. Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus

    87. White-headed Vulture, Trigonoceps occipitalis

    88. Martial Eagle, Polemaetus bellicosus

    89. Steller's Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus pelagicus

    90. Secretary Bird, Sagittarius serpentarius

    91. Southern Ground Hornbill, Bucorvus leadbeateri

    92. South Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill, Rhabdotorrhinus exarhatus

    93. Red-knobbed Hornbill, Rhyticeros cassidix

    94. Yellow-casqued Hornbill, Ceratogymna elata

    95. Guam Kingfisher, Todiramphus cinnamonius

    96. Red-billed Toucan, Ramphastos tucanus

    97. Channel-billed Toucan, Ramphastos vitellinus

    98. Saker Falcon, Falco cherrug

    99. Kea, Nestor notabilis

    100. Lesser Sulfur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea

    101. Umbrella Cockatoo, Cacatua alba

    102. Moluccan Cockatoo, Cacatua moluccensis

    103. African Grey Parrot, Psittacus erithacus

    104. Timneh Parrot, Psittacus timneh

    105. Hyacinth Macaw, Anodorhynchus hyacinthus

    106. Blue-throated Macaw, Ara glaucogularis

    107. Great Green Macaw, Ara ambiguus

    108. Military Macaw, Ara militaris

    109. Red-fronted Macaw, Ara rubrogenys

    110. Blue-headed Macaw, Primolius couloni

    111. Thick-billed Parrot, Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha

    112. Golden Conure, Guaruba guarouba

    113. Sun Conure, Aratinga soltitalis

    114. Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Amazona barbadensis

    115. Yellow-headed Amazon, Amazona oratrix

    116. St. Vincent Amazon, Amazona guildingii

    117. Puerto Rican Amazon, Amazona vittata

    118. White-bellied Caique, Pionites leucogaster

    119. Pesquet Parrot, Psittrichas fulgidus

    120. Horned Parakeet, Eunymphicus cornutus

    121. Red-and-blue Lory, Eos histrio

    122. Forsten's Lorikeet, Trichoglossus forsteni

    123. Biak Lorikeet, Trichoglossus rosenbergii

    124. Purple-naped Lory, Lorius domicella

    125. Black-cheeked Lovebird, Agapornis nigrigenis

    126. Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Cephalopterus penduliger

    127. Bridled White-eye, Zosterops conspicillatus

    128. Golden White-eye, Cleptornis marchei

    129. Blue-crowned Laughingthrush, Garrulax courtoisi

    130. Bali Mynah, Leucopsar rothschildi

    131. Java Sparrow, Lonchura oryzivora


    1. Madagascar big-headed turtle, Erymnochelys madagascariensis

    2. Big-headed Amazon river turtle, Peltocephalus dumerilianus

    3. Red-headed side-necked turtle, Podocnemis erythrocephala

    4. Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle, Podocnemis unifilis

    5. Roti Island snake-necked turtle, Chelodina mccordi

    6. Parker’s snake-necked turtle, Chelodina parkeri

    7. Mary River turtle, Elusor macrurus

    8. Fly River turtle, Carettochelys insculpta

    9. Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle, Chitra chitra

    10. Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle, Chitra indica

    11. Spotted turtle, Clemmys guttata

    12. Western pond turtle, Actinemys marmorata

    13. Bog turtle, Glyptemys muhlenbergii

    14. Wood turtle, Glyptemys insculpta

    15. Eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina

    16. Cagle’s map turtle, Graptemys caglei

    17. Yellow-blotched map turtle, Graptemys flavimaculata

    18. Pascagoula map turtle, Graptemys gibbonsi

    19. Ringed sawback turtle, Graptemys oculifera

    20. Ornate slider, Trachemys ornata

    21. Southern river terrapin, Batagur affinis

    22. Northern river terrapin, Batagur baska

    23. Painted terrapin, Batagur borneoensis

    24. Southeast Asian box turtle, Cuora amboinensis

    25. Yellow-headed box turtle, Cuora aurocapitata

    26. Bourret’s box turtle, Cuora bourreti

    27. Chinese box turtle, Curoa flavomarginata

    28. McCord’s box turtle, Cuora mccordi

    29. Pan’s box turtle, Cuora pani

    30. Golden coin turtle, Cuora trifasciata

    31. Spotted pond turtle, Geoclemys hamiltonii

    32. Black-breasted leaf turtle, Geoemyda spengleri

    33. Giant Asian pond turtle, Heosemys grandis

    34. Yellow-headed temple turtle, Heosemys annandalii

    35. Spiny turtle, Heosemys spinosa

    36. Arakan forest turtle, Heosemys depressa

    37. Sulawesi forest turtle, Leucocephalon yuwonoi

    38. Vietnamese pond turtle, Mauremys annamensis

    39. Yellow pond turtle, Mauremys mutica

    40. Chinese pond turtle, Mauremys reevesii

    41. Chinese stripe-necked turtle, Mauremys sinensis

    42. Malaysian giant pond turtle, Orlitia borneensis

    43. Beal’s four-eyed turtle, Sacalia bealei

    44. Four-eyed turtle, Sacalia quadriocellata

    45. Black marsh turtle, Siebenrockiella crassicollis

    46. Home’s hingeback tortoise, Kinixys homeana

    47. Pancake tortoise, Malacochersus tornieri

    48. Asian brown tortoise, Manouria emys

    49. Impressed tortoise, Manouria impressa

    50. Common spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides

    51. Flat-tailed spider tortoise, Pyxis planicauda

    52. Egyptian tortoise, Testudo kleinmanni

    53. Agassiz’s desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii

    54. Gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus

    55. Elongated tortoise, Indotestudo elongata

    56. Forsten’s tortoise, Indotestudo forstenii

    57. Indian star tortoise, Geochelone elegans

    58. Burmese star tortoise, Geochelone platynota

    59. Aldabra giant tortoise, Aldabarachelys gigantea

    60. Radiated tortoise, Astrochelys radiata

    61. African spur-thighed tortoise, Centrochelys sulcata

    62. Chaco tortoise, Chelonoidis chilensis

    63. Yellow-footed tortoise, Chelonoidis denticulata

    64. Volcán Wolf giant tortoise, Chelonoidis becki

    65. Volcán Sierra Negra tortoise, Chelonoidis guntheri

    66. Volcán Darwin giant tortoise, Chelonoidis microphyes

    67. Western Santa Cruz giant tortoise, Chelonoidis porteri

    68. Volcán Alcedo giant tortoise, Chelonoidis vandenburghi

    69. Cerro Azul giant tortoise, Chelonoidis vicina

    70. Alligator snapping turtle, Macrochelys temminckii

    71. Central American river turtle, Dermatemys mawii

    72. Loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta

    73. Kemps Ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii

    74. Olive Ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea

    75. Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

    76. Hawksbill sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata

    77. Crested gecko, Correlophus ciliatus

    78. Bavay’s giant gecko, Mniarogekko chahoua

    79. Psychedelic rock gecko, Cnemaspis psychedelica

    80. Spearpoint leaf-tailed gecko, Uroplatus ebenaui

    81. Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko, Uroplatus henkeli

    82. Klemmer’s day gecko, Phelsuma klemmeri

    83. Standing’s day gecko, Phelsuma standingi

    84. Electric blue cave gecko, Lygodactylus williamsi

    85. Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus crocodilurus

    86. Gray’s monitor, Varanus olivaceus

    87. Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis

    88. Mexican knob-scaled lizard, Xenosaurus grandis

    89. Hispaniolan giant galliwasp, Celestus warreni

    90. Depp’s alligator lizard, Abronia deppii

    91. Mexican alligator lizard, Abronia graminea

    92. Banded alligator lizard, Abronia taeniata

    93. Decary’s leaf chameleon, Brookesia decaryi

    94. Four-horned lizard, Trioceros quadricornis

    95. Philippine sailfin lizard, Hydrosaurus pustulatus

    96. Egyptian uromastyx, Uromastyx aegyptia

    97. Fiji banded iguana, Brachylophus bulabula

    98. Lau banded iguana, Brachylophus fasciatus

    99. Reticulate collared lizard, Crotaphytus reticulatus

    100. Utila island iguana, Ctenosaura bakeri

    101. Yucatan spinytail iguana, Ctenosaura defensor

    102. Club-tailed iguana, Ctenosaura quinquecarinata

    103. Jamaican iguana, Cyclura collei

    104. Rhinoceros iguana, Cyclura cornuta

    105. Grand Cayman blue iguana, Cyclura lewisi

    106. Cuban rock iguana, Cyclura nubila

    107. Anegada ground iguana, Cyclura pinguis

    108. Woma python, Aspidites ramsayi

    109. Burmese python, Python bivittatus

    110. Virgin Islands boa, Chilabothrus monensis

    111. Jamaican boa, Chilabothrus subflavus

    112. Ornate palm pitviper, Bothriechis aurifer

    113. Rowley’s palm pitviper, Bothriechis rowleyi

    114. Santa Catalina rattlesnake, Crotalus catalinensis

    115. Mexican black-tailed pitviper, Mixcoatlus melanurus

    116. Mangshan mountain viper, Protobothrops mangshanensis

    117. Usambara mountain viper, Atheris ceratophora

    118. Iranian mountain viper, Montivipera albicornuta

    119. Ocellated mountain viper, Montivipera wagneri

    120. Kaznakov’s viper, Vipera kaznakovi

    121. Southern snub-nosed viper, Vipera latastei

    122. Moellendorf’s ratsnake, Elaphe moellendorffi

    123. Louisiana pine snake, Pituophis ruthveni

    124. Giant garter snake, Thamnophis gigas

    125. Chinese cobra, Naja atra

    126. Black-and-white spitting cobra, Naja siamensis

    127. King cobra, Ophiophagus hannah

    128. Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis

    129. American crocodile, Crocodylus acutus

    130. Orinoco crocodile, Crocodylus intermedius

    131. Philippine crocodile, Crocodylus mindorensis

    132. Mugger crocodile, Crocodylus palustris

    133. Cuban crocodile, Crocodylus rhombifer

    134. Siamese crocodile, Crocodylus siamensis

    135. Slender-snouted crocodile, Mecistops cataphractus

    136. Dwarf crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis

    137. Indian gharial, Gavialis gangeticus

    138. Sunda gharial, Tomistoma schlegelii


    1. Togo slippery frog, Conraua derooi

    2. Andean marsupial frog, Gastrotheca riobambae

    3. Big-eyed tree frog, Leptopelis vermiculatus

    4. Wyoming toad, Anaxyrus baxteri

    5. Houston toad, Anaxyrus houstonensis

    6. Rio Pescado stubfoot toad, Atelopus balios

    7. Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus pulcher

    8. Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki

    9. Kihansi spray toad, Nectophrynoides asperginis

    10. Puerto Rican crested toad, Peltophryne lemur

    11. Granular poison frog, Oophaga granulifera

    12. Harlequin poison frog, Oophaga histrionica

    13. Lehmann’s poison frog, Oophaga lehmanni

    14. Golfodulcean poison frog, Phyllobates vittatus

    15. Golden poison frog, Phyllobates bicolor

    16. Terrible poison frog, Phyllobates terribilis

    17. Blessed poison frog, Ranitomeya benedicta

    18. Fantastic poison frog, Ranitomeya fantastica

    19. Summers’ poison frog, Ranitomeya summersi

    20. Lemur leaf frog, Agalychnis lemur

    21. Mountain chicken, Leptodactylus fallax

    22. Lake Titicaca water frog, Telmatobius culeus

    23. Pacific horned frog, Ceratophrys stolzmanni

    24. Golden mantella, Mantella aurantiaca

    25. Bernhard’s mantella, Mantella bernhardi

    26. Blue-legged mantella, Mantella expectata

    27. Madagascar painted mantella, Mantella madagascariensis

    28. Black-eared mantella, Mantella milotympanum

    29. Green mantella, Mantella viridis

    30. Mississippi gopher frog, Lithobates sevosus

    31. Chinese giant salamander, Andrias davidianus

    32. Anderson’s salamander, Ambystoma andersoni

    33. Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum

    34. Conant’s mushroom-tongue salamander, Bolitoglossa conanti

    35. Shenandoah salamander, Plethodon shenandoah

    36. Texas blind salamander, Eurycea rathbuni

    37. Barton Springs salamander, Eurycea sosorum

    38. Anderson’s newt, Echinotriton andersoni

    39. Kweichow crocodile newt, Tylototriton kweichowensis

    40. Black-spotted newt, Notophthalmus meridionalis

    41. Kaiser’s newt, Neurergus kaiseri

    42. Anatolian newt, Neurergus stauchii

    43. Brown newt, Cynops ensicauda

    Good luck everyone! Let’s make this a fun year!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 2 Jan 2020
  2. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Hmm. The problem I foresee with this challenge is that it’s going to take quite a bit of research in some cases for people to be able to ensure their lists are both complete and compliant with the rules, especially if species need to be searched individually for their status.

    Can the terms of reference be narrowed further? And is there a single master list that contains all listed species in one place? Otherwise I fear it will prove to be more work than fun.
     
  3. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    And aside from the research side, there’s also practical questions about just how big these lists would get and whether it’s manageable. There’s over 9000 eligible species.

    Anybody whose first visit for the year was to San Diego would likely need to note down and then list at least 100, possibly 200 species from one zoo trip alone.
     
  4. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I feel like IUCN is sufficiently narrow - all relevant data are contained with one, easy-to-use website. Furthermore, zoo information signage often indicate whether animals fall into the category, and if not, it is very quick and easy to search it up on IUCN. There is also a good chance that zoochatters will already know whether an animal qualifies - for example, we all know tigers and most common charismatic megafauna in zoos are endangered.

    As far as I know, there’s no master list of species that could qualify, but if anyone knows where to find one, please link it!


    Perhaps over 9,000 species are eligible, but the vast, vast majority of those are not kept in captivity in North America. I just briefly went through the most recent species list of SDZ on the forum (by @Anteaterman) and came up with less than 100 species that would qualify. It should be easily manageable and is a less daunting task than it would at first appear.
     
  5. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I understand your reasoning, but the issue isn’t how many eligible species are kept in captivity, but the sheer number of eligible species, which will require people to check virtually *everything*.

    Say somebody visited San Diego, Chicago, Dallas and New York in the course of a year. They might go to 8-10 zoos and have a list of perhaps 500 or more species to grapple with. Maybe somebody wants to go to Shedd Aquarium and list everything they see, but do they then really want to spend a couple of hours plugging every species into a database to see if it counts? And then do it all again for Dallas World Aquarium?

    The concept is great and with some further finessing I think it can work. But it’d be too much work for me as currently constituted. My suggestion? If you contained it to mammals, birds and reptiles, and to ‘critically endangered’ you’d still have 700+ species potentially eligible, and we could work together to generate a master list for reference.
     
  6. TheGerenuk

    TheGerenuk Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Question about the status of giraffes. What taxonomy are we using here and will they still remain classified as Vulnerable (according to the IUCN)?
     
  7. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I think still you are overestimating just how many species might qualify.

    If we were to limit ourselves to what you suggest, then only the following would qualify:
    27 mammal species
    16 bird species
    36 reptile species

    - for a total of 79, barely 11% of all "eligible" species.

    This is using my lifelist as a baseline, and while it is not an exhaustive list of all species kept in the country, it is pretty close when considering the vast number of public collections I have visited, including every major collection in every city you mention.

    In your first hypothetical example of the San Diego Zoo, I can think of few species one would gain after getting their first 100 from there. Maybe another 100 total from zoos in the other cities, and a few fish here and there to add to the total from aquariums. Again, I am assuming the average ZooChatter already knows a thing or two about animals and whether they are endangered - not every animal, perhaps, but it's not at the scale where one would have to plug in every animal they saw into IUCN.
    We are strictly following IUCN, so for the purposes of this challenge we will be considering giraffes as one species and as Vulnerable. Should IUCN update throughout the year, new species may be counted, but people will not lose points they have already.
     
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  8. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Well, I certainly don’t know off the top of my head the conservation status of each bird or reptile (let alone fish or amphibian) I see in a zoo, and I suspect most of the rest of us don’t either.

    I get the sense you’re not contemplating any change, so I might as well leave it. It’s a bit of a personal disappointment for me, as this year was perhaps the only time I might ever participate in a North American challenge, but I’m not going to spend a holiday poring over IUCN red lists. Best of luck.
     
  9. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Perhaps not, but as I mentioned, most zoo signage (particularly in accreditted zoos in North America) already gives some indication of whether species would qualify. If one pays attention to this (as, I'd assume, most ZooChatters do), it's an easy starting point of what needs to be noted. As more and more ZooChatters post species here, the others can note qualifying species as well.
    I'm not not contemplating change, but given you're the only one yet to raise an alternate suggestion (and having had several other ZooChatters, including several other active participants in yearly challenges, review the idea before posting) I would consider it unlikely. I feel narrowing the challenge much more will narrow it too much, failing to provide entertainment for a year. What I am most likely to do is remove fish from the list of accepted species, but part of why this challenge exists, in my opinion, is to grow people's knowledge of a certain group of animals - and fish are often overlooked.
     
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  10. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I think including fish is the biggest single deal-breaker for me. It’s simply too hard. I’m inclined to say the same for amphibians. But whatever the way you choose to proceed, what you need is a heuristic that allows people to easily rule out species that definitely *don’t* count, and that’s where your 9000 potentially eligible species become a problem. I’m not convinced signage will be of a consistent enough quality to be sufficient.

    My observation (and this comes from having had to tinker with categories myself for Cup purposes) is that your category needs to be intuitive, and that it shouldn’t require a specialist degree of knowledge to *be* intuitive. Playing the primate challenge a couple of years ago was great: I certainly couldn’t name any and all primate species before arriving at a zoo, but I knew a primate when I saw one!
     
  11. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    You can always choose not to include fish - I suspect many members will do likewise, and in reality few species will be kept anyways - I suspect it will have little impact on any member's overall score.
     
  12. Imperator Furiosa

    Imperator Furiosa Well-Known Member

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    Oh this will be very interesting. I feel bad about falling off last year's North America challenge but I'll try to keep up with it this year!

    Also...the Shedd Aquarium could possibly give me a numbers boost if I count fish.
     
  13. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The challenge has potential, but I fear it is too big now and complicated now. I would certainly remove the fish which even for most zoo nerds is far from an intuitive group. There are so maby problems with IDing them and zoo signage for fish is often hopelessly inadequate. It is going to give problems and won't be any fun...

    For the other groups at least signage and IDs are normally correct and up to date and these groups are at least somewhat intuitive or not hugely represented in zoos (in the Amphibian case).
     
    Last edited: 1 Jan 2020
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  14. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Additionally I think it would be very helpful to have a master list from the start, not just a link to a website but a google sheets or a dropbox file which lists all eligible species which are known to being kept in NA, that way it is far easier for everyone to look stuff up. It is a lot of work in the beginning, but will easily be worth it long term.

    I also think you are overestimating how many people take notes in zoos, most zoochatters I have walked around with do not.
     
  15. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I agree with CGSwans and lintworm here. I don't know the conservation status of every animal I see, I really don't want to have to look up every reptile or fish I see at a major collection. I would very much like a list of eligible species, and even then I think it would be difficult for both me and other members. I would even recommend changing the challenge to something else.
     
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  16. d1am0ndback

    d1am0ndback Well-Known Member

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    I agree that the removal of fish would be helpful but I disagree with the notion of changing this challange because people do not want to google many of the species they see. Part of the reason I like this idea is because we tend to ignore the conservation status of many species around us, and when scouting out for this challange, I found there are a number of animals I never considered to be endangered or vulnerable, even species I had been in close proximity to for all my life.

    I do not believe the lists of animals would be too long, considering the vast majority of birds and herps kept, the two groups other than fish making up the most diversity of species in zoos, are not endangered.

    To address the annoyance of googling tons of things, I like the idea of a master list, and will be more than willing to help create one, but it would be impossible to create a complete one. Nobody has information regarding what animals are in every single North American collection, thus not every species would be reflected in it, so for the particularly rare species that wouldn't make it to the list due to nobody knowing they exist, people would still need to look them up.
     
  17. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The masses have spoken: fish are no longer a part of this challenge.

    A master list has begun creation.
     
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  18. TheGerenuk

    TheGerenuk Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I agree with the removal of fish. Hope to start up soon.
     
  19. TZDugong

    TZDugong Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Probably the only time I'll have the lead this year:D.

    High Park Zoo - 01/01/2020

    1. Mouflon Sheep Ovis orientalis
    2.
    Reindeer Rangifer tarandus (not entirely sure if this counts, so correct me if it doesn't)
     
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  20. jayjds2

    jayjds2 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Yep, you’re good so far!
     
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