ZooChat 'Embrace the ABCs' Challenge - Mammals

I am 100% sure that all of the more obviously difficult letters are to be found in Europe, however it's technically possible there is a sneaky letter that is common in English and not Latin/Greek. But I don't think so

 

That's absolutely fine, as long as you actually see them on the days you report them on

 

I could complete the challenge with the species on my zoo mammal life list, so within europe it should be completely possible. A handfull of species on my list have dissappeared from Europe since I saw them, but there are no missing letters as far as I'm aware.

 

Paignton Zoo (07/01/2020)

Gorilla gorilla, Western Lowland Gorilla.
Pongo pygmaeus, Bornean Orangutan.
Suricata suricatta, Meerkat.
Tapir terrestris, South American Tapir.

Current List

A:
B:
C:
D:
E:
F:
G: Gorilla gorilla, Western Lowland Gorilla.
H:
I:
J:
K:
L:
M:
N:
O:
P: Pongo pygmaeus, Bornean Orangutan.
Q:
R:
S: Suricata suricatta, Meerkat.
T: Tapir terrestris, South American Tapir.
U:
V:
W:
X:
Y:
Z:

Points: 12

Edit - thinking about it... I've not actually got a chance of winning. Oh well

 

I'll give it a shot once I start visiting zoos this year.

 

Isn’t this going to be pretty difficult to complete all the way - given there only seems to be one y mammal? At least in the US and Europe, that being the jaguarundi. That one’s near-impossible to get in the US, only kept at a few very small facilities, and I understand that it can be difficult in other regions as well. Are other mammals that’d count for y kept?

 

What facilities do keep it?

 

I'm thinking about this right now. For the time being please do not further discuss publically which zoos may or may not hold certain Y species.

 

There are a few points and responses I want to make here. The first is that there are actually quite a few holders of jaguarundi in Europe, such that I think it will be far from impossible to get a Y here (and there is another option as well).

The second is that I am not too worried if it is difficult. I always imagined that it would end with people scrabbling around for a few obscure species. It does bother me if people can't complete without leaving their continent though. It's basically beyond the scope of this challenge to be geographically equal, but there should be some way for everyone to complete and get onto the podium for those bonuses.

However, any solution must be much wider than simply addressing the case here that America seems to have an issue with one slot. What about Japan? Or Australia? Or Europe next time?

I'm going to do two things. The first is to introduce a special rule for this current challenge. The second is to develop a much more universal mechanic for future ABC challenges that will address the problem.

*****
The special rule is this:

If you feel you have exhausted your region's possibilities, i.e. it's not possible for you to get all 26 without making a long journey, then PM me with a clear explanation that this is the case. Assuming your argument checks out, I will grant you permission to complete with less than 26 slots filled, but for every slot left empty the bonus you receive will be reduced by one point. For example, an American player who 'completed' first with 25 slots filled would receive five (six minus one) bonus points. An Australian who 'completed' second with 24 slots filled would receive two (four minus two) bonus points. And so on.

(Please note that following the above guidelines Americans will not get an automatic pass on Y, you need to convince me you live in a part of America far from holders of jaguarundi)
*****

I'll just offer a few thoughts on the second point in closing:

There needs to be a mechanical solution that allows people who literally can't complete without spending serious amounts of money to be competitive, but it has to be slightly underpowered so that those players who can complete aren't incentivised not to do so.

It's worth noting that the rules already make some provision for this. If you know you can't get twenty six species you should focus on recording as many 3s as possible, because someone targeting the podium bonus may well have to settle for more 1s and 2s lest they get pipped by an even faster player. Until we see it play out we literally don't know which strategy will be better.

I have some ideas about how to allow people to fill slots if they can't access eligible species. The problem is that they are slightly more complex mathematically and so I want to let people get used to the basic concept first. It will also be very beneficial to see how a round finishes; how important is the bonus really?

In closing: hopefully this post and the special rule address the current situation, albeit imperfectly.

 

Since making my initial post, I've determined Europe's other species, as well as two additional species present in the US. However, in each instance, the species I failed to consider previously have markedly lower holdings than jaguarundi in their regions. Even with the two additional US species, the closest one to me is a 10 hour drive and near impossible to see on exhibit there. Beyond that, the holders of y species aren't really centralized; they're in the far reaches of the US, and with one exception at non-major facilities, some with limited opening. I think most US ZooChatters will be unable to see a y species without extensive travel and money spent. And this is just one country - what about the other regions of the world?

I think a penalty as a result of this problem that will certainly be an issue for many ZooChatters is a little unfair so I suggest a slightly different modification. It seems clear that most people in the US and Europe will only encounter difficulty in one or two letters - with apologies to other regions of the world, I don't know well the status of captive animals in them. I think there should be a one-letter amnesty: although you won't be given any points for missing out on one letter, none will be taken either. This should only extend to one (or two, if you're feeling generous) letters, though- after which I agree there should be a penalty (maybe even make it a steeper one, given they will already have had a letter or two excused). I think this is a lot more fair, and I would be interested to hear your (or anyone else's) thoughts.

 

I think a problem here is that you don't want us to discuss what species count for what letters here - I have no idea what species would count for X or Y or Z. How am I supposed to attempt to fill those letters if I have no way of knowing what counts? Can you at least direct us to a source were it would be easy to find this information?

 

I think Z is easy enough. I know a common zoo species with that letter in its scientific name.

 

Yeah, but I don't. That's why we either need to able to discuss this here or have some sort of database to search or something.

 

If you look them up individually. I can't find a full list of all mammal species with scientific names anywhere on the internet.

 

ZootierlisteHomepage

Toggle the ‘name’ button so that you see the scientific rather than English names.

This will give you species held in Europe. North America will be slightly different, but I suspect the subset of mammals held by US zoos that aren’t held by European ones will be pretty small.

 

I’ll leave it to Funky to make a ruling on this, but ZTL is the first resource than any European player is going to use for this challenge. Why shouldn’t Americans have it as a somewhat-less-useful resource too?

 

I quite like this concept. I certainly won't have a shot at winning but I think I'll participate for the fun of it.