Worst Zoo Misses, Regrets and Gut Punches
- Thread starter FunkyGibbon
- Start date
You didn't miss out on anything regarding this one.
When was this? The species was still present in April 2015, and I haven't heard of their subsequent loss.
I don't know about that; there are a few nice South American oddities at Plzen.
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Yeah species-wise they do, but as it's tradition in Pilsen, presentation is a flaw. Trust me, there is no other monkey exhibit in Pilsen that monkey keeepers hate as much as this one. Even the prehistoric huts for De Brazza's they consider better.
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Couldn't see the sifakas in the Bronx zoo when I was at zoo camp.
My two regrets are not visiting Port Lympne until shortly after Torgamba, the Sumatran rhino, had been repatriated (which I did not know about) and not trying to photograph the Hispaniolan solendon at Frankfurt - the photo would probably have been terrible and I was running out of film, but I didn't appreciate that I would never have another chance.
This was back in 2006. I suspect they weren't without them for long: just bad timing.
My main misses and regrets are as follows.
A guide left me at my hotel after I'd come back from Berenty. A couple I met there went on to the Tsimbazaza Zoo and claimed to see a monkey that had been caught in Madagascar, but didn't know the species. My notes indicate that they may have seen a macaque, but had it been caught in Mauritius or are there macaques in Madagasca?. I regret being unable to see and identify it.
I regret never seeing the hairy-eared dwarf lemur in Paris Vincennes and the fact that the Nocturnal House was closed when I went to Taronga.
I went to a snake farm in Bangkok and kept going back to an enclosure for a 'flying lemur'. When the animal emerged, it was a giant flying squirrel, a very nice animal, but not a flying lemur.
When my family visited London Zoo in the 1960s, we always tended to visit the same exhibits and these did not include the various small mammal houses. My first visit to the Clore Pavilion was too late to see the solenodon, another of my regrets.
A guide left me at my hotel after I'd come back from Berenty. A couple I met there went on to the Tsimbazaza Zoo and claimed to see a monkey that had been caught in Madagascar, but didn't know the species. My notes indicate that they may have seen a macaque, but had it been caught in Mauritius or are there macaques in Madagasca?. I regret being unable to see and identify it.
I regret never seeing the hairy-eared dwarf lemur in Paris Vincennes and the fact that the Nocturnal House was closed when I went to Taronga.
I went to a snake farm in Bangkok and kept going back to an enclosure for a 'flying lemur'. When the animal emerged, it was a giant flying squirrel, a very nice animal, but not a flying lemur.
When my family visited London Zoo in the 1960s, we always tended to visit the same exhibits and these did not include the various small mammal houses. My first visit to the Clore Pavilion was too late to see the solenodon, another of my regrets.
The main one for me is not paying enough attention to the birds in the tropical house at Veldhoven. Through the years there was an absurd collection of about any rare bird, from cock-of-the-rocks to capuchinbirds to mannakins. I used to visit quite often during the last few years of that time. I wasn't knowledgeable enough to identify all the birds, so I just took pictures from the ones that showed themselves the best, only to find out years later that half of them were (all but) dissappeared from Europe and several other being extremely rare. Among them both the bare-necked and purple-throated fruitcrow.
Less important ones are not keeping a species list when visiting Berlin or Walsrode.
Less important ones are not keeping a species list when visiting Berlin or Walsrode.
On 31st May 1998 I had the chocie of visiting either Howletts or Port Lympne. I chose Howletts because there were more species I wanted to see for the first time, and I thogut (wrongly) that the Sumatran Rhinoceros had left Port Lympne.
When I got round to visiting Port Lympne on 16th May 1999 the rhino had indeed gone. I can't say that I would have seen him the previous year, but there was a 50/50 chance of success..
When I got round to visiting Port Lympne on 16th May 1999 the rhino had indeed gone. I can't say that I would have seen him the previous year, but there was a 50/50 chance of success..
That's a good point actually. A person could see all three species within three days (in theory), going from Way Kambas to Taman Safari Bogor to Batu Secret Zoo.
Lots of regrets aboit Sumatran rhino here, I have never even been close enough to feel I missed them...
My regrets would be not going to Frankfurt when they still had a Picatarthes and Cologne when they still had Uakari... I did see the Saiga and Little blue penguin though once I made it to Cologne...
With regards to misses: kiwi just about everywhere, except once in Avifauna. I hope to right that wrong tomorrow. I also missed the whole rodent section in the AB house in Berlin back in 2007. Panay cloud rats also always seem to be off-show when I visit, this was the case in London, Prague and Plzen.
My regrets would be not going to Frankfurt when they still had a Picatarthes and Cologne when they still had Uakari... I did see the Saiga and Little blue penguin though once I made it to Cologne...
With regards to misses: kiwi just about everywhere, except once in Avifauna. I hope to right that wrong tomorrow. I also missed the whole rodent section in the AB house in Berlin back in 2007. Panay cloud rats also always seem to be off-show when I visit, this was the case in London, Prague and Plzen.
There's a rodent section??
Not any more; if memory serves me correctly, it was found upstairs in the central hall, but it was already long-gone by the time I visited in 2014.
Phew, I didn't want to miss anything else at Tierpark. The only thing I'm glad I missed were the sun bears.
There was/is a staircase to the rodent section in the ABH. One of my favourite houses was the Rodent House in the Children's Zoo in the Tierpark. It seemed to be two garden sheds joined together, but had an interesting collection of small mammals.
Like others, I also missed out on the Sumatran rhino at Cincinnati.
In 2011 I was in New Zealand for a weekend and drove to the wildlife park at Mt Bruce to see the white kiwi chick, only to find out he is on display every second day and I was there on his day off.
Five months later I was in Hawaii at the Waikiki Aquarium and a few weeks after I returned home they obtained a Peppermint Angelfish.
Hix
Five months later I was in Hawaii at the Waikiki Aquarium and a few weeks after I returned home they obtained a Peppermint Angelfish.
Hix
Your memory must be excellent to be able to recall the specific dates!