Hello all,
So, as I said in the 2020 challenge thread, this year's choice will also be a taxonomic group, but with a few add-ins which will be specified in a bit. Since COVID messed with a lot of people's totals for 'miscellaneous mammals' last year, I have gone with a group that people should have no issues with seeing as they are almost all kept in outdoor facilities:
"Hoofstock and other Heavy Herbivores."
This year’s theme will be Hoofstock and other Heavy Herbivores. This is a group that is nice and simple, with plenty of variety, and decent totals to be had both in the UK and on the mainland of Europe, so plenty of people will be able to take part. This is a mammals task again but that is only to safeguard any further developments in the pandemic from screwing over other people's chances of getting good scores, something I fear would happen were I to do this with any birds or ectotherms. I will move away from mammals for next year's challenge probably.
To further clarify the theme: any of the following categories count:
- Sirenia (manatees)
- Proboscidea (elephants)
- Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)
- Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)
I have included manatees and elephants this year as I didn't include them last year in the miscellaneous mammals category, and to allow these to be included this year
despite them being counted as ungulates now, I have NOT included cetaceans as that gives people in mainland Europe an unfair advantage over those based in the UK. To prevent discussions about taxonomies and certain lists accepting certain splits while others don’t, I will be using IUCN and Zootierliste as references; in addition to this only species-level will count (so even if you do see both the brow-antlered deer at Obterre, and those at any other collection, only one subspecies will count). If there is some disagreement about the taxonomic status of zoo-stock (if the species are potential hybrids/potentially listed incorrectly as a different species) then I will count it on a "sensu lato" basis, though I can't picture many species off the top of my head where this should be a problem.
A couple of additional rules unique to this year's challenge will be as follows:
1. Domestics: the same rule will apply as last year, you either count the domestic form or the wild form, not both. The only domestics where this rule doesn't apply are Bactrian camel, dromedary, llama (these are actually separate from guanaco), water buffalo, yak, and domestic cattle. For all other domestics this rule does apply (so Przewalski's horse or domestic horse, donkey or Somali wild ass, wild boar or domestic pig, alpaca or vicuna, wild reindeer or domestic reindeer, wild goat or domestic goat, and mouflon or domestic sheep).
2. Splits: some splits are a bit confusing. However, I will be counting TWO specific splits that I can think of off the top of my head. One is the giraffe split (so Angolan and Cape count as southern giraffe, Kordofan and Rothschild's count as northern giraffe, and reticulated count as a species. Giraffe hybrids DO NOT count). The other split is that of the elk/moose. So the Eurasian elk will count as one entry, and the moose kept at Obterre would count as a separate entry. I don't believe this will matter as much to people's totals though. Any other splits that people can think of that should be counted I am happy to discuss with you.
And of course, the same set of challenge rules apply, with credits to Shorts for originally coming up with them:
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. 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.
4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.'). This factor, plus the above domestics and splits rules, should mean that a total of 136 taxa are eligible for this challenge as of the time of writing.
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most at 31st December 2020;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
8. Any bullying/unsportsmanlike conduct directed towards myself or other players is grounds for immediate disqualification from the challenge, and barring from future Europe challenges.
This challenge is solely for fun, with the prize of a virtual cake being the same as last year.
Cheers all, hope everyone has a great time, and let's see if everyone gets some high totals this year.
Good luck, the challenge commences on the 1st of January!
So, as I said in the 2020 challenge thread, this year's choice will also be a taxonomic group, but with a few add-ins which will be specified in a bit. Since COVID messed with a lot of people's totals for 'miscellaneous mammals' last year, I have gone with a group that people should have no issues with seeing as they are almost all kept in outdoor facilities:
"Hoofstock and other Heavy Herbivores."
This year’s theme will be Hoofstock and other Heavy Herbivores. This is a group that is nice and simple, with plenty of variety, and decent totals to be had both in the UK and on the mainland of Europe, so plenty of people will be able to take part. This is a mammals task again but that is only to safeguard any further developments in the pandemic from screwing over other people's chances of getting good scores, something I fear would happen were I to do this with any birds or ectotherms. I will move away from mammals for next year's challenge probably.
To further clarify the theme: any of the following categories count:
- Sirenia (manatees)
- Proboscidea (elephants)
- Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)
- Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)
I have included manatees and elephants this year as I didn't include them last year in the miscellaneous mammals category, and to allow these to be included this year
despite them being counted as ungulates now, I have NOT included cetaceans as that gives people in mainland Europe an unfair advantage over those based in the UK. To prevent discussions about taxonomies and certain lists accepting certain splits while others don’t, I will be using IUCN and Zootierliste as references; in addition to this only species-level will count (so even if you do see both the brow-antlered deer at Obterre, and those at any other collection, only one subspecies will count). If there is some disagreement about the taxonomic status of zoo-stock (if the species are potential hybrids/potentially listed incorrectly as a different species) then I will count it on a "sensu lato" basis, though I can't picture many species off the top of my head where this should be a problem.A couple of additional rules unique to this year's challenge will be as follows:
1. Domestics: the same rule will apply as last year, you either count the domestic form or the wild form, not both. The only domestics where this rule doesn't apply are Bactrian camel, dromedary, llama (these are actually separate from guanaco), water buffalo, yak, and domestic cattle. For all other domestics this rule does apply (so Przewalski's horse or domestic horse, donkey or Somali wild ass, wild boar or domestic pig, alpaca or vicuna, wild reindeer or domestic reindeer, wild goat or domestic goat, and mouflon or domestic sheep).
2. Splits: some splits are a bit confusing. However, I will be counting TWO specific splits that I can think of off the top of my head. One is the giraffe split (so Angolan and Cape count as southern giraffe, Kordofan and Rothschild's count as northern giraffe, and reticulated count as a species. Giraffe hybrids DO NOT count). The other split is that of the elk/moose. So the Eurasian elk will count as one entry, and the moose kept at Obterre would count as a separate entry. I don't believe this will matter as much to people's totals though. Any other splits that people can think of that should be counted I am happy to discuss with you.
And of course, the same set of challenge rules apply, with credits to Shorts for originally coming up with them:
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. 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.
4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.'). This factor, plus the above domestics and splits rules, should mean that a total of 136 taxa are eligible for this challenge as of the time of writing.
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who's seen the most at 31st December 2020;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
8. Any bullying/unsportsmanlike conduct directed towards myself or other players is grounds for immediate disqualification from the challenge, and barring from future Europe challenges.
This challenge is solely for fun, with the prize of a virtual cake being the same as last year.
Cheers all, hope everyone has a great time, and let's see if everyone gets some high totals this year.
Good luck, the challenge commences on the 1st of January!
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