Welcome to 2021 and the fourth iteration of ZooChat Challenge North America, my fellow Northern New World ZooChatters. As your newly designated game moderator... host... CEO?... whatever my title is now, thank all of you for coming together and participating in this longstanding Zoochat tradition.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of things, I’d like to give a shoutout to @Shorts for providing us with the template of this game many years ago. A round of applause is also in order to @jayjds2 for giving us west-of-the-ponders a game all our own and running it for three years.
Alright, down to brass tacks. As we’re all aware, our planet is in the midst of a very serious pandemic caused by an airborne illness. The pandemic has been especially chronic in the United States, where this new winter wave has re-closed some zoos and facilities that had been open since late spring and summer. The result of this on the challenge is that, while most of the region's major zoos *are* currently open, many/most indoor facilities remain shut and will remain so for a yet undetermined period of time.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to choose a category that will hopefully minimize the impact of these closed buildings on the challenge as well as invoke some camaraderie among our sorry ranks who bemoan how awesome zoo collections are in places none of us live. This category – a new one for Zoochat Challenge – is North American mammals. The boundaries should be fairly clear: species eligible to count for this year’s challenge will be any native species of mammal from the countries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, seen in captivity within one of the same three countries. The taxonomy being used will be IUCN, as my predecessor did and as both the Europe and Global game moderators will also be using.
Before we get into the rules (pretty much the same as in years past), I’ll start out by saying that we will continue the fun rule introduced last year of bolding your lifers, in addition to a new one: italicize any species that you have also seen in the wild before. Failure to follow this rule will lead to immediate disqualification... of being considered a fun person. Gamewise, nothing bad will happen.
And now, the actual rules:
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 or Sue 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. Facilities that do regularly scheduled public tours are acceptable.
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. 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. Domestic varietes do not count, the animal must be in a wild form.
11. Hybrid animals do not count. Any issues that may arise due to the taxonomy we are following or the genetic nature of the population will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
12. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity in North America under the conditions listed above. Additional Note: but don’t forget to italicize a species from captivity if you have also seen it in the wild before!
13. The rules, both generally and the details of them, are open for debate and potential change if considered problematic in any way. However, as the current game moderator I will have the final say in what the rules are and any changes to them.
14. Anyone caught severely violating the rules or participating in unsportsmanlike conduct in this challenge will be subject to disqualification and banning from future competitions. Don’t make me do this in my first year, please – just play the game properly and be nice to other people.
15. The winner will be the person who has seen the most eligible species by December 31, 2021. Please be sure to have all of your entries in by 11:59 PM HST (Hawaii Standard Time) on December 31, as any that are not in by then will not be counted.
The game will officially begin at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2021 of whatever time zone you are in, although obviously no zoos will be open yet so you’ll have to patiently wait several hours before one does. Any questions, comments, or concerns can be asked here or sent to me through PM.
And finally, the prize for the winner of the 2021 North American ZooChat Challenge will be...
Wait, there’s no prize? Why are we even doing this, then?
Before we get into the nitty gritty of things, I’d like to give a shoutout to @Shorts for providing us with the template of this game many years ago. A round of applause is also in order to @jayjds2 for giving us west-of-the-ponders a game all our own and running it for three years.
Alright, down to brass tacks. As we’re all aware, our planet is in the midst of a very serious pandemic caused by an airborne illness. The pandemic has been especially chronic in the United States, where this new winter wave has re-closed some zoos and facilities that had been open since late spring and summer. The result of this on the challenge is that, while most of the region's major zoos *are* currently open, many/most indoor facilities remain shut and will remain so for a yet undetermined period of time.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to choose a category that will hopefully minimize the impact of these closed buildings on the challenge as well as invoke some camaraderie among our sorry ranks who bemoan how awesome zoo collections are in places none of us live. This category – a new one for Zoochat Challenge – is North American mammals. The boundaries should be fairly clear: species eligible to count for this year’s challenge will be any native species of mammal from the countries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, seen in captivity within one of the same three countries. The taxonomy being used will be IUCN, as my predecessor did and as both the Europe and Global game moderators will also be using.
Before we get into the rules (pretty much the same as in years past), I’ll start out by saying that we will continue the fun rule introduced last year of bolding your lifers, in addition to a new one: italicize any species that you have also seen in the wild before. Failure to follow this rule will lead to immediate disqualification... of being considered a fun person. Gamewise, nothing bad will happen.
And now, the actual rules:
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 or Sue 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. Facilities that do regularly scheduled public tours are acceptable.
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. 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. Domestic varietes do not count, the animal must be in a wild form.
11. Hybrid animals do not count. Any issues that may arise due to the taxonomy we are following or the genetic nature of the population will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
12. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity in North America under the conditions listed above. Additional Note: but don’t forget to italicize a species from captivity if you have also seen it in the wild before!
13. The rules, both generally and the details of them, are open for debate and potential change if considered problematic in any way. However, as the current game moderator I will have the final say in what the rules are and any changes to them.
14. Anyone caught severely violating the rules or participating in unsportsmanlike conduct in this challenge will be subject to disqualification and banning from future competitions. Don’t make me do this in my first year, please – just play the game properly and be nice to other people.
15. The winner will be the person who has seen the most eligible species by December 31, 2021. Please be sure to have all of your entries in by 11:59 PM HST (Hawaii Standard Time) on December 31, as any that are not in by then will not be counted.
The game will officially begin at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2021 of whatever time zone you are in, although obviously no zoos will be open yet so you’ll have to patiently wait several hours before one does. Any questions, comments, or concerns can be asked here or sent to me through PM.
And finally, the prize for the winner of the 2021 North American ZooChat Challenge will be...
Wait, there’s no prize? Why are we even doing this, then?
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But it'll be fun to focus on species often ignored.
go ahead and edit your original post now with this information.
I've fixed it now, go ahead and match yours as well.
