Have you ever visited a zoo for a specific species?

Davdhole said:
....have any of you ever planned a trip to a zoo or aquarium to see a specific species you've always had a strong desire to see?
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Many times; a few examples follow.

I went to Paris in 1987 specifically to see my first aye-ayes and returned the following year to see my first sifakas.

I visited Liberec Zoo, when it had the only golden takin in Europe, especially to see this sub-species for the first time.

Closer to home, I visited Brighton Aquarium especially to see my first marine sunfish.
 
Pertinax said:
Funny how times change isn't it? I've done all those things in the past too, but on my trip to Paira Daiza there were so many other things I wanted to see that the gorillas weren't on the list at all- I did still see them obviously (or rather half of them, one volcano was closed because the two young males had just arrived.).;)
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To be fair, I did see a lot of other animals at those zoos, and I did visit other zoos on those trips in Europe, but I was a student at the time, staying in cheap hostels in Amsterdam and Zurich and I made day trips or overnight train trips specifically to visit those 3 zoos because of their gorillas.
As you know, I went to Pairi Daiza in 2019 and took a long list of the animals I wanted to see and photograph. It was headed by the Spix's macaws, but included bear cuscus, Bulwer's wattled pheasants, gharials and Steller's sea lions etc, naturally I saw the gorillas too, but I didn't spend much time watching them. On the other hand, I also planned my trip to include a visit to Antwerp, mainly to see Amaharo for the first time (and Matadi for the umpteenth) but I also picked the brains of @ShonenJake13 and @Jo Kuyken to make sure I didn't miss the black & rufous elephant shrews and the barred buttonquails.
 
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Neil chace said:
I've never specifically gone to a zoo to see a specific species, except for when deciding between multiple facilities. For instance, this summer I chose to go to Stone Zoo to see the bush dogs. I could have chosen to go to a different zoo instead, but chose to see the rare species I've never seen before.
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I just remembered- I actually did go to a zoo to see a specific species around 8 years ago when Stone Zoo had the koalas on loan from San Diego for the summer. It was the first time I saw a koala.
 
Virtually every first visit to a zoo I’ve been on since I became a proper zoo enthusiast has been to see a specific species (or two or three or more). Only very few zoos I’ve visited for the first time in recent years have been for exhibits or just generally to add it to my list.

For example, my visit to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2019 was to tick the zoo off (as it didn’t have anything new for me) and also to see the polar bear and lion enclosures for myself. But my visits to (as just a couple of examples) Jersey, Exmoor, De Paay, Best, Zie-ZOO and Pairi Daiza that year were all mainly for new species for me (black lion tamarin, fanaloka, little grison, dorcopsis, Yucatan squirrel, St Vincent amazon and Spix’s macaw)
 
gentle lemur said:
To be fair, I did see a lot of other animals at those zoos, and I did visit other zoos on those trips in Europe, but I was a student at the time, staying in cheap hostels in Amsterdam and Zurich and I made day trips or overnight train trips specifically to visit those 3 zoos because of their gorillas.
As you know, I went to Pairi Daiza in 2019 and took a long list of the animals I wanted to see and photograph. It was headed by the Spix's macaws, but included bear cuscus, Bulwer's wattled pheasants, gharials and Steller's sea lions etc, naturally I saw the gorillas too, but I didn't spend much time watching them. On the other hand, I also planned my trip to include a visit to Antwerp, mainly to see Amaharo for the first time (and Matadi for the umpteenth) but I also picked the brains of @ShonenJake13 and @Jo Kuyken to make sure I didn't miss the black & rufous elephant shrews and the barred buttonquails.
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It took me ages to find the Bulwers' Pheasants at PD. They weren't in the older outdoor aviary where I'd seen photos of them previously on ZC and despite asking several keepers- in my bad french,- no-one seemed to know...(or was it not understanding me..:D?) Fortunately I finally came across them in the tropical house building quite late in the day.

I wish I'd taken an extra day to do Antwerp also. But I'd like to do another trip when its possible- PD already has more exhibits like the Walrus that I want to see. As it happens I don't think I have ever actually seen Walrus, apart from the one at ZSL and I can't remember it..

Though the PD outdoor gorilla enclosures were rather bare, they provided very good public viewing I thought.
 
It would be easier for me to list the zoos I've visited that haven't held a specific species (orangutans, if you're interested). That said, after making a beeline for them, I generally enjoy whatever else a zoo has to offer, and I will make the most of zoos that lack them.
 
If the question in the title is taken literally, as it is printed (ie visited to see a specific species, ie one) - then never.
I've never kept or been bothered by lists/twitching, and always more interested in the whole rather than any individual part.
 
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Arizona Docent said:
This is ZooChat. Everyone has gone to a zoo to see a specific species. That is except for the prolific @snowleopard who goes to a zoo just to say he has been to another zoo. ;)
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Says someone who famously skipped every part of Chester that wasn't either a) a cat enclosure or b) enroute between cat enclosures :p

Pertinax said:
I wish I'd taken an extra day to do Antwerp also. But I'd like to do another trip when its possible- PD already has more exhibits like the Walrus that I want to see. As it happens I don't think I have ever actually seen Walrus, apart from the one at ZSL and I can't remember it..
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Antwerp is definitely easy enough to include as part of a long weekend - did something along those lines (Antwerp, Planckendael, Pairi Daiza and the Brussels Natural History Museum) back in July 2019, using Brussels as a central base.
 
Reading the thread made me realize I've been 4 times to Zürich in 2020 with only two species in mind : the crested drongo and the pitta-like ground roller. Both gave me a really hard time.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Antwerp is definitely easy enough to include as part of a long weekend - did something along those lines (Antwerp, Planckendael, Pairi Daiza and the Brussels Natural History Museum) back in July 2019, using Brussels as a central base.
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All I needed was more time. I could easily have gone to Antwerp on my second day (I was last there in 1968) but elected to revisit PD instead- perhaps a good decision as I saw the Shoebills which were no shows on the first day- three days would have allowed for both.
 
Andrew Swales said:
I've never kept or been bothered by lists/twitching, and always more interested in the whole rather than any individual part.
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Never been interested in 'lists' and though still an interested birdwatcher, I don't ascribe to 'twitching' either.:( But there are certain species I have wanted to see for a long time...e.g. I waited over 45 years to see Spix Macaw. Seeing Sumatran rhino was another enormous highlight for me.
 
For me, I visited most zoos due to the fact that I thoroughly enjoy visiting zoos themselves, but I do remember one of my main reasons for visiting the Cincinnati Zoo about five years ago, was to see their Sumatran Rhino. An amazing experience and one that I will certainly never forget.:(
 
I visited Taronga specifically for the Long-beaked Echidna. I am very glad I didn't leave it for a few months later as the nocturnal house would have been closed and the echidna off-display. Just made it there and he was very active during the morning - even recorded a terrible video of him that looks like a dark blob moving across the screen!

I mainly visited Melbourne Zoo to see the last curassow in Australia. Again, I just made it as she passed six months later.

I have also visited some of my local zoos aimed at seeing some of the new animals they acquire as well - Australia Zoo for my first poison dart frogs, Wildlife HQ for my first Maned Wolf and Fennec Fox and Darling Downs Zoo when they got the Red-handed Tamarins.
 
You are all free to laugh at my intentions.
I went to

Tama zoo to see koalas and moles
Himeji central park to see blue wildebeest (unknown ssp)
Queen's zoo to see pronghorn (I wasn't able to see them)

Otherwise I don't remember going to a zoo to see a specific animals. I did get to see mamy rare animals thanks to my visit to Berlin even if my dumb kid brain skipped most of the other animals.

gentle lemur said:
I went to Basle to see the gorillas in 1972. I went back in 1973 to see them again, carrying on to Cologne to see the mountain gorillas, and then to Antwerp to see the Grauer's gorillas. I went to Howletts to see the gorillas in 1974. Have you spotted the pattern yet? :D
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Were the Basel gorillas the first gorillas you ever saw or were they just a rare subspecies?
 
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