Zoochat Challenge North America 2022

Coelacanth18

Coelacanth18

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10+ year member
Premium Member
THE INTRO

I’m feeling.... pretty good. What, you thought I was going to quote a Taylor Swift song or something? This is an Internet forum; we don’t allow such nonsense here.

Welcome one and all to the 2022 ZooChat Challenge: North America! This year we leave behind our fuzzy natives of last year and turn our focus to the next object of my whimsy. Before we get to that though, a quick shoutout as always to @Shorts for starting the original version of this game and leaving us with the concept and rulebook we all largely still use to this day. I’d also like to thank all 22 of last year’s participants (including me – thanks me!) for making ZCCNA 2021 a successful and dynamic adventure. I hope all of you are game for another round...

This year’s challenge is going to be a different one, and you have @ThylacineAlive – extinct marsupial and perennial ZCCNA participant – to thank for the genesis of this year’s plan. I wanted to do something that transcended the old ways of geographic and taxonomic, and taxogeographonomic... nailed it. Thanks to the help of Thylo and a few others, I have developed an experimental concept the best I could, and all of you will be the guinea pigs! Not actual guinea pigs, it’s just an expression; the actual guinea pigs will be part of the challenge. Or will they be? All I can say on the matter is that they absolutely won’t be. Go see guinea pigs on your own time and dime!

The challenge for 2022 will be a concept which I have dubbed the 36 Trials. Each trial is essentially a “mini-challenge”; an example would be, “See all 4 species of flamingo kept in North America.” Most of the trials involve specific taxa or similar groups of animals, but some of them are more of a themed mix while a few even go meta. The winner will be either whoever completes all 36 trials first, or (barring that) whoever completes the most trials by the end of 2022. I’ve designed it so that it’s hopefully very difficult for anyone to get all 36... but not impossible ;)

The different format also means the scoring will be different than you are used to. Unlike in previous challenges where you just racked up as many species as you could get your grubby little eyes on, each trial must be completed in full in order to count it towards your total. What that means is that there is no partial credit for getting close; if you need 8 poison dart frogs and you only get 7... tough. This means that simple quantity will not be enough to win this year; you will need to be strategic, pay attention to everything you see, and attempt to be as comprehensive in your zoo searching as possible. Leave no turtle unflipped, leave no shirt untorn by lorikeets, etc, etc.

You can complete the trials in any order you want, though naturally some will be easier than others. I also designed the trials so that it would be difficult to complete most of them with a single zoo (or pair of zoos) to help minimize the chance of someone pulling a San Diego or Bronx card and bulldozing their way through half the competition. We’ll see how successful I was, but I promise I did my best. Okay, 80% my best.

You can use this thread to keep track of your progress towards each trial, as well as ask questions and engage in discussion and camaraderie. I will do periodic updates informing everyone of who has completed what trials in the interim and where everyone stands on the leaderboard. My hope is that, by slowly completing more and more of these mini-challenges, you will all get small doses of accomplishment even if you’re far off from first place :)
 
THE 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; your word is your bond.

3. All entries must include the following: the species you’re counting (including the Latin name); the zoo or other facility where you saw it (preferably also the date you saw it); and most importantly, which trials you are counting it towards. I will be keeping track of everyone’s progress of course, but I need you to help me help you. This is also to ensure people aren’t just throwing out every species they saw in hopes that some will stick the landing.

4. You have to see the animal via normal public access during normal public opening hours. Behind-the-scenes sneak-peeks, VIP tours, exclusive events or any other kind of limited access will not count for this challenge. 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.

Note: If you have any questions relating to Rules #4-6 about whether the facility you visited and the species you saw counts, feel free to ask me here in the thread, via PM, or on Discord* – because I’m young and hip.
*I might miss updates on there, so if it’s important either in-thread or Zoochat PM is better.

7. Report your progress on this thread as you go along. Most people did a pretty good job of keeping up with their updates last year, so for now I don’t think any sort of time limits are necessary – but if people start procrastinating and then dropping everything all at once I will change that.

8. The taxonomy source we will be using is IUCN, as per usual. Our unit is species, not subspecies. You can see any subspecies you want as many times as you want, but they will all count as one unit. Depending on the trial and feasibility of seeing species-level animals, a genus or higher taxonomic category might be accepted at my discretion.

9. NEW RULE: For this year’s challenge, you may count the same species for more than one trial. This won’t make a difference most of the time, but as some species are included in trials both individually and as part of a larger group this will make things easier for people on the margins.

10. 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.

11. Wild animals do not count, all species must be seen in captivity in North America under the conditions listed above.

13. The rules and challenge specifics are open for debate and potential change if considered unfair or problematic in any way. However, as the current game moderator I will have the final say in what the rules and challenge specifics are and any changes to them.

14. Anyone caught severely violating the rules or participating in unsportsmanlike conduct in this challenge may be subject to disqualification from this year’s challenge and/or from future ZCCNA competitions.

15. The winner will either be the person who successfully completes all 36 trials first or whoever completes the most trials by the end of December 31, 2022. Please be sure to have all of your entries in by midnight on December 31. The final tally will be done by me on January 1, 2023, at which point the results will be final and no delayed or additional submissions will be accepted.

The game will officially begin at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2022 of whatever time zone you are in – or more accurately, at whatever time the first zoo you’re visiting opens on that day (because breaking into a zoo in the middle of the night is not cool, and also nothing you see would count). Any questions, comments, or concerns can be asked here in-thread or via PM.

You may now all stand and applaud. Wait, this is the Internet and none of you are actually here... hmm. Alright, I’ll just play a soundtrack of applause and pretend it was for me. Ah, that’s the stuff.

Let the trials begin!
 
THE 36 TRIALS

I could have given them boring names like “The Cat Challenge” and “The Parrot Challenge”, but that would have been... well, boring. Also hard to remember, given there’s 36 of them. Remember that there is no required order for completing these. The trials are grouped into four categories based on taxonomy: mammals, birds, ectotherms, and multi-class.

MAMMALS

Have Trunk, Will Travel: both species of elephant (African Bush and Asian) and at least 2 species of tapir (out of 4 possible).

White with Black Stripes or Black with White Stripes: all 3 zebras (Plains, Grevy’s, and Mountain).

Cat Got Your Tongue: All 6 Pantherinae (Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Clouded Leopard) + at least 1 other cat each from three regions (Americas, Africa, and Eurasia) for a total of 9 species.

An Unbearable Challenge: at least 5 bears (out of 8 possible).

Ring ‘n Ruff: Ring-tailed Lemur and both species of ruffed lemurs (Red and Black-and-White).

Puny Primates: at least 6 callitrichids (marmosets and tamarins).

Planet of the Apes: one of each type of great ape (gorilla, orangutan, and chimpanzee/bonobo) and at least 3 gibbons.

Three Little Pigs: at least 3 species of WILD pigs and/or peccaries. Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) will not count for this challenge due to difficulty in determining its status as “wild”.

Another Dang Meerkat: see Meerkats in at least 4 different zoos. Rejoice at the mundane!

Bovine Bonanza: at least 20 species from the Bovidae family.

The following challenge is technically two different challenges, but everyone is only eligible for one depending on their participation status in ZCCNA last year; therefore, it is counted as one:

Redemption Arc (2021 returners only): 1 North American mammal that you didn’t see last year

Late to the Party (2021 non-participants only): 8 North American mammals (see previous thread to see what counts: ZooChat Challenge North America 2021

BIRDS

You Must Be This Tall to (Not) Fly: all 4 “tall” ratites (Ostrich, Emu, Rhea, and Cassowary).

Pretty in Pink: all 4 flamingos kept in North America (American, Chilean, Greater, and Lesser).

Rookery Roundabout: at least 6 species of penguin (out of 12 possible).

Duck Dynasty: at least 18 waterfowl (order Anseriformes – ducks and geese, basically). If they are native species, they must be signed or enclosed in an aviary to count - otherwise there is no way to determine if they are wild or captive. Mallard and Canada Goose are excluded from this challenge regardless of how they are signed or contained.

Parliament Is Now In Session: at least 6 species of owl.

Polly Wants 20: at least 20 species of parrot (order Psittaciformes).

The Alfred Russell Wallace: one of any Bird-of-Paradise species. You also have to thank Alfred Russell Wallace out loud when you see it. Your word is your bond; also his ghost will know.

The Edgar Allen Poe: at least 5 species of corvid – 2 members of Corvus (crows and ravens), 1 magpie, 1 New World jay, and 1 other corvid of your choosing.

Nighttime Birding: see a Kiwi, a Tawny Frogmouth, or a Night Heron (captive). In case seeing a bunch of owls doesn’t scratch that nocturnal avian itch enough.

ECTOTHERMS

The Big Squeeze: 5 constrictor snakes – an Anaconda, Reticulated Python, Burmese Python, a Boa Constrictor, and 1 other boa or python of your choice.

Slow and Steady: both giant tortoises (Galapagos and Aldabra), a Madagascar tortoise (Astrochelys and Pyxis), and one species of tortoise native to the US or Canada (Gopherus).

The Sobek Six-Pack: both Alligators (American and Chinese), both Gharials (Indian and Sunda), and 2 species of crocodile (family Crocodylidae).

One Drop, One Life: 20 venomous reptiles - 8 rattlesnakes, 4 non-rattlesnake vipers, 4 elapids (cobras and ilk), Komodo Dragon and a Heloderma lizard (either Gila Monster or a Beaded Lizard).

Pick Your Poison: 6 species of Poison Dart Frog (family Dendrobatidae) or 3 species of Mantella Frog (family Mantellidae). You may keep track of both on here until you hit the goal for one of them.

Sharknado: at least 4 species of shark (superfamily Selachimorpha).

Silk and Stinger: at least 3 species of spider (order Araneae) and 3 species of scorpion (order Scorpiones).

Release the Kraken: at least one cephalopod (class Cephalopoda – octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus).

MULTI-CLASS

The Kingmaker: King Cobra, King Penguin, and King Vulture. For the royal in all of us.

Cold as Ice: Polar Bear, Arctic Fox, and Snowy Owl.

Champion of the Sun: Sunbittern, Sun Conure/Parakeet, and Sun Bear.

The Steve Irwin: 5 mammals, 5 birds, and 5 reptiles/amphibians native to Australia and/or Oceania. Only 1 of the 15 species may be naturally found outside of Oceania. I won’t make you say “Crikey” every time, but I’m sure you’ll find it’s more fun when you do.

One-Zoo Wonder: complete one trial in a single zoo visit. Trials that require only seeing 1 species do not count. You may retroactively win this challenge at any zoo where you see enough species to do so, even if you didn’t technically start whatever challenge you’re doing at that zoo (ex. if you see 18 waterfowl at one zoo after already getting 6 from an earlier one, that still counts for this).

The Coelacanth Stamp of Approval: a mix-and-match challenge comprising some of my all-time favs. It’s a little narcissistic, but this is what happens when you give me authority. There are 5 mammals, 5 birds, and 5 herps; you must 4 of the 5 from each group.

Coquerel’s Sifaka
Lion-tailed Macaque
Spotted Hyena
Pygmy Hippo
1 bat (Chiroptera)

Hamerkop
Secretarybird
Motmot
Roadrunner
1 toucan (Ramphastidae)

Giant Salamander (either Chinese or Japanese)
Frilled Lizard
Mangshan Pitviper
Lake Titicaca Water Frog
1 chameleon (Chamaeleonidae)

The next trial is more complex than the others and will require some explanation...

Bona Fide Rarity Hunter: see at least 3 species exhibited by only 1 zoo in the US and Canada (can only count 1 species per zoo)

Rules: The determination for “exhibited by only 1 zoo in the US and Canada” will be failure for myself or anybody else (ZCCNA participant or not) to provide evidence that another zoo in those countries does not currently exhibit the species, or exhibited the species since at least 2018 and possibly still does. In other words, it must be more or less indisputably exhibited by only one zoo in the region. People are allowed to challenge based on firsthand knowledge or any public source, including any valid source on ZooChat or anything from the zoo’s website or social media. People are not allowed to challenge based on anything that is not public – ex. private correspondences with others or with the zoo. Absolutely no genus-level or higher IDs will be allowed for this trial, it *must* be species-level.

Additionally, to prevent people from abusing this challenge by continually guessing at stuff that could be rare, you are only allowed 3 wrong attempts. The 3rd time you attempt this trial and your rarity is proven ineligible, you will be no longer be able to win this trial. To avoid this, do your own research first to maximize your chances of being right.

And finally...

Breakfast of Champions/TinoPup’s Namesake Challenge: see Domestic Dog. Please note that all of the usual rules - including how it must be seen and what kind of facility it can be in - still apply. As this particular trial was chosen by them, some questions might require them and I to confer before an answer can be given.

Additional Rules/Clarifications

The Dingo Rule: One can count Dingo/New Guinea Singing Dog for either the Steve Irwin or TinoPup’s Namesake, but not both. Choose your taxonomy (Domestic Dog variant or Australian native species) and stick with it.

Recent Splits/Unknown Origin: ex. Pygmy Marmosets, King Cobras, Boa Constrictors, Motmots. I’m not too worried about these; unless otherwise stated, just use the one-species model to represent these cases. Feel free to ask if you’re not sure.
 
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Coelacanth18 said:
If they are native species, they must be signed or enclosed in an aviary to count -
Click to expand...

I know some Zoos that sign some wild species that are commonly seen at the zoo. If a species is sign but is known to be wild visitors, does it count for this challenge?
 
Neil chace said:
I know some Zoos that sign some wild species that are commonly seen at the zoo. If a species is sign but is known to be wild visitors, does it count for this challenge?
Click to expand...

I have never seen or heard of that before. I'll give it some thought; in the meantime, feel free to keep track of them just in case.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I have never seen or heard of that before. I'll give it some thought; in the meantime, feel free to keep track of them just in case.
Click to expand...
Okay. I know as a fact Buttonwood has mallards, wood Ducks, and Canada geese signed despite not having any captives of any.
 
Happy New Year everyone! A couple of things:
  • I changed the Coelacanth Stamp of Approval Challenge last night, so if you only read it a few hours from posting give it another look-over so you know what it says now.
  • @TinoPup was declared the winner of ZCCNA 2021, and as such they were allowed to choose 1 of the 36 Trials. Please add this to the list:
Breakfast of Champions / TinoPup Namesake Challenge: see Domestic Dog. Please note that all of the usual rules - including how it must be seen and what kind of facility it can be in - still apply. As this particular trial was chosen by them, some questions might require them and I to confer before an answer can be given.
 
Wow, this will be a pain to keep track of...

I briefly visited Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary today. My main focus was birding so I missed most of the exhibits, but I did see a few captive species:

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary - January 1 2022

Duck Dynasty - 3/18
1. Snow Goose Anser caerulescens
2. Wood Duck Aix sponsa
3. American Wigeon Mareca americana

Parliament Is Now In Session - 6/6 - NOW COMPLETE*
1. Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus
2. Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
3. Barred Owl Strix varia
4. Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
5. Long-eared Owl Asio otus
6. Eastern Screech-Owl Megascops asio

The Edgar Allen Poe - 0/2 Corvus 0/1 magpie 1/1 New World jay 0/2 wild
1. Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

Cold as Ice 1/3
1. Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus

The Steve Irwin - 0/5 Mammals 1/5 Birds 0/5 Herps
1. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

__________________________________________________

Current Progress

In-Progress Trials
Duck Dynasty - 3/18
The Edgar Allen Poe - 0/2 Corvus 0/1 magpie 1/1 New World jay 0/2 wild
Cold as Ice 1/3
The Steve Irwin - 0/5 Mammals 1/5 Birds 0/5 Herps

Completed Trails - 2/36
-Parliament Is Now In Session
-*One-Zoo Wonder
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I have never seen or heard of that before. I'll give it some thought; in the meantime, feel free to keep track of them just in case.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've seen lots of zoos do this. Mallards, Canada Geese, and Trumpeter Swans are often signed when in fact the animals present are, in fact, wild.
 
I have another question regarding the one-zoo Wonder challenge. If you go to a zoo and see enough species to complete the challenge, but you already started it at a different zoo, can you "erase" your previous completions and start again with the new ones? Or does it need to be at the zoo you start the challenge? If it needs to be the zoo you start the challenge, is it okay to omit animals you saw from the game, if you expect to be able to complete the whole challenge at a later date?
 
Are we allowed to PM you and ask about species for the trial Bona Fide Rarity Hunter and not have those count towards being wrong? Or would those be a strike out.
 
birdsandbats said:
Parliament Is Now In Session - 6/6 - NOW COMPLETE*
1. Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus
2. Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
3. Barred Owl Strix varia
4. Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
5. Long-eared Owl Asio otus
6. Eastern Screech-Owl Megascops asio
Click to expand...

Looks like all the work I did estimating how many species it would take for people to *not* get them all at one zoo really paid off :p Congrats on your lead, by the way.

Neil chace said:
I have another question regarding the one-zoo Wonder challenge. If you go to a zoo and see enough species to complete the challenge, but you already started it at a different zoo, can you "erase" your previous completions and start again with the new ones? Or does it need to be at the zoo you start the challenge? If it needs to be the zoo you start the challenge, is it okay to omit animals you saw from the game, if you expect to be able to complete the whole challenge at a later date?
Click to expand...

It seems fair to me that if you see all the species you need to complete a trial at one zoo, that would count for getting One-Zoo Wonder even if you'd already started elsewhere. The way I see it, excluding some people from winning that challenge and not others based on when in the game they happened to visit a place seems arbitrary and overly complicated. So yes, if you happen to see all the species you need for a challenge at a later zoo - for example, 18 waterfowl at Zoo B when you already counted 6 from Zoo A - you can use that to win One-Zoo Wonder.

As a general rule, I will never encourage people in a challenge to strategically omit or delay species they see that count - it's essentially the same as not keeping me informed of your updates, which is both against the rules and also makes the game more confusing and less transparent.

birdsandbats said:
Are we allowed to PM you and ask about species for the trial Bona Fide Rarity Hunter and not have those count towards being wrong? Or would those be a strike out.
Click to expand...

The point of the three-strike rule is to encourage people to do their own fact-checking so I don't have to tell them several times that their submissions don't count. You can PM me the submission before posting it if you want, but if you're wrong it'll still be a strike. If you'd rather do this as a way of avoiding public spectacle over being wrong that's understandable and I can accommodate that.

Also, keep in mind that even if I OK the submission privately and then you post it on here, someone else could potentially prove it false with information I didn't find - so you're not necessarily in the clear just because I pre-approved it.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Looks like all the work I did estimating how many species it would take for people to *not* get them all at one zoo really paid off :p Congrats on your lead, by the way.
Click to expand...

There aren't many places with that many owls :P He just happens to live near one of the few!
 
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