Probably a pretty good chance for a lot of people at MBA. I don't think I've seen it there myself but I might have and overlooked recording it.
Animals You've Seen That Few Zoochatters Have Seen
- Thread starter Hipporex
- Start date
Probably a pretty good chance for a lot of people at MBA. I don't think I've seen it there myself but I might have and overlooked recording it.
Sicarius
Well-Known Member
I recently saw and photographed the endangered New Caledonian skink Kanakysaurus viviparus. As far as I know, no zoos ever held this under their care. The animals I saw (2.1) are the only ones in Europe, kept by a great gecko breeder. Hopefully, he succeeds in breeding these unique animals. I don't think anyone here has seen these before, but you guys keep surprising me.
Yeah, there are a lot of false gharials in zoos worldwide so I'd imagine that a very good chunk of zoochatters have seen this species.
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Yeah I thought it was pretty rare but I guess not... Toronto doesn't have a lot that's overly rare unless Przewalski's horses are uncommon in zoos which I don't think they are.
They aren't overly abundant but they are present at a good amount of zoos, many of which are visited often by zoochatters. Przewalski's Horses are not that uncommon either with a good amount of holders here in North America and a bunch more in Europe.
If you’ve seen the Chamois at the zoo then in a North American context you’ve seen a very rare animal indeed. Having said that, Toronto is a fairly well frequented zoo on this forum, so I don’t think many species found at Toronto won’t have made it onto a fair few of our life lists.
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Yeah Toronto does have a group of chamois and I've only seen it three times (I think) ever. One last bid for rare animals in zoos: Steller's Sea Eagle. Has anyone else seen one?
Every single Australian Zoochatter for a start.
Corangurilla
Well-Known Member
I have, and I’m sure anyone in Washington or Ohio has, too.
That’s another pretty common species. In Europe, ZTL lists around 100 places that have Steller’s. They’re probably not as common in North America, but are still held by many large zoos often visited by zoochatters (San Diego, Cincinnati, Denver, etc).
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Where'd they get Wedge-tailed Eagle from? Only ones I'm aware of are at World Bird Sanctuary.
World Bird Sanctuary likes to loan their birds out to other facilities for the summer season, especially for use in bird shows.
@birdsandbats is correct. Buffalo Zoo currently has a Bird show from World Bird Sanctuary, with the big highlights being Wedge-tailed and Bateleur Eagles. Having a Bald Eagle fly only a few inches above my head was also a super cool experience! The presenter said it was one of three wedge-tailed eagles in the US, with the other two belonging to a Hollywood company for use in movies.
As for Eagles, last month I saw Gurney’s Eagle in the wild, meaning I have now seen all 11 species of Aquila eagle in the wild; my largest complete genus.
Doesn't Toronto have loads of rare herps, fish and the like?
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Yeah I just don’t know which of the herps and fish would be rare… like would Lake Malawi’s Cichlids and the Solomon Island skink be rare for zoos?
No, although their North Pacific rattlesnakes, Blanding's turtles and Midland painted turtles should be fairly rare. The wombats are also really quite rare outside Australasia as well, might only be ABQ, Toronto and Longleat now with them?
Maybe from a European standpoint. Both of those species are fairly common in North American zoos, especially within their native ranges. I'm not sure about the rattlesnake but I don't think they're particularly rare, either.