Which animals do you think have the most easily identifiable individuals?

T

tapanuliensis

Member
My personal pick would be orangutans, but mostly adult orangutans as they tend to develop their more obvious individual characteristics as they grow up. Even within the same orangutan species, there’s a variety of hair colours, facial features, face shapes and hair lengths/textures so it’s very easy to tell individuals apart, especially the adult males who mostly have differently shaped flanges. Family resemblance is also very clear. I remember seeing an old picture from the 1920s of an orangutan who resembled a zoo-born orangutan who lived recently, thinking “that could be his grandfather!”

I’m interested in knowing which animals other people think have the most easily identifiable individuals.
 
Great apes or elephants for me, at least at my local zoo Chester, I can tell apart all of the elephants and a good chunk of the orangs and chimps. I'd say some of the giraffes and rhinos too maybe but those are not as easily identifiable.
 
In all seriousness, I think the answer depends a lot on what species you see or interact with the most, or what your favorite species is. Those are the species you will pay the closest attention to, and will get to know/identify the best.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
In all seriousness, I think the answer depends a lot on what species you see or interact with the most, or what your favorite species is. Those are the species you will pay the closest attention to, and will get to know/identify the best.
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I completely agree with this! A number of people here said orangutans, which is funny to me. I've spent plenty of time at the LA Zoo's orangutan exhibits, but never managed to remember any individuals, as I'm not particularly a primate person. On the other hand, I find it really easy to identify orcas, whereas the average person probably doesn't feel the same way. Heck, I've even heard the educators at SeaWorld get individuals wrong. I think it is very largely based on individuals' interests.
 
Shellheart said:
Heck, I've even heard the educators at SeaWorld get individuals wrong. I think it is very largely based on individuals' interests.
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That would be because they don't work with those animals themselves; their job is to work with the public and educate the public about the park and its species. Thus, they have limited knowledge on individuals, and most know don't even know names; and even if they do, they still rarely identify an animal correctly.
 
Jambo said:
Thus, they have limited knowledge on individuals, and most know don't even know names; and even if they do, they still rarely identify an animal correctly.
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Not to derail this conversation any further from the point, but for most institutions that assessment is accurate, not especially so for SeaWorld, or at least not SeaWorld San Diego. Educators usually have a binder of names and identification tips and fun facts (I think this applies only to the educators working with the orcas and belugas) and usually they'll explain various individuals' unique attributes, like Shouka knowing dolphin calls etc.
 
Interesting question!

I’d say chimpanzees hands down. My friend in Sydney sent me updated photos of Taronga’s troop (20+ chimpanzees) this week and I was easily able to identify every one of those chimps in the photos.

I love visiting relatives of chimpanzees I know at other zoos and seeing the similarities, seeing traits passed down through paternal and matrilineal lines.

We have hybrid descendants from a variety of wild born founders in Australasia and the differences observed in their first and second generation offspring is highly noticeable.

I’d rank orangutans and then gorillas as second and third. Sumatran tigers I could identify based on their unique stripe patterns, but it’d require concentration versus chimpanzees, which I can identify with ease. Like @ZooElephantsMan, it depends on what species interest you most.
 
Generally speaking, white or black rhinos as you can recognise them from the different shapes of the horn.

I also find takhis easy to recognise, from the different colourings, markings, and the build. I could make a stab at guessing who's a descendent of who based off that, especially based off the build.
 
My answer to the question - probably Elephants or Gorillas. Elephants more so; they're easily identifiable as they all range in different size and have very distinct features that are unique to each individual. Gorillas are a little harder (besides the silverback of course!); they're all similar in size, and most of the time you need to see their face for identification, whereas for elephants, you can still identify most from behind!
 
I know how to tell apart specific individuals at zoos I visit a lot due to defining characteristics I'm aware of, but there aren't any species I'm great at identifying off-hand at any or all zoos. Similarly, adding a new individual often means learning new ways to tell them apart- especially if using characteristics like difference in size as defining features. I'm usually pretty good with telling mammals apart as long as I know what to look for in individuals or have pictures of them. With birds or herps, I find it a lot more difficult, despite greatly enjoying both groups.
 
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