favourite animal you've seen in the wild

Mammals: Reticulated, Masai, Rothschild's, Thornicroft's, and Angolan giraffes. African bush elephants. Blue and humpack whales. Playtpus.

Birds: Great blue turaco. Tufted and horned puffins. Marbled murrlet.

Reptile: San Francisco garter snake. Leatherback sea turtle.

Fish: Mola mola. Blue shark.

Amphibian: The original Kermit the Frog puppet (Smithsonian Museum of American History; actually it was rather sedate and not that wild).

Imaginary: Venomous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (actually I pretended not to see it so it couldn't see me).
 
Last edited:
I forgot to mention cirl bunting in Kaikoura last month. I've seen them before but they're not that common and a nice male singing from the top of a flax flower stalk is always something special.

@KCZooFan: I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a snowy owl!! (I'm taking it you didn't see it in Kansas! :D)
 
Mammal - Sloth bear (India), African elephant is a close second
Bird - Andean condor (Peru)
Reptile - Nile crocodile (Kenya)
Fish - breaching manta rays in the Galapagos
 
Chlidonias said:
@KCZooFan: I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a snowy owl!! (I'm taking it you didn't see it in Kansas! :D)
Click to expand...

They've practically been invading the U.S. this year! It was taken in Missouri, but only about 30 minutes from where I live. The lake has had five of the owls hanging around for about a month now!
 
I'd love to go travelling the world to see the amazing sights out (lottery angel are you listening?), but my favourite thing is tight on my doorstep. Kestrels! I love them and I'm lucky enough to see them hunting nearly every day. Marvellous.
 
That's easy. In September 2004, on a whale watching boat in the San Juan Islands I got to see 35 orca. Dream come true. I can still imagine the day as if it was yesterday. I've seen them at Sea World many times, but that's the only time I've seen them in the wild and it was definitely a magical experience.
 
mazfc said:
I'd love to go travelling the world to see the amazing sights out (lottery angel are you listening?), but my favourite thing is tight on my doorstep. Kestrels! I love them and I'm lucky enough to see them hunting nearly every day. Marvellous.
Click to expand...

Kestrels are awesome. What species do you have in the UK?
 
Last edited:
When I was In Hawaii atr the age of 7 I would watch the sea turtles everymorning from our balcony. One day as we were out tidepooling there we actually went to the next tidepool and looked down to see a sea turtle three feet away. On the next Island we went to (Kaui) We were at our grandma's timeshare (she bought that day) and and the manager pointed out to me that out on a rocky island in front of me was a hawiian monk seal and pup. They still see that seal and I hopefully will get to see it when I go back this summer. They even at the hotel have a fenced off area where the pair and their most recent pup come to rest is right on the public beach.
 
I'll try to keep it short and just pick the most memorable.

Mammals:

African Lion so close I felt its breath on my hand and looked her directly in the eye in Kruger, both thrilling and completely terrifying.

Gaur in Cat Tien, Vietnam.

Birds:

Very difficult to pick just a few out of over a thousand species but top has to be Banded Pitta in Khao Nor Chuchi, Thailand after looking for 4 days and litterally not seeing a bird on one day (most difficult place I've ever been birding) finally got a very brief glimpse at dusk on our final full day. We got up early the next morning and walked through the forest in the dark (not for the faint hearted) and set up a mosquito net as a makeshift hide before dawn. An adult male showed extremely well and we sat and watched him for nearly an hour. The most stunning bird I've ever seen but closely followed by:-
Gurneys Pitta. An adult male found roosting above u trail Khao Nor Chuchi. As far as I'm aware we are the only people to have ever seen a roosting male, even Yothin (the most experienced guide) has only heard of females being found roosting. Also a pair viewed down to a few feet from our hide for about an hour.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper. A last minute change of plan after a very helpful Thai gentleman at Heathrow phoned a guide in Thailand for us who didnt speak english. The next day we were watching one on the rarest birds in the world only a few feet away from us.
In the UK my favourites have to be Firecrest and Waxwing.

Reptiles:

Not seen many (or should i say not identified many) so I'd say quite a large grass snake basking in the middle of a path in London Zoo.
 
Mine are not that special but i do love them-

Red-tailed black cockatoos= every spring a flock of around 10 migrate to the pine forest where i live and i always float in my pool and watch them eat the pine cones and listen to their amazing call.

Platypus & Wombat- i was lucky enough on seperate occasions whilst bushwalking with my family to see a platypus which is very rare and to also come within half a metre of a wombat (which was adorable) :D
 
Hevden said:
Very difficult to pick just a few out of over a thousand species but top has to be Banded Pitta in Khao Nor Chuchi, Thailand after looking for 4 days and litterally not seeing a bird on one day (most difficult place I've ever been birding) finally got a very brief glimpse at dusk on our final full day.
Click to expand...
I can't help but agree with Khao Nor Chuchi being difficult (to put it mildly!). The place drove me nuts. On one of my days there I saw just three birds all day.
 
All of mine are UK based but hey, I appreciate my local fauna. :)

Eurasian otter in the River Severn.
A stoat on the Malvern hills, carrying a rabbit.
Grey seals (about 40 or so) off the Great Yarmouth coast.
Bottle nosed dolphin off Newquays coast. (On a mackerel fishing boat...)
Roe deer, muntjac and fallow deer on different occasions and on different locations. Last saw a pair of roe deer off the side of the A38 not far from Ashburton in Devon.
Lots of red foxes in Birmingham and elsewhere. Not too much of a surprise there!
I also love it when I see hedgehogs even though they're everywhere.
And not so long ago I was swooped on by a bat whilst walking through the local park, that wad pretty cool but I'm unsure of species. Sorry about that people :(

When it comes to birds and herps I'm not too certain other than the occasional grass snake, a barn owl, tawny owl, common kestrel and a peregrine falcon. The most exciting fish has to be a basking shark, also off the Cornish coast.

And thats my list, not as epic as some on here but I'm happy with it! :D
 
A slightly bizarre thread for zoochat if you think about, it but combining the question with the ethos of this chatroom i would plump for Sunda Colugo at Singapore Zoo.
 
Tim Brown said:
A slightly bizarre thread for zoochat if you think about, it but combining the question with the ethos of this chatroom i would plump for Sunda Colugo at Singapore Zoo.
Click to expand...

It's a fairly interesting topic. Why do most of us go to the zoo? I go to see wildlife (at least I think that’s why I go). I would however prefer to see many species in the wild but that’s just not practical in terms of time and money. Without zoos I would have seen a fraction of the species I have seen, particularly as so many species are so incredibly elusive. When I travel I used to make a point of visiting both National Parks and Zoos but I quickly reached a point where I couldn’t bare to see animals in the horrendous conditions which are common in the zoos in developing countries. In recent years I have focused my travels on a “target species” which will likely never make it into captivity again and if I see that species wonderful, if I don’t then I’m sure to see many other species.
I still visit zoos and enjoy them for the most part but as a result I have a set of standards when it comes to captive animals. I get absolutely no pleasure out of seeing an animal in miserable surroundings; perhaps this is a consequence of being fortunate enough to have seen a good diversity of species in the wild. I never visited the so called RSCC because in my opinion the animal accommodation was entirely sub-standard. I know there were one or two species at RSCC I have yet to see, I just don’t want to see animals in this way anymore (even if the animals were in spacious well furnished exhibits I probably still would not have visited because I strongly disagree with the owners acquisition policies). Conversely I completely enjoy visiting collections like Paignton where I can watch an Orangutan climb a real tree or San Diego where I can see a pair spot necked otter chase juvenile Allen’s swamp monkeys around their exhibit.
Oops sorry I got so off topic!!

Somethings I have seen in wild over the last 2 and a bit years (target species in bold):
Philippine Eagle.

Tasmanian Devil, Short Beaked Echidna.

Ganges Dolphin, Indian Rhino, Guar, Tiger, Gharial, Rufus Necked Hornbill, Bengal Florican.

Javan Rhino, Banteng, Javan Hawk Eagle.

Sun Bear, Leopard cat, Milky Stork – While working in Indonesia

In 2012 im going to New Zealand and hopefully Virunga NP.
 
Dicerorhinus - For the most part I share your sentiment on zoo conditions in the developing world, and tend to stick only to those known to be of a certain standard. For me though, as a traveler I also like to visit zoos to get an appreciation of how other cultures care (or don't care) about wildlife, zoo design, conservation, etc.

Can't say I typically travel with a specific targeted species in mind, though naturally I come up with wish lists. I think it's conceptually a really interesting way to go about wildlife travel though, and it would seem you've had some great success at it. I've just finalized arrangements for a visit to Volcanoes National Park this coming February, so definitely a target species in mind there.

Care to share a bit more info on where/when/how you saw the Ganges River Dolphin?
 
Terp924 said:
Dicerorhinus - For the most part I share your sentiment on zoo conditions in the developing world, and tend to stick only to those known to be of a certain standard. For me though, as a traveler I also like to visit zoos to get an appreciation of how other cultures care (or don't care) about wildlife, zoo design, conservation, etc.

Can't say I typically travel with a specific targeted species in mind, though naturally I come up with wish lists. I think it's conceptually a really interesting way to go about wildlife travel though, and it would seem you've had some great success at it. I've just finalized arrangements for a visit to Volcanoes National Park this coming February, so definitely a target species in mind there.

Care to share a bit more info on where/when/how you saw the Ganges River Dolphin?
Click to expand...

I understand your stance on zoos in developing countries and I have visited a good number. I reached a point where no matter what species I was looking at the quality of its cage/enclosure would detract so much from the experience that I really wasn't getting anything from it. As I said this bled through into my appreciation for western zoos and I simply could not feel happy about funding a facility like RSCC here in the UK as I mentioned above (any way,, that money is probably better spent on getting out into the field!)

I have been lucky so far in having always seen the target species, but I’m fortunate enough to have been able to devote many weeks to seeing them particularly in Java.

I have actually seen Ganges river dolphins at two sites in India earlier this year. The best place to see them was Chambal Sanctuary which by (Indian standards) is fairly easy to get to from Delhi and the dolphins are not shy. There are also good populations of gharial, mugger and aquatic birds (make sure you see the Indian Skimmer if you go!), I also saw a striped hyena and several chinkara here. The second site was Kaziranga in Assam, this has the greatest population of Indian Rhino which was why I was there! My girlfriend and I watched 2-3 ganges dolphins in the Brahmuputra river for 5 minutes and observed one eating a flailing fish of somekind! There are also good Elephant populations, Wild Water Buffalo, Adjutant storks, Pelicans, various Fish Eagles etc. We spent a week there and saw many species including a tiger while on elephant back. I should say that Kaziranga is closed to tourists during the monsoon season. Both sites have numerous guides with boats for viewing birds and dolphins.

As well as trips to India, Indonesia and the Philippines I have been to Australia, Canada and the USA where I have seen the usual suspects (I actually wanted to see a Manatee in Florida but they have so far eluded me)

You sound like a seasoned traveler yourself? Do you mind sharing where you have been? And some highlights?
 
Brilliant, I visited the parks in central India which are wonderful but have no rivers, so no gharials or dolphins on my trip. I do plan to get back over one day to see Kaz as well as Chitwan.

I work in the travel industry, and thus I've been very fortunate in that I'm able to travel frequently, with discounts, but not always wildlife oriented. No big wildlife areas in '11 but Borneo and some time in Kangaroo Island in '10. In recent years i've been able to make it to Galapagos, Peruvian Amazon, Kenya, Costa Rica. VNP has always been at the top (along with Antarctica), so I'm really excited to cross it off in '12.
 
here is a list of animals that ive seen in the wild

california ground squirrels
American black bears
Tule elk
Mule deer
Collared peccaries
Turkey vultures
Ospreys
Belted kingfishers
virginia opossums
Northern elephant seals
california sea lions
Fox squirrels
several kinds of sparrows and finches
several kinds of hummingbirds
Bobcats
North american porcupines
Brown pelicans
several types of weasels and martens

the list just goes on !!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top