@Dylan What other species round out your top 5 or 10?
@twilighter Ah thank you! What a wonderful compliment. Maybe something I think about. In the meantime I've written a couple trip reports on Mammalwatching.com which is the next best thing!
So this is my wild mammal bucket list. I wonder how many you've seen
Hirola, Okapi, African forest elephant, Black lion tamarin, Margay, Leopard, White-footed tamarin, Northern giraffe, Zebra duiker and European elk. I have seen five of these in captivity but nothing compares to seeing them in the wild.
@Dylan In the wild I've see Hirola, African Forest Elephant Tracks, both Black-faced Lion Tamarin & Golden-headed Lion Tamarin (but not yet Black), Leopard and Northern Giraffe. So officially 3/10 total. In Uganda, at Semliki NP we were on the border with where wild Okapi are found in the DRC.
Captive or wild I've seen 9/10 missing only African Forest Elephant. Curious how those specific species of Tamarin made your list? In captivity are you missing Hirola, African Forest Elephant, Black Lion Tamarin, White-footed Tamarin and Zebra Duiker?
And couldn't agree more about the difference seeing them in the wild! Would your captive bucket list be any different?
@Giant Eland You are very close but I have seen black lion tamarin in Jersey Zoo but I'm yet to see any leopards. I choose those two tamarins in particular because both are rare and range-restricted. I have a soft spot for lion tamarins and the black has always been my favourite of those. White-footed tamarins I like because of their colouration. However, I might switch white-footed tamarin with black-legged mongoose.
I'm not sure if my captivity bucket list would be different. There are species I would love to see in captivity, such as leopards, but I've never really sat down and thought it out. When it comes to captive lists, I don't really go to species hunting in zoos, I just go to enjoy the day.
@Cat-Man Off the top of my head I remember Sao Paulo Zoo, CPRJ and Magdeburg Zoo. Pretty sure I had seen them somewhere in the US pre-2010 when I saw them at Magdeburg, but don't remember where.