5 Must See Species Before You Die

Giant Eland said:
Always a fun list to update:

In June I returned to Ujung Kulon, Java and this time heard Rhinos crashing through the brush and calling to each other, but never got a visual. As a consolation prize, I did manage my #2 most wanted during a trip to Madagascar!


When I last left off:

1. Javan Rhino (heard!)
2. Indri :cool:
3. Saola (Species hasn't been seen since 2013 and that was a camera trap, so I will reluctantly remove it until some better news arises)
4. Beaked Whale (any species)
5. Narwhal

Honorable mentions for:

1. Marsupial Mole
2. Dingiso
3. Water Chevrotain
4. Pink Fairy Armadillo
5. Chiru

My new top 5:

1. Javan Rhino
2. Beaked Whale (any species)
3. Narwhal
4. Water Chevrotain
5. Tibetan Fox

Honerable Mentions:

1. Marsupial Mole
2. Dingiso
3. Pink Fairy Armadillo
4. Chiru
5. Nilgiri Tahr
Click to expand...

Excited to update here!!

After 5 pelagic trips with chances for beaked whales had came up empty over the years, I finally succeeded with TWO species in The Azores last week.

Last month in San Diego I was also able to make up for a species I had long missed out on. I even mistakenly thought I had it in this photo: Scanned Wild Animal Park Photos 1992-2001 Photo ID? - ZooChat


1. Javan Rhino
2. Beaked Whale (any species) :cool:
3. Narwhal
4. Water Chevrotain
5. Tibetan Fox

Honerable Mentions:
1. Marsupial Mole
2. Dingiso
3. Pink Fairy Armadillo
4. Chiru
5. Nilgiri Tahr :D

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My new top 5:
1. Javan Rhino
2. Narwhal
3. Water Chevrotain
4. Tibetan Fox
5. Marsupial Mole

Honerable Mentions:
1. Dingiso
2. Pink Fairy Armadillo
3. Falanouc
4. Chiru
5. Shrew Opossum (any species)
 
joe said:
It is most certainty difficult to shrink down this list to five species but here I go.
In captivity
- South China tiger
- Kiwi (any species)
- Yunnan snub nosed monkey
- Russian saiga
- Guizhou snub nosed monkey
In the wild
- Whale shark
- Leopard seal
- Kermode black bear
- Walrus
- Sperm whale
Click to expand...


Time for an update.
I have now seen South China tiger (In Suzhou) , Northern brown kiwi (in Berlin) and Guizhou and Yunnan snub nosed monkeys (in Beijing) in captivity. The Yunnan snub nosed monkey I am also privileged enough to have seen in the wild. With flights booked to Almaty for September soon the Russian saiga will be another tick off the list.

My new top 5 must see species is as follows…
1. Chiru
2. Kakapo
3. Whale Shark
4. Kermode bear
5. Elephant seal
 
Giant Eland said:
Excited to update here!!

After 5 pelagic trips with chances for beaked whales had came up empty over the years, I finally succeeded with TWO species in The Azores last week.

Last month in San Diego I was also able to make up for a species I had long missed out on. I even mistakenly thought I had it in this photo: Scanned Wild Animal Park Photos 1992-2001 Photo ID? - ZooChat


1. Javan Rhino
2. Beaked Whale (any species) :cool:
3. Narwhal
4. Water Chevrotain
5. Tibetan Fox

Honerable Mentions:
1. Marsupial Mole
2. Dingiso
3. Pink Fairy Armadillo
4. Chiru
5. Nilgiri Tahr :D

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My new top 5:
1. Javan Rhino
2. Narwhal
3. Water Chevrotain
4. Tibetan Fox
5. Marsupial Mole

Honerable Mentions:
1. Dingiso
2. Pink Fairy Armadillo
3. Falanouc
4. Chiru
5. Shrew Opossum (any species)
Click to expand...

So glad you got beaked whale, wonderful animals and very very tricky to reliably see anywhere.
 
oflory said:
So glad you got beaked whale, wonderful animals and very very tricky to reliably see anywhere.
Click to expand...

Thank you @oflory !!! During the end of July, Pico Island of The Azores seems to be one of the most reliable spots around. Check out these stats:
Statistics - Espaço Talassa
Lots of other cool cetacean too!
Genoa, Italy has also turned into a hotspot for Cuvier's beaked whale, I think also in mid-summer.
 
zoomaniac said:
Luckily, I can update my list because I have seen Pangolins at Zoo Leipzig and San Diego Zoo and (Northern) Elephant Seal on the coast of California.

So for zoos and aquarias it is now:
1. Golden snub nosed monkey
2. Zebraduiker or Jentinks Duiker (although I presume this must happen in an African Rehab Center).
3. Numbat
4. Great White Shark
5. Giant Armadillo

For "in the wild":
1. Tiger
2. Mountain Gorilla
3. Leopard
4. Red Colobus (any species, maybe Sansibar prefered)
5. Great White Shark
Click to expand...

After visiting Beauval, I can delete Golden snub nosed monkey from column no 1.
The new top 5 are now:
1. Zebraduiker or Jentink's Duiker
2. Numbat
3. Great White Shark
4. Giant Armadillo
5. Hispaniolan Solodendon
 
Giant Eland said:
Thank you @oflory !!! During the end of July, Pico Island of The Azores seems to be one of the most reliable spots around. Check out these stats:
Statistics - Espaço Talassa
Lots of other cool cetacean too!
Genoa, Italy has also turned into a hotspot for Cuvier's beaked whale, I think also in mid-summer.
Click to expand...
I did a Bay of Biscay whale-watching trip a few years ago and was incredibly lucky with beaked whales - we saw Cuvier's, Sowerby's and True's!!!
 
oflory said:
Having seen pangolins this year at Brookfield, seems like a good time to set new targets. Going to cheat and do mammals, birds, and herps.

Mammals
  1. Sumatran rhinoceros
  2. Dugong
  3. Ethiopian wolf
  4. Indri
  5. Platypus

Birds
  1. All species of redstart and wheatear (another cheat!)
  2. California condor
  3. Wandering albatross
  4. Harpy eagle
  5. Great Indian bustard
Herps
  1. Leatherback sea turtle
  2. Yellow-bellied sea snake
  3. Japanese giant salamander
  4. Galapagos iguana
  5. Thorny devil
Click to expand...

Time to update this - having done quite well in the past couple of years! I've now seen dugong, platypus, California condor, and harpy eagle.

I ought to be able to tick off a few of these in the coming year or two.

Mammals
  1. Sumatran rhino
  2. Javan rhino
  3. Ethiopian wolf
  4. Indri
  5. Saiga
Birds
  1. Pheasant-tailed jacana
  2. A frigatebird species (ideally Christmas Island)
  3. Wandering albatross
  4. Crested jayshrike
  5. Great Indian bustard
Herps
  1. Leatherback sea turtle
  2. Yellow-bellied sea snake
  3. Japanese giant salamander
  4. Galapagos iguana
  5. Thorny devil
 
FISHES
1. any boarfish in the genera Antigonia or Capros
2. any spikefish (Triacanthodidae)
3. any crocodile icefish (Channichthyidae)
4. any ghost-pipefish (Solenostomidae)
5. Mirror Dory Zenopsis nebulosa
(Bald Notothen Pagothenia borchgrevinki would have been on here, but I saw them earlier this year :D)

INVERTS
1. Coconut Crab Birgus latro
2. Mimic Octopus Thaumoctopus mimicus or Wunderpus Wunderpus photogenicus
3. Japanese Flapjack Octopus Exsuperoteuthis depressa
4. any horseshoe crab (Limulidae)
5. any nautilus (Nautilidae)

BIRDS
1. Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher Tanysiptera sylvia (my no. 1 nemesis!)
2. any of the new guinean birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae)
3. Green Broadbill Calyptomena viridis
4. any hummingbird (Trochilidae)
5. any ground hornbill (Bucorvus)

HERPS
1. any sea krait (Laticauda)
2. any mata mata (Chelus)
3. Leatherback Sea Turtle Dermochelys coriacea

MAMMALS
1. Tanuki Nyctereutes viverrinus
2. any antechinus (Antechinus)
3. Numbat Myrmecobius fasciatus
4. any long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus)
5. Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx
 
Canihelpyou? said:
1. Orca
2. Marine iguana
3. Platypus
4. Tuatara
5. Whale shark
If think most of us want to see these however.
Click to expand...
7 years later!

Orca, tuatara & whale shark have all been seen & enjoyed. In the mean time ive seen plenty of rare species & species i really badly wanted to see like giant isopods. So here's an updated, not so realistic but would kill to see these species in a zoo:

1. Any baleen whale
2. Marine iguana
3. Pelican eal
4. Leopard seal
5. Anglerfish
6. Giant oarfish
7. Hoatzin
8. Saiga
9. Galapagos penguin
10. Sperm whale
 
HumanLandfill said:
1. Giant and or colossal squid
2. Sumatran rhino
3. Sabertooth beetle
4. Giant African land snail
5. Great white shark
Click to expand...
Has anyone ever managed to swim alongside a giant squid? I do wonder what their actual temperament around humans would be, whether they'd be a gentle giant or an absolute murder machine like the Humboldt squid.
 
Jambi said:
Has anyone ever managed to swim alongside a giant squid? I do wonder what their actual temperament around humans would be, whether they'd be a gentle giant or an absolute murder machine like the Humboldt squid.
Click to expand...
People may well have swam next to adults at the surface, but due to this normally being the result of sick individuals being present, it is possible that this would not reflect the actual temperament of these creatures.

As for my top 5:
Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Sumatran Rhinoceros
Bushmaster
Spix's macaw (still upset I just missed them at Pairi Daiza due to nightfall :mad:)
Amazon Dolphin
 
Jambi said:
Has anyone ever managed to swim alongside a giant squid? I do wonder what their actual temperament around humans would be, whether they'd be a gentle giant or an absolute murder machine like the Humboldt squid.
Click to expand...
I believe I've heard of a person who snorkelled alongside a moribund giant squid that was spotted floating at the surface in a bay in Japan (I don't recall exactly where) - a half-dead squid is probably the best you could do for the species, as they only appear at depths at which a human could dive when already dying. To see a live, healthy giant squid you'd either need to be in a submarine, or fish one up from the depths.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top