5 Must See Species Before You Die

1. Whooping Crane
2. Lesser Prairie-chicken
3. Yellow Rail
4. Boreal Owl
5. Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
 
How did I miss this list? I was fortunate enough to see the tarsier kept briefly in Bristol in 1987 (don't know which species), and to see Sumatran Rhino at Port Lympne.

Bristol held Philippine Tarsier.

1. Whooping Crane
2. Lesser Prairie-chicken
3. Yellow Rail
4. Boreal Owl
5. Ferruginous Pygmy-owl

The latter two of these are relatively common in both public and private hands in Europe, so a trip across the Atlantic would sort those for you ;)
 
Bristol held Philippine Tarsier.



The latter two of these are relatively common in both public and private hands in Europe, so a trip across the Atlantic would sort those for you ;)

I stupidly forgot to mention that I want to see these in the wild :)
 
Well, the Boreal Owl is found all over the Northern Hemisphere, so that would be easiest I suspect. Shame it is absent from the UK in the wild, barring occasional vagrants; I rather enjoy watching owls in the wild.
 
What a fantastic list of unusuals! 4 of my favorite unique mammals plus one of my favorite antelope to look for photos online for. There appears to be only one readily accessible photo online of a Dibatag in the wild.

I've been lucky enough to see Ayeaye, Tarsier and 2 species of Pangolin. All very memorable firsts. My first Ayeaye I actually got to go in the exhibit with at the London Zoo in 2009. I've seen them since at Berlin, Frankfurt, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Omaha, and Denver. The population has really expanded in the US, for a while they were only kept at San Fransisco and Duke's Lemur Center I believe.

Colugos are on my top 5, considering they make up the only order of mammals I haven't seen a representative of (before mammal orders got split even more). I'll have to wait for the Singapore Zoo where I can search for them wild.

I think my top 5 was:

1. Javan Rhino
2. Indri
3. Mountain Nyala
4. Numbat
5. Colugo

I thought of this list while going through photos from my recent 10 country zoo trip (photos to come!). I was lucky enough to see a Numbat in the Perth Zoo and 7 Colugo on the grounds of the Singapore Zoo/Night Safari.I was even on the right island for Javan Rhinos, however, didn't commit the time or energy to try and find one.

I've long fantasized about trips to Madagascar and Ethiopia, hopefully I can pull those off in the future, giving me cause to quote this message again.

For now my updated top 5 would probably be:

1. Javan Rhino
2. Indri
3. Mountain Nyala
4. Saola
5. Beaked Whale (any species)

Honorable mentions for:

1. Narwhal
2. Solenodon
3. Marsupial Mole
4. Red Colobus
5. Dingiso
 
Oh this is fun! But a tough decision. In no order:

- Pangolin (any species. But if I had the luxury of choice, Giant!)
- African Golden Cat
- Saola
- Any large whale
- Great White Shark

Runners up:

- Platypus
- Numbat
- Giant Armadillo
- Narwhal
- Shoebill
 
- Jentink's duiker
- Zebra duiker
- Any Uakaris, just cause they're so unique
- Dama gazelle, Nanger dama dama. They're apparently held at Al Ain. I think both Mhorrs and Addras are super cool and elegant, and I have no idea what a dama dama looks like, if anyone can help btw. I think the only pictures out are ruficolis or mhorr.
-
Black and rufous elephant shrew or Golden rumped elephant shrew.

These are only mammals though, I may have to think about birds and then make my choice between the 10.


Edit : After reading some other posts, good challengers would be :
- Ethiopian wolf
- Menelik's bushbuck
- Beira
- Tonkin or any snub-nosed monkeys


It goes on and on, so many species I'd like to see.
 
I have way too many, so limiting this to 5 species is tough.

1. Zebra Duiker
2. Slow Loris (frustratingly missed them at the Bronx today)
3. Saola
4. Great White Shark
5. Giant Squid
 
In the wild:
  1. Sumatran or Javan Rhino
  2. Any species of great ape
  3. Ground Pangolin
  4. Blue Whale
  5. Great White Shark
Having seen a few marine mammals I’m fairly satisfied there (Dall’s Porpoise, Ringed Seal, Fin Whale, etc).
 
scandinavian native:

Siberian flying squirrel,
natterjack toad,
Common Spadefoot,
pool frog,
antlion

other:
queensland lungfish,
australian freshwater crocodile,
false killer whale,
fly river turtle,
hellbender salamander

the lungfish would have been replaced by african pygmy goose but i crossed that one
of the list thanks to my visit to copenhagen zoo 1-3 years ago. These are in no particular order.
 
1. Orca
2. Marine iguana
3. Platypus
4. Tuatara
5. Whale shark
If think most of us want to see these however.
 
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Ohh, when/where did yo usee the Dall's Porpoise?? Any photos??
I saw them in the Kenai Fjords, I’ve got a video somewhere that I’m still searching for. It was raining that particular day and the porpoises were a bit too fast for me to snap a photo. That was my last day of whale watching before driving up to Denali and I was really excited to have finally found one after three days. It was about 2 or 3 years ago
 
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I saw them in the Kenai Fjords, I’ve got a video somewhere that I’m still searching for. It was raining that particular day and the porpoises were a bit too fast for me to snap a photo. That was my last day of whale watching before driving up to Denali and I was really excited to have finally found one after three days. It was about 2 or 3 years ago

Ah yes, the hope of Dall's Porpoises will be my main reason for visiting Alaska whenever I'm able to make it there.
 
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