Animal Species You Have Seen Both in the Wild and in Captivity

wensleydale

Well-Known Member
The "Do You Travel" thread gave me this idea. How many species of animals have you seen both in the wild and in a captive setting, including but not limited to a zoo, a farm, as a pet, etc.

My own list is painfully short, and probably incomplete because in all likelihood I have just forgotten about some of them. All of these are animals local to where I live.

American Crow

Red Fox

North American Porcupine

Bald Eagle

Red Tailed Hawk

Mouse (Does infesting my house count as wild? I tend to kill pests on sight. So yell at me, see if I care.)

Rat

Wood Turtle

Eastern Painted Turtle

Turkey

Striped Skunk

Garter Snake

North American River Otter

Mallard Duck

Honey Bee

Swallowtail Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly (in egg, larval, pupae, and adult form.)

Bobcat

American Kestrel

Turkey Vulture

Blue Crab (I think. Put it in the maybe pile.)

North Atlantic Sea Star

Painted Lady Butterfly

American Lobster

Red Shouldered Hawk

Blue Mussel (at Price Chopper.)

Periwinkle

Slipper Shell (at Fenway Park of all Places. NEAQ sent some people.)

Cardinal

Blue Jay

Rat Snake

Pheasant (it must have escaped from a game farm and lived wild for at several months before that dog got it.)

And probably a number of other animals, I can't be bothered to remember.

Update: And also the Common Carp. This one is interesting, and also a maybe. I see koi carp regularly. However I saw wild, invasive carp in the wetland area of the Roger Williams Park Zoo. They even had a sign about them. I wish the zoo would get rid of them really (though they do seem to have come with the pond.) I wish they would instead possibly introduce some kind of native fish to replace them. Maybe there is no replacement or they are too hard to get rid of.

How about my fellow ZooChatters?
 
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My list is mostly fish, but that is because every summer i go the bahamas

Yellowtail Snapper
Seargent Major
Queen Angelfish
Peacock Flounder
Spanish Hogfish
Porkfish
Spotted Eagle Ray
Atlantic Blue Tang
White Tailed Deer
Eastern Box Turtle
Turkey Vulture
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin
Sea Turtle (Couldnt Tell What species it was, but im pretty sure it was a green)
Eastern Garter Snake
Sand Shrimp
Blue Crab
Groundhog (it lives under ny neighbor's porch)
Spring Peeper
Cabbage White Butterfly
Monarch/Viceory Butterfly
Blue Jay
Southern Stingray
Atlantic Whiptail Ray
Rainbow Runner (fish)
Spiny Lobster
Red Lionfish
Green Anole
Brown Anole
Mallard Duck
Nassau Grouper
Great Barracuda
Ocean Triggerfish
Palometa
Bluehead Wrasse
Green Heron
French Grunt
Princess Parrotfish
Porcupinefish
Horseshoe Crab (a dead one that washed up on the beach)
Harlequin Basslet
Moon Jellyfish
West Indian Manatee
 
Since I don't keep records of species tht I have seen (working on changing that in my spare time) I can't give lists but just working through photographs of trips that I have taken in the last few years conservative estimates must be several hundred mammals and even more birds. I hope to have proper lists of species within 3 or 4 months.
:)
 
I don't keep a list, but it would not be particularly not long as I have only seen wild animals in Western Europe and West Africa. I think it is interesting that animals in the wild always look bigger than conspecifics in captivity. Sometimes this is obvious, for example bottle-nosed dolphins in captivity are almost always from temperate or subtropical areas (or are descended from such animals) while the ones I have seen in cold Manx and Scottish waters really are much bigger.
You can also see animals doing things in the wild that they cannot do in captivity: I know that the only wild elephant that I have ever seen was huge, although it was half a mile away and up to its belly in long grass, because I saw it casually walk up to a decent sized tree, nudge the trunk with its forehead and push it over. Likewise seeing a wild bird flying always makes it look bigger and more beautiful than it would in a zoo, which I think is true for little orange-cheeked waxbills, for medium sized carmine bee-eaters and for large palm nut vultures. I think this is partly due to the extra concentration that you need to watch genuinely wild animals.
It is also quite possible to have difficulty recognising a species that you know well. I vividly remember riding pillion on a motorcycle through the forest near Kumasi at dawn: the sky was full of a large flock of birds, all flying in the same direction over the treetops. The noise they made was incredible, a mixture of beautiful whistles and shrill screams. The light was too poor to see any colour on them, but they were medium sized with rounded heads and pointed fast-beating wings. I was very puzzled for several minutes before the penny dropped and I suddenly realised that they were African grey parrots.

Alan
 
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I have a list of all animals I have seen, this is the (rather small!) list of 27 mammal species I have seen in captivity and the wild. The bird list is substantially longer, but again, many of the birds commonly seen in the wild are rarely seen in zoos.

Short-beaked Echidna
Koala
Common Brushtail Possum
Common Ringtail Possum
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Euro
Red Kangaroo
Black-footed Rock Wallaby
Southern Swamp Wallaby
Australian Water Rat
House Mouse
Norway Rat
Black Rat
Plantain Squirrel
European Rabbit
Killer Whale
Eurasian Moose
Roe Deer
Scottish Red Deer
Horse
Lesser Dog-faced Flying-fox
Grey-headed Flying-fox
Dingo
Red Fox
Ferret
New Zealand Fur Seal
Australian Fur Seal
 
I also don't make a list because a lot of species I've seen in the wild I've also seen in captivity !
 
I don't keep a list of animals I see in zoos, but going through my wild animal lists I count up 108 mammal species I have seen in both the wild and zoos. I can't be bothered totalling the birds because it would be too many.
 
(Off the top of my head, not complete):

MAMMALS
Iberian lynx
bobcat
pronghorn
wapiti (American elk)
White tailed deer
mule deer
European red deer
fallow deer
mouflon
European otter
American black bear
bighorn sheep
California sea lion

BIRDS
pyrrhuloxia
black crowned night heron
great blue heron
red tailed hawk
golden eagle
harris hawk
American kestrel
mallard duck
burrowing owl
greater roadrunner
sandhill crane
Gambells quail
wild turkey
Annas hummingbird

REPTILES
western diamondback
coachwhip
gila monster
horned lizard
American alligator
American crocodile
desert tortoise
 
American Black Bear
Mountain Lion
Whitetail Deer
Bison
Elk/Wapiti
Alligator
Crocodile
Feral Hog
Jaguar
Turkey
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Water Moccasin
Coral Snake
Indigo Viper
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Mallard Duck
Wood Duck
Merganser Duck
Pelicans
Barn Owl
Bald Eagle
Red tailed Hawk
Pheasants (semi wild)
Doves
Opossum
Coyote/Red Wolf (I maintain they are the same thing)
Sandhill Cranes
Whooping Cranes
Largemouth Bass
River Catfish
Bream/Sunfish



How could I forget Alligator Snapping Turtles/Mud Turtles my dad used to catch Mud turtles when there was a market for them. I left a bunch out like common rodents etc.
 
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American Black Bear
Mountain Lion
Whitetail Deer
Bison
Elk/Wapiti
Alligator
Crocodile
Feral Hog
Jaguar
Turkey
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Water Moccasin
Coral Snake
Indigo Viper
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Mallard Duck
Wood Duck
Merganser Duck
Pelicans
Barn Owl
Bald Eagle
Red tailed Hawk
Pheasants (semi wild)
Doves

Wht species of Crocodile was it? (Im guessing American)
 
I'll see what I can remember!

Mammals:
White-Tailed Deer
American Black Bear
Bobcat
Canada Lynx
Eastern Grey Squirrel
Florida Manatee
Striped Skunk
House Mouse
Collared Peccary

Birds:
Bald Eagle
Great Blue Egret
Little Blue Egret
Double-Crested Cormorant
Red-Tailed Hawk
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Mallard
Redhead
Greater Black-Backed Gull
Tri-Colored Heron
Common Raven
Turkey Vulture
Red-Breasted Merganser
Hooded Merganser
Anhinga
Sandhill Crane
Laughing Gull
Brown Pelican
American White Pelcian
American Wood Duck
Wild Turkey

Reptiles:
Black Rat Snake
American Alligator
Gopher Tortoise
Florida Cooter
Green Anole

Amphibians:
Southern Leopard Frog
American Bullfrog
Eastern Grey Tree Frog
Wood Frog
American Toad
Eastern Newt

Fishes:
Bluegill
Large-Mouth Bass

~Thylo:cool:
 
Wht species of Crocodile was it? (Im guessing American)

Yes it was American Crocodile, the only place outside of the US I have been was the Yucatan Peninsula (high school senior trip to Cancun). Dr. Akisanya, my doctor, is from Nigeria. He wants me to go with him next summer after he found out how much I love Africa. I was all set and planned to do a Summer abroad in Ghana in college (Political science major and my research was on the stable Ghanan political system) but my dad's health worsened a plans changed.
 
Sumatran orangutan
Lar gibbons
Common marmoset
Bolivian squirrel monkey
Black-capped capuchins
Long-tailed macaques

They’re the coolest ones.
 
Limited list, even if I could figure out a complete one, it would still be pretty small, (most animals I've seen in the wild are birds, and most zoos I've been to mostly keep more exotic bird species) but:

Bottlenose dolphin
Nine-banded armadillo
Gray fox
American alligator
Whooping crane
Indigo snake
Rat snake
 
North America:
Grizzly Bear
Black Bear
Bison
Elk
Moose
Bobcat
Coyote
Bighorn Sheep
Mountain Goat
River Otter
Beaver
Striped Skunk
Gray Wolf
Bald Eagle
Great-Horned Owl
California Sea Lion
Prairie Dog
Pronghorn
Badger
Trumpeter Swan

Central America:
White-Faced Capuchin Monkey
Boa Constrictor
Green Iguana
Palm Viper
Keel-Billed Toucan
Squirrel Monkey
Howler Monkey
Three-Toed Sloth
Caimen (not sure which species but have seen some in pet shops in the USA)
Kinkajou


I'm sure the list is much larger for North America but these are some I have seen recently in zoos that I have also seen in the wild.
 
American Black Bear
Mountain Lion
Whitetail Deer
Bison
Elk/Wapiti
Alligator
Crocodile
Feral Hog
Jaguar
Turkey
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Water Moccasin
Coral Snake
Indigo Viper
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Mallard Duck
Wood Duck
Merganser Duck
Pelicans
Barn Owl
Bald Eagle
Red tailed Hawk
Pheasants (semi wild)
Doves
Opossum
Coyote/Red Wolf (I maintain they are the same thing)
Sandhill Cranes
Whooping Cranes
Largemouth Bass
River Catfish
Bream/Sunfish



How could I forget Alligator Snapping Turtles/Mud Turtles my dad used to catch Mud turtles when there was a market for them. I left a bunch out like common rodents etc.

Where did you see a jaguar in the wild? I would love to see one of those in the wild. I have seen whooping cranes in the wild but not in zoos.
 
Where did you see a jaguar in the wild? I would love to see one of those in the wild. I have seen whooping cranes in the wild but not in zoos.

When I went to Mexico, there was a Reserve I took a day trip to a good ways from Cancun.
 
Not accounting for subspecies (and by virtue of ignorance excluding some bats, rats, and such):
Mammals Only:
Canada Lynx
Grey Wolf
Coyote
Golden Jackal
Red Fox
Grey Fox
Swift Fox
Arctic Fox
Raccoon Dog
Polar Bear
Black Bear
Brown Bear
Sea Otter
River Otter
Fisher
Ermine
Siberian Weasel
Mink
Beech Martin
American Badger
Eurasian Badger
Striped Skunk
Spotted Skunk
Raccoon
Ringtail
Small Asian Mongoose
California Sea Lion
Stellar Sea Sion
Harbor Seal
Orca
Bottlenose Dolphin
Dall Porpoise
Harbor Porpoise
Burro
Pronghorn
Aoudad
Mouflon
Dall Sheep
Bison
Mountain Goat
Chamois
Musk Ox
Blackbuck
Whitetail Deer
Mule Deer
Red Deer
Wapiti
Moose
Axis Deer
Roe Deer
Sika Deer
Fallow Deer
Caribou
Wild Boar
Japanese Macaque
Nutria
Beaver
Muskrat
Brown Rat
House Mouse
Grey Squirrel
Rock Squirrel
Fox Squirrel
Eurasian Red Squirrel
Woodchuck
Black tailed Prairie Dog
Porcupine
West European Hedgehog
 
I know I'm going to forget some, but hopefully I'll remember most.

Horse (I'm counting domesticated as "in captivity" or you can count the Przewalski's horse in a zoo)
Orca
Dolphin (wild was pacific white-sided and captivity was atlantic and pacific bottlenose)
Bald eagle
Burrowing Owl
Coyote
California Sea Lion
Harbor Seal
Sea Otter
Gila Monster
Tarantula
Jellyfish (not likely the same species, but I've seen both wild and in aquariums)
Vulture

I've also seen some animals that people have listed as seeing both wild and captive, but I've only wild since they don't generally keep them in zoo collections around here

squirrel
mallard
Elk
cottontail rabbit
striped skunk
heron
egret
various lizards
 
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