Animals that are difficult to see in your zoo
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MOG2012
Well-Known Member
At Stone Zoo, Baja California Spiny-Tailed Iguana, and Ringtail are always elusive while at Roger Williams Park Zoo, Southern tamandua, northern copperhead, and red wolf are hard to find. At Southwick's Zoo, the muntjac, outdoor American alligator, cheetah, and armadillo are hard to find. At the Museum of Science, I haven't seen the sheltopusik, corn snake, macroinvertebrates, and scorpion despite going there for nearly a decade
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
The kaloula pulchra and candoia paulsoni tasmai at Gembira Loka Zoo are always a difficult task to see. Their passerine walkthrough aviary barely have any signage for their free-flying bird, I think I only saw several species of birds once there and never seen them again, who knows what others in there that I haven't seen.
Same goes with the walkthrough aviary at Taman Safari Bogor, which does have several signages but that doesn't encompasses all of the species seen there. There are reportedly fire-tufted barbet there, but I've never seen the barbet ever. The pair of striped hyena there was only briefly put on-display, same goes to their Sunda pangolin. Taman Sadari Bogor's alligator snapping turtle is quite notable for being hardly seen throughout its time there that not even a lot of people are aware that they have this species. Animals like grizzled tree-kangaroo and Javan slow loris are always on and off-display.
In Ragunan Zoo, snakes like gonyosoma oxycephalum and coelognathus radiatus are also difficult to see, being kept in a large, open exhibit. In their small mammal house, the Gunung Muria small civet are very shy and rarely seen outside of the many hiding caves there, while the single raccoon are always on and off display. Ragunan's single grizzled tree-kangaroo is also quite a hassle to found due to it being unsigned and having been kept in a very large exhibit (Contributing to the difficulty to be seen).
Jagat Satwa Nusantara and their three parks have numerous aviaries, terrariums/paludariums, and tanks that are made in a natural way (Though, mostly only for artistic purposes rather than for the animals enrichment) that I can considered it to be lucky to found some of the notable species there, like the ferruginous partridge, lophosaurus dilophus, rhacophorus reinwardtii, and pao palembangensis.
Same goes with the walkthrough aviary at Taman Safari Bogor, which does have several signages but that doesn't encompasses all of the species seen there. There are reportedly fire-tufted barbet there, but I've never seen the barbet ever. The pair of striped hyena there was only briefly put on-display, same goes to their Sunda pangolin. Taman Sadari Bogor's alligator snapping turtle is quite notable for being hardly seen throughout its time there that not even a lot of people are aware that they have this species. Animals like grizzled tree-kangaroo and Javan slow loris are always on and off-display.
In Ragunan Zoo, snakes like gonyosoma oxycephalum and coelognathus radiatus are also difficult to see, being kept in a large, open exhibit. In their small mammal house, the Gunung Muria small civet are very shy and rarely seen outside of the many hiding caves there, while the single raccoon are always on and off display. Ragunan's single grizzled tree-kangaroo is also quite a hassle to found due to it being unsigned and having been kept in a very large exhibit (Contributing to the difficulty to be seen).
Jagat Satwa Nusantara and their three parks have numerous aviaries, terrariums/paludariums, and tanks that are made in a natural way (Though, mostly only for artistic purposes rather than for the animals enrichment) that I can considered it to be lucky to found some of the notable species there, like the ferruginous partridge, lophosaurus dilophus, rhacophorus reinwardtii, and pao palembangensis.
HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
Burgers' Zoo has three large greenhouses with many free-roaming animals.
I've visited almost weekly every week for the past two years and I've never seen the Paradise tanager that are supposedly there. Same goes for the White-throated geckos, Asian house geckos and Montserrat whistling-frogs. Although, to be fair, the latter three are really small and love hiding.
I've visited almost weekly every week for the past two years and I've never seen the Paradise tanager that are supposedly there. Same goes for the White-throated geckos, Asian house geckos and Montserrat whistling-frogs. Although, to be fair, the latter three are really small and love hiding.
I've actually had great luck with the sea otters, the warthogs, and the wolverine.
I was actually going to hop on here to mention Detroit's beavers...
USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
Warthogs are an every other visit for me. The sea otters I never see due to them only being out early in the morning (volunteer mentioned that). The beavers should at least have viewing into the lodge. I always have hated that camera.
That is weird because I see the kudu frequently. They don't seem to wander far from their housing as they are almost always towards the back of the paddock on the right hand side.
Maybe the time of day makes a difference. I do usually go round backwards to avoid the crowds, which means the kudu are towards the end.
Acacia plant
Member
much like other people here who have been to chester, i have never seen the mountain chicken frog, despite visiting 3+ times.
Even with the fact I go to Cleveland at least twice a month, I almost always have trouble finding these critters:
- Three Banded Armadillo (Enjoys spending time in the way back of the exhibit)
- Northern Tree Shrew (Nocturnal section of the PCA building)
- Pygmy Slow Loris (Nocturnal section of the PCA building)
- American Black Bear (She is quite elderly and is rare to see outside)
- Harbor Seal
- Red Panda - Ruskin (He is an elderly Red Panda that lives away from the others and is getting rarer to see outside)
These were the animals in The RainForest I rarely, if ever, saw:
- Brazillian Agouti
- Ocelot
- Fishing Cat (Before the cat passed away in 2023 I think I saw it like once)
- Prevost's Squirrel (Before it was moved out in 2024 to allow for RainForest construction I don't think I was ever able to see it)
- Three Banded Armadillo (Enjoys spending time in the way back of the exhibit)
- Northern Tree Shrew (Nocturnal section of the PCA building)
- Pygmy Slow Loris (Nocturnal section of the PCA building)
- American Black Bear (She is quite elderly and is rare to see outside)
- Harbor Seal
- Red Panda - Ruskin (He is an elderly Red Panda that lives away from the others and is getting rarer to see outside)
These were the animals in The RainForest I rarely, if ever, saw:
- Brazillian Agouti
- Ocelot
- Fishing Cat (Before the cat passed away in 2023 I think I saw it like once)
- Prevost's Squirrel (Before it was moved out in 2024 to allow for RainForest construction I don't think I was ever able to see it)
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London Zoo's Chinese giant salamanders are often elusive
Typhlonectes
Well-Known Member
Chester: Mountain Chicken, Mao-Son Frog, Azara’s Agouti, Haitian Giant Galliwasp (All never seen after 10+ visits)
London: Belanger’s Tree Shrew
London: Belanger’s Tree Shrew
I never saw the hairy-eared dwarf lemur at Paris Vincennes
Jambi
Well-Known Member
At my nearest zoo, the Lake District Wildlife Park, they have a single female fallow deer living in the same paddock as their zebra herd. She often hangs out at the very far end of the paddock, either in or around the stables or by some large trees. I visit this zoo around three or four times a year, and have only seen the deer maybe two or three times since 2021.
This zoo also has a pair of male European polecats that can be hard to spot, they tend to spend most of the day hidden away in their burrow, and you often have to pass by the enclosure a few times to maybe have the chance of seeing one of them.
This zoo also has a pair of male European polecats that can be hard to spot, they tend to spend most of the day hidden away in their burrow, and you often have to pass by the enclosure a few times to maybe have the chance of seeing one of them.
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I have no problems trying to find all the animals at the Fort Wayne (Children's) Zoo, except the birds in the rainforest dome. The only species I have yet to spot are the blue-crowned hanging parrots, green imperial pigeons, white-breasted wood swallow, and oriental and golden white-eyes. There's a good amount of species that can be hit or miss as well.
Oh, I am sorry, I did not say what zoo I was talking about. It was BioParque do Rio, formerly known as RioZoo (or the Rio de Janeiro zoo).
I forgot to add the sloth can also be a bit difficult to see sometimes. Same goes for the agoutis inside the walkthrough aviary.
I do, however, have another local zoo. Zoo VR, located in Volta Redonda, is way smaller than BioParque do Rio, though it still benefits from being close to said park.
The zoo's elderly Japanese macaque (which came from Rio) is truly a hit-or-miss. Close to him is the crab-eating raccoon (is it still alive?), which I have seen very few times, if more than once.
The animals in the big cat corridor are not hard to spot, but seeing all of them silmutaneously active is a moment to remember.
If you ever visit São Paulo, make sure to spend more time inside the frog and herptile houses. Their residents can be very difficult to spot. The irradiate tortoise was a personal challenge of mine, as I only got to see it on my last visit, less than two weeks ago.
The Brazilian canids (maned wolf, hoary and crab-eating foxes and bushdog) can also be no-shows.
CarnotaurusSastrei
Well-Known Member
I imagine it's at least in part a matter of how I tend to navigate around the zoo, but I've definitely had a solid amount of difficulty when it comes to seeing the ocelot at Brookfield Zoo
cloudedleopard611
Well-Known Member
Species I don't see more often than I do at the Saint Louis Zoo:
-Green heron (Cypress Swamp)
-Cabot's tragopan (Bird Garden Trail)
-Pink-headed fruit dove (Bird House central garden)-this one usually makes an appearance if you stick around the central garden long enough, but if you only stop briefly you will most likely not see them.
-Puma (Big Cat Country)- the questionable exhibit design and insufficient viewing opportunities are at play here.
-Guatemalan jumping pitviper (Herpetrium)
-Virgin Island boa (Herpetarium)
-Giant anteater (River's Edge)
-Cheetah (River's Edge)- with the stipulation that you usually will see them in the holding areas visible behind the exhibit, but I would say it is more likely than not you will not see them in in their main exhibit, especially on busy days. Pro-tip: they do tend to be a lot more reliable and also pretty active in the winter if you are wanting to see them.
-Sun bear (River's Edge)
-Green heron (Cypress Swamp)
-Cabot's tragopan (Bird Garden Trail)
-Pink-headed fruit dove (Bird House central garden)-this one usually makes an appearance if you stick around the central garden long enough, but if you only stop briefly you will most likely not see them.
-Puma (Big Cat Country)- the questionable exhibit design and insufficient viewing opportunities are at play here.
-Guatemalan jumping pitviper (Herpetrium)
-Virgin Island boa (Herpetarium)
-Giant anteater (River's Edge)
-Cheetah (River's Edge)- with the stipulation that you usually will see them in the holding areas visible behind the exhibit, but I would say it is more likely than not you will not see them in in their main exhibit, especially on busy days. Pro-tip: they do tend to be a lot more reliable and also pretty active in the winter if you are wanting to see them.
-Sun bear (River's Edge)
