Animals You've Seen That Few Zoochatters Have Seen

The animals you are looking for must fullfill several criteria :
- the species has to be kept rarely in captivity and then only in zoos rarely visited by ZooChatters - a rare species kept at for example the London Zoo or the Bronx - New York are likely to be seen by a large number of ZooChatters.
- the species has to be rare in the wild and/ or live in a remote area rarely visited by ZooChatters. A species which is rare in for example European or North American zoos but common in the wild in Australia is likely to been seen by a good number of ZooChatters.
- to increase the change to have seen such a species, species kept not anymore in captivity are in favour.
I've been so lucky not only to see a species which fullfill these criteria but even took care for it ! I guess less then 10 ZooChatters have seen it alive and then only the few who visited Walsrode in the 1970s - 1980s. I'm meaning the Yellow-eared parrot, an endangered parrot which onces was almost extinct but by protection measurements it now is luckily again increasing in numbers. The chances it will ever be kept at a western zoo are very small.
 
I'm assuming you are talking about...in captivity
I'm also assuming a fair number of posters have seen the rares at San Diego
(zoo, safari park and seaworld) and LA

so I'm go with some I think are fairly unusual though not necessarily rare
tuatara - St Louis
ozark blind cave fish- St Louis
cave salamander -St Louis (not all that rare but haven't seen them anywhere else)
green,yellowbelly,broadbanded,diamond back and northern watersnakes -St Louis (same deal not that rare but I haven't seen them elsewhere that I can recall and they were never labeled when on display at St Louis)
baikal seal -St Louis
acorn woodpecker -Palm desert
Devil's hole pupfish - Shark Reef
Pahrump killifish -in aquaria at Corn Creek outside Las Vegas
Bahamian hutia - Ardastra Gardens
When did St. Louis keep Baikal Seal?
 
Given that the species was until recently kept in Tierpark Berlin (which quite a lot of zoochatters have visited), as well as still being present in Hamerton I would expect quite a number of European zoochatters to have seen it.

A similar situation happens with other extreme rarities in zoos that are often the destination of travelling zoochatters. The trumpet manucode in Zoo Berlin, Baby the river dolphin in Duisburg and a seemingly endless list of birds in Walsrode come to mind.

For myself, maybe Spix' macaw or Bulwer's pheasant in Pairi Daiza? I don't know how many zoochatters have travelled to that part of Belgium since they were put on display.

Do wild animals count? I don't think a lot of zoochatters have seen Coues' arctic redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni exilipes), with the exception of the occasional birder (looking at you @Vision!).
I thought about that a bit, but I was more on the side of "well, not many will see them now.".

I think it is only captive animals.
 
I don't think a lot of zoochatters have seen Coues' arctic redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni exilipes), with the exception of the occasional birder

Got that one :)

Having thought over the matter, I reckon the captive species I've been fortunate enough to see which has probably been seen by the fewest other Zoochatters - although I know for a fact there are a handful - is Wallcreeper.

If we're extending out to wild species, however, it would hands-down have to be Cuvier's Beaked Whale.
 
It doesn't just have to be captive animals. My list only included captive animals because I haven't seen any ultra rare animals in the wild. Unless, like @Great Argus said, we can include the Yellow-billed magpie, which I see flying around my town on a regular basis
 
Wait is the yellow-billed magpie actually considered a rarity? I know it's only found in California but I guess I just assumed zoos outside of the state held it. Heck, I see that bird flying around my school basically every day
 
Wait is the yellow-billed magpie actually considered a rarity? I know it's only found in California but I guess I just assumed zoos outside of the state held it. Heck, I see that bird flying around my school basically every day
It is rare. It's only kept in captivity in CA and from what I've read they aren't that common in the wild there either.
 
Well I'm not 100% sure if this is considered a "rarely seen species" but since the lion taxa has changed again (I think) it's hard to say. The lions at Addis Ababa zoo was what I was going to go with but I'm not entirely sure on the taxa of the group. Last I checked they were just Ethiopian lions.

I've also seen Yellow-billed magpies, Californian condors, Chinese giant salamanders, Mountain tapirs, Tree pangolins, Bald Urakis, and a Spix Guan.
 
Well I'm not 100% sure if this is considered a "rarely seen species" but since the lion taxa has changed again (I think) it's hard to say. The lions at Addis Ababa zoo was what I was going to go with but I'm not entirely sure on the taxa of the group. Last I checked they were just Ethiopian lions.

I've also seen Yellow-billed magpies, Californian condors, Chinese giant salamanders, Mountain tapirs, Bald Urakis, and a Spix Guan.
In the wild or captive?
 
Barton's echidna: Regent's Park
Platypus: Taronga
Four-eyed opossum: Regent's Park
Rufous spiny bandicoot: Regent's Park
Leadbeater's possum: Regent's Park
Giant armadillo: Regent's Park
Golden bamboo lemur: Tzimbazaza
Greater bamboo lemur: Cologne, Vincennes
Angwantibo: Regent's Park
Bald uakari: Cologne (red and white); LA (red)
Neblina uakari: Cologne
Uta Hick's bearded saki: Cologne
Tonkean macaque: Mulhouse, Strassbourg
Red-nosed mouse: Tzimbazaza
Pacarana: Frankfurt
Mountain paca:
Chinese ferret badger: Regent's Park
Baikal seal: Regent's Park
Hawaiian monk seal: Waikiki Aquarium
Olingo: Exmouth, Kilverstone
Mountain and Baird's tapirs: LA
Sumatran rhinoceros: Bronx, LA, Port Lympne
Northern white rhinoceros: Regent's Park
Saiga: Berlin Tierpark, Cologne
Jentinck's duiker: Berlin Tierpark
Commerson's dolphin: Duisburg
Philippine eagle: Planckendael
Kagu: Berlin Zoo
Weka: Berlin Zoo
Tahitian lory: San Diego
White-necked picathartes: Frankfurt, Rotterdam
Grey-necked picathartes: Frankfurt
Iiwi: Honolulu
Plumbeous redstart: Regent's Park
Tuatara: Auckland, Berlin Zoo, Chester
Chinese giant salamander: Regent's Park
Peripatus: Regent's Park

I have seen other 'rare' species, but I'm not sure of their location
 
I´d like to add some rarities to my prior list:
Platypus - Taronga, Sydney Wildlife, Lone Pone Koala Sanctuary
Nabarlek - Teritorry Wildlife Park
Wilkins Rock Wallaby - Teritorry Wildlife Park
Chuditch - Perth Zoo, TWP
Dibbler - Perth Zoo
Golden Snub-nosed Monkey - Hong Kong Ocean Park
Uta Hicks Bearded Saki - Mulhouse Zoo
Saiga - Cologne Zoo
Northern white rhinoceros - Dvur Kralove
Baikal Seal - Leipzig
African Palm Civet - Bojnice Zoo
Banded Palm Civet - RSCC
Tarsier - RSCC, Night Safari Singapore
Spotted Cuscus - Ouwehands Zoo
Chinese and Sunda Pangolin - Leipzig, Night Safari Singapore
Derbys Woolly Opossum - Best Zoo
Chinese and Javan Ferret Badger - Praha + Brno Zoo
 
Back
Top