Animals You've Seen That Few Zoochatters Have Seen

Xenarthra said:
I'm probably a poor judge of what's a true rarity by zoochat standards, as I've never had the financial ability/time for traveling that a lot of zoochatters seems to have had. I think there's a bit of a gulf between serious enthusiasts and the more average folks, in terms of what's considered particularly difficult to see, aka "rare". Not that I begrudge anyone that, as y'all have a habit of taking great pictures for me to check out :D

With that said, I can come up with a short list of species that I've seen people mention in various threads. Or species that are, as far as I know, not super accessible.

Black-footed Cat - Fresno Zoo
Bush Dogs - Sequoia Park Zoo
Great White Shark - Monterey Bay Aquarium
Mountain Tapir - LA Zoo
Speke's Gazelle- Fresno Zoo
Walrus - Marine World (now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)
Yellow-billed Magpie - LA Zoo (these were also common backyard birds for me growing up in Merced County, CA)

If we're talking wild animals:

Falcated Duck - (a wild vagrant from Russia/Mongolia, in Colusa Wildlife Refuge)
2, maybe 3 subspecies of Ensatina salamander here in California and Oregon
Fisher - rural Humboldt County
Giant Kangaroo Rat- Carrizo Plain National Monument
Kit Fox - Carrizo Plain National Monument
Phainopepla - Tulare County

Likely several other bird species I've seen would be considered rarities too, but I'm not up to trawling through my old eBird records right now.
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I think almost all these would be rare by ZooChat standards. The only exceptions would be Walrus and Bush Dog, and possibly Black-footed Cat and Fisher to a lesser extent (though I doubt many will have seen a WILD Fisher).
 
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Has anyone seen African Slender Snouted Crocodiles? I think they’re pretty rare in captivity. Good thing Maryland Zoo has them if they are.
 
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Great Argus said:
We pretty certainly saw the same one, I saw one there as well! ;)
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Small world! It was fun watching him try and woo the confused female wigeon :D

birdsandbats said:
I think almost all these would be rare by ZooChat standards. The only exceptions would be Walrus and Bush Dog, and possibly Black-footed Cat and Fisher to a lesser extent (though I doubt many will have seen a WILD Fisher.
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The fisher was a real treat; my class was on a field trip specifically for mesocarnivores and we managed to get lucky spotting the critter. Other in-the-wild highlights from my time in Humboldt County include spotted owls, northern pygmy owls, marbled murrelets, northern crested caracara (a vagrant that ended up in neighboring Del Norte), northern rubber boa, mountain lion, and northern elephant seal. I REALLY miss the redwoods, rain, and all the wildlife at your fingertips up there. My consolation prize in my arid oven of a county now is that I have burrowing owls and roadrunners with some regularity lol.
 
Ok then heres my list, some of these are *rare* while others are moderately rare and others are actually very rare

Wild animals

Otway Black Snail
Forest Raven (not necessarily rare but theres no photos in the gallery)
Southern Weasel Skink
Hooded Plover
Australian Pied Oystercatcher
White Eared Honeyeater

While each species is not rare, I have seen all five species of cormorant in Australia (not including vagrants and territories (heard island shag etc)) in a single day.

A variety of fish species seen in Port Phillip (and Western Port) bay that aren't usually found in aquaria

Senator Wrasse
Blue Throated Wrasse
King George Whiting
Common Gurnard Perch
Melbourne Skate
Sparsely Spotted Stingaree* (there is also one at Melbourne aquarium but I got the first photo in the gallery)
Southern Gunard Perch
Silver Trevalley
Tommy Ruff (Australian Herring)
Southern Maori Wrasse
Rough Leatherjacket

Also in the Carribean I saw these animals that I haven't seen mentioned much on the forums

Northern Curlytail Lizard
Atlantic Tarpon (common in captivity but I don't think many zoochatters have seen them in the wild)


Zoo and Aquarium animals

Baw Baw Frog* (although many zoochatters have seen it they are at only one zoo in the world)
Yellow Tuffted Honeyeater (nominate subspecies)
Swift Parrot
Australian Chameleon Gecko
Black Striped Wallaby
Spiny River Terrapin

Animals at expos and at pet shops

Storr's Monitor
Rusty Monitor
Oenpelli Python
Rough Throated Leaf Tailed Gecko
Tawny Dragon
Yellow Bellied "Snapping" turtle
Spotted Black Snake
Strap Snouted Brown Snake
Chapel Island Tiger Snake
Curl Snake
 
Here's my mammals list from my time in Japan. Ask me if you want to know where I saw a particular animal:

Japanese Black Bear
Ussuri Brown Bear
Japanese Tanuki
Japanese Red Fox
Large Japanese Flying Squirrel
Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrel
Japanese Meadow Vole
Japanese Dormouse
Large Japanese Field Mouse
Small Japanese Field Mouse
Japanese Serow
Yakushima Macaque
Ezo Sika Deer
Yakushima Sika Deer
Spectral Tarsier
Asian House Shrew
Japanese House Bat
Chinese Pangolin (more people have seen this now than in the past)
Leschenault's Rousette
Highland Streaked Tenrec
Greater Hedgehog Tenrec
King Cheetah
Ezo Mountain Hare
Japanese Weasel
Japanese Mole
Japanese Water Shrew
Long-Clawed Shrew
Ezo Least Shrew
Japanese Marten
Tsushima Leopard Cat
Lake Baikal Seal (surprisingly common in Japan)
Harbor Porpoise
Okhotsk Ringed Seal
Volcano Rabbit
Tsushima Large Field Mouse
Red-Backed Bearded Saki
White-Bellied Spider Monkey
Peruvian Spider Monkey
Gray Woolly Monkey
Potto
Golden-Bellied Mangabey
Red-Tailed Moustached Monkey
Malbrouck
Western Lesser Spot-Nosed Monkey
Gabon Talapoin
Bonnet Macaque
Toque Macaque
Tibetan Macaque
Amazonian Manatee
Drill
Green Monkey
Mongolian Wolf
Dugong
African Manatee
Commerson's Dolphin
Narrow-Ridged Finless Porpoise
African Clawless Otter
African Forest Elephant
East Asian Free-Tailed Bat
Birdlike Noctule
Asian Particolored Bat
Greater Horseshoe Bat
Bearded Seal
Pygmy Killer Whale
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Rough-Toothed Dolphin
 
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Mammals in Singapore (If you've been to all the WRS parks and the aquarium, then you probably have most of this list):

Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bat (wild)
Proboscis Monkey
Red-Shanked Douc
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo (nominate subspecies)
Gambian Pouched Rat
Finlayson's Squirrel
Sunda Colugo (wild, a must-see if you go to the WRS parks)
Sunda Pangolin
Small-Toothed Palm Civet
Sumatran Masked Palm Civet (leucomystax - rare but increasing presence in Europe)
Hog Badger
Yellow-Spotted Chevrotain (M. kathygre)
Guyanan Red Howler
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

Mammals in Taiwan:
Formosan Sika Deer
Formosan Sambar Deer
Formosan Reeves' Muntjac
Formosan Wild Boar
Formosan Serow
Formosan Black Bear
Formosan Rock Macaque
Formosan Pangolin
Formosan Leopard Cat
Crab-Eating Mongoose
Kodiak Bear
Papuan Agile Wallaby
Risso's Dolphin

Mammals in Hong Kong:
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey
 
Tennoji Zoo has a pack (Canis lupus chanco, labeled "Chinese wolf") albeit in a rather old enclosure. That zoo really needs a major renovation (in fact the reptile house and African savannah have been renovated, and they are way better than the rest of the zoo).
 
RatioTile said:
Here's my mammals list from my time in Japan. Ask me if you want to know where I saw a particular animal:

Japanese Black Bear
Ussuri Brown Bear
Japanese Tanuki
Japanese Red Fox
Large Japanese Flying Squirrel
Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrel
Japanese Meadow Vole
Japanese Dormouse
Large Japanese Field Mouse
Small Japanese Field Mouse
Japanese Serow
Yakushima Macaque
Ezo Sika Deer
Yakushima Sika Deer
Spectral Tarsier
Asian House Shrew
Japanese House Bat
Chinese Pangolin (more people have seen this now than in the past)
Leschenault's Rousette
Highland Streaked Tenrec
Greater Hedgehog Tenrec
King Cheetah
Ezo Mountain Hare
Japanese Weasel
Japanese Mole
Japanese Water Shrew
Long-Clawed Shrew
Ezo Least Shrew
Japanese Marten
Tsushima Leopard Cat
Lake Baikal Seal (surprisingly common in Japan)
Harbor Porpoise
Okhotsk Ringed Seal
Volcano Rabbit
Tsushima Large Field Mouse
Red-Backed Bearded Saki
White-Bellied Spider Monkey
Peruvian Spider Monkey
Gray Woolly Monkey
Potto
Golden-Bellied Mangabey
Red-Tailed Moustached Monkey
Malbrouck
Western Lesser Spot-Nosed Monkey
Gabon Talapoin
Bonnet Macaque
Toque Macaque
Tibetan Macaque
Amazonian Manatee
Drill
Green Monkey
Mongolian Wolf
Dugong
African Manatee
Commerson's Dolphin
Narrow-Ridged Finless Porpoise
African Clawless Otter
African Forest Elephant
East Asian Free-Tailed Bat
Birdlike Noctule
Asian Particolored Bat
Greater Horseshoe Bat
Bearded Seal
Pygmy Killer Whale
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Rough-Toothed Dolphin
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You've got 8 on me from this list!

RatioTile said:
Mammals in Singapore (If you've been to all the WRS parks and the aquarium, then you probably have most of this list):

Lesser Short-Nosed Fruit Bat (wild)
Proboscis Monkey
Red-Shanked Douc
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo (nominate subspecies)
Gambian Pouched Rat
Finlayson's Squirrel
Sunda Colugo (wild, a must-see if you go to the WRS parks)
Sunda Pangolin
Small-Toothed Palm Civet
Sumatran Masked Palm Civet (leucomystax - rare but increasing presence in Europe)
Hog Badger
Yellow-Spotted Chevrotain (M. kathygre)
Guyanan Red Howler
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

Mammals in Taiwan:
Formosan Sika Deer
Formosan Sambar Deer
Formosan Reeves' Muntjac
Formosan Wild Boar
Formosan Serow
Formosan Black Bear
Formosan Rock Macaque
Formosan Pangolin
Formosan Leopard Cat
Crab-Eating Mongoose
Kodiak Bear
Papuan Agile Wallaby
Risso's Dolphin

Mammals in Hong Kong:
Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey
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And 1 from this list- Guyanan Red Howler of course!
 
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