The obviously one is aardvark. I really love this animal since I was young and it was nice to see them when I finally visit Japan. Also okapi in the same zoo (Ueno) too.
Finally got to see that species you've wanted to see for years.
- Thread starter Davdhole
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Probably the three that stand out for me in captivity are Shoebill, now seen wild in Uganda; manatee, which I have now seen mating in the wild in Florida, and pangolin, which remains a dream in the wild. Wild, oh so many; probably Colugo and displaying King of Saxony Bird of Paradise top of the list.
To simply list the animals I had wanted to see the MOST:
The whale shark at georgia aquarium (Probably very high on many bucket lists)
The tasmanian devil at saint louis zoo
The short beaked echidna and wombat at the Brookfield zoo
The bushbaby and slow loris at Lincoln park zoo
The Aardvark at Lincoln park zoo (I know brookfield at least used to have one, but one way or another I never wound up going to all of the exhibits at brookfield. It is painful knowing you have been to a zoo with a pangolin but not seeing it...)
There are many others that I really want to be able to put on this list, like pangolins, kiwis, etc., but that's a story for another forum
The whale shark at georgia aquarium (Probably very high on many bucket lists)
The tasmanian devil at saint louis zoo
The short beaked echidna and wombat at the Brookfield zoo
The bushbaby and slow loris at Lincoln park zoo
The Aardvark at Lincoln park zoo (I know brookfield at least used to have one, but one way or another I never wound up going to all of the exhibits at brookfield. It is painful knowing you have been to a zoo with a pangolin but not seeing it...)
There are many others that I really want to be able to put on this list, like pangolins, kiwis, etc., but that's a story for another forum
Are aardvarks rare in the US?
I don't think so. I think in this case it may be where they havent seen the species before, so the seeing one would be highly anticipated. It was like that for me with aardvarks, at least.
Actually, Lincoln park zoo in Chicago has aardvarks and Brookfield zoo used to. Otherwise, Bronx, Cincinnati, Detroit, Honolulu, Henry Vilas, Henry Doorly, Philadelphia, and Sacramento Zoo should all have Aardvarks.
I know that
.The point I was making that possibly the aardvark was a heavily anticipated species for you because you had not seen one before, but that was an assumption.
Oh, okay. I think I meant to have that reply directed to Mattaki...I know that
The point I was making that possibly the aardvark was a heavily anticipated species for you because you had not seen one before, but that was an assumption.
Just joined yesterday
And yeah, I had not seen one before.
I know Aardvarks used to be very rare in UK zoos. For the longest time it was only Africa Alive that had them. This has changed since, but they're still rare.
- Giant panda- San Diego Zoo, 2010
- Spectacled bear- Toledo Zoo and Aquarium, 2018
- Jaguar- Toronto Zoo, 2016
- Aye-aye- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, 2012
- Little blue penguin- Bronx Zoo, 2019
- West Indian manatee- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, 2014
- Clouded leopard- Toronto Zoo, 2016
- Koala- San Diego Zoo, 2010
They're not rare. They are often seen in private facilities as well.
Philly hasn't had aardvark in over a year. One passed away and Sunshine was sent to a different zoo.
Ok, it seems that information was a bit outdated.
As a kid I wanted to see everything, including “mundane” animals like rhinoceros or American Bison. Since Turkey doesn’t have most animals that could be taken for granted in the West, I ended up seeing some mundane animals later in life. So instead of listing rarities such as those I went after this year, I want to
Meerkat- Prospect Park Zoo 2008
Ring-tailed lemur, Bison, Polar bear, Fossa, my first ever penguin*- Bronx March 2009
Gibbon (white cheeked) and Otter (small clawed)-Faruk Yalçın Summer 2011
Malayan Tapir, Western Lowland Gorilla and African Wild Dog- Artis July 2012
My first Rhinoceri (Indian and Black), my first Orangutans (Sumatran), Aardvark, Warthog, Cassowary, Giant Anteater-Berlin 2014
Striped Skunk- Bronx 2015
Giant Panda- Ueno 2016
Koala- Tama 2016
American Beaver- Nagasaki BioPark 2016
Wildebeest- Himeji Central park 2016
Killer whale and manatee- SeaWorld Orlando December 2018
*I may have seen penguins in NY aquarium in 2008, but since my memory of them is a bit hazy, I always consider my trip to the Bronx as where I first saw penguins.
Meerkat- Prospect Park Zoo 2008
Ring-tailed lemur, Bison, Polar bear, Fossa, my first ever penguin*- Bronx March 2009
Gibbon (white cheeked) and Otter (small clawed)-Faruk Yalçın Summer 2011
Malayan Tapir, Western Lowland Gorilla and African Wild Dog- Artis July 2012
My first Rhinoceri (Indian and Black), my first Orangutans (Sumatran), Aardvark, Warthog, Cassowary, Giant Anteater-Berlin 2014
Striped Skunk- Bronx 2015
Giant Panda- Ueno 2016
Koala- Tama 2016
American Beaver- Nagasaki BioPark 2016
Wildebeest- Himeji Central park 2016
Killer whale and manatee- SeaWorld Orlando December 2018
*I may have seen penguins in NY aquarium in 2008, but since my memory of them is a bit hazy, I always consider my trip to the Bronx as where I first saw penguins.
Giant pandas. Those always fascinated me but I didn't get to a zoo that had them until just this summer and not until I was in my 40s. It was so rewarding to finally see one in person. The fact it was early and the zoo wasn't crowded made the experince that much better.
KatherineLionessHornbillX
Member
A couple of months ago I went to the San Diego Zoo and finally got to see Amur leopards and snow leopards. Big cats are my jam and, besides some subspecies, they were the only two members of the Panthera genus I’d never seen. They were gorgeous and it made my day seeing them. I also adored seeing a Komodo dragon there for the first time
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I've only seen these twice in captivity. Someday I hope to see them in the wild.
American burying beetles (Cincinnati Zoo) and dholes (The Wilds).
As far as zoos, the biggest ones for me were probably Koalas at Columbus and Aye-Ayes at Omaha.