Highlights and Hopes

[Phantom Gaur]

Just curious what animals you've always wanted to see and finally got to, and what animals you hope to eventually see someday?
For me, highlights were the Kiwi at the National Zoo in DC(the keeper let my kids sit next to the kiwi and pet it while I took some pics),the Gaur at the Bronx Zoo, and first time I saw a Cassowary. Hopes are for Takin,Musk Ox,Honey Badger, and Uakari.

 

[gentle lemur]

Aye-aye for me. I never imagined I would see one, but I first saw one at Regents Park (when you could see them there). Subsequently seen at Edinburgh and Bristol.
There are altogether too many that I still want to see; if I had to nominate a couple I'd say platypus and Tahiti blue lory.

Alan

 

[Javan Rhino]

In 2010 I saw my first Polar bears, Queensland koalas, Giant otters, kiangs, Japanese macaques and a few others I'm sure. For the future, some aspirations include:

Short-beaked echidna - Paignton or Duisburg
Boto - Duisburg
Northern white rhino - Dvur Kralove
Dugong - Syndey
Leopard seal - Sydney
Platypus - Sydney
(Again, many many more)

In the future, I would like to try my hopes at seeing some animals in the wild on a few trips - namely:

Indonesia - Orangs in the wild, plus a trip to Ujong Kulon to try and see the elusive Javan rhino. Side note, most of my favourite species are Indonesian

Kenya - Black rhinoceros in the wild, plus a number of hoofstock and 'traditional' African species.

Galapagos - Galapagos penguins and marine iguanas.

Uganda - Mountain gorillas.

 

[bongorob]

The species I always wanted to see was bongo, I saw them for the first time in 1985 at London Zoo.

What I want to see is banteng.

 

[KCZooFan]

What I've wanted to see and saw: guar, giant panda, aye-aye, blue-bellied roller, radiated tortoise, and clouded leopards.

Animals I want to see
All flamingo, crane, and crocodilian species, Iberian lynx, and platypus.

 

[Jabiru96]

Captivity: Okapi, Duiker, Drill, Eastern Lowland Gorilla and African Elephant

Wild: Mountain Gorilla, Zanzibar Red Colobus, Clouded Leopard, African Lion and pretty much every other African animal including antelopes, monkeys and small cats

 

[Saro]

@gentle lemur: interesting you mention Tahiti Blue Lori! They were indeed one of my most special animal sights (San Diego). The blue is just spectacular, especially when the sun shines on them. On top of my wish list: Philippine Eagle and Marbled Cat, I just missed both at LA many years ago.

 

[Pertinax]

Ior the future, some aspirations include:
Platypus - Sydney

If you get as far as Australia you can see Platypus in the wild too- far preferable to in a zoo setting- Tasmania is particularly good. At the right time of day(dusk) its only about as hard as watching Water Voles(where they still exist) in the UK.

If I had to name a single 'new' species I'd like to see it would definately be Spix Macaw.

 

[Baldur]

JR- too late for the Northern Whites- they've been moved to Africa.

Actually not, two elderly non-breeders remain in the Czech Republic. San Diego Wild Animal Park furthermore has two more non-breeders; the only ones that were moved to Kenya were the only in which there was the slightest chance of breeding.

 

[Pertinax]

Actually not, two elderly non-breeders remain in the Czech Republic. San Diego Wild Animal Park furthermore has two more non-breeders; the only ones that were moved to Kenya were the only in which there was the slightest chance of breeding.

oops, my mistake. I'll alter that then.

 

[Tim May]

Animals I always wanted to see and eventually did

Sumatran rhino
kiang
giant eland
gerenuk
golden takin
aye-aye
sifaka
shoebill
kagu
picathartes

Animals I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t seen

Javan rhino
Cape mountain zebra
mountain nyala
chiru
African water chevrotain
African manatee
dugong
leopard seal

Animals I’ve not seen for a long time and would love to see again

Jentink’s duiker
zebra duiker
saiga antelope
proboscis monkey
uakari monkey
marbled cat
monkey-eating eagle

 

[KCZooFan]

What is a monkey eating eagle? A harpy eagle?

 

[Jordan-Jaguar97]

Animals i wanted to see and have:
Amur Leopard
King Cobra
White Lion
Ocelot
Bottlenose Dolphin
Animals i would like to see in the wild too:
Giant Panda
Mountain Gorilla
Crowned Guenon(Twycross have one i think)
Bonobo
Golden Lion Tamarin
Sumatran Rhino
Forest Elephant(Just in the wild)
Eastern Lowland Gorilla

 

[FBBird]

More commonly called Philippine Eagle nowadays; some people thought 'Monkey-eating' didn't sound very nice. I believe it has a similar prey range [allowing for zoogeography] to the Harpy or for that matter the African Crowned Eagle.

 

[Tim May]

What is a monkey eating eagle? A harpy eagle?

More commonly called Philippine Eagle nowadays; some people thought 'Monkey-eating' didn't sound very nice.

I’ve always known Pithecophaga jefferyi as the monkey-eating eagle and will never get used to calling it Philippine eagle.

Anyway, I like the term monkey-eating as it is a translation of its generic name Pithecophaga.

 

[FBBird]

I'm used to it being Monkey-eating Eagle as well, and much prefer it. It's like calling African Hunting Dogs [which 'do what it says on the tin'] Painted Dogs/Wolves, or Spectacled Bears 'Andean Bears'. Let's not forget that the word 'rooster' was coined by American prudes who couldn't say 'cock', which apparently means sonmething other than 'male fowl'.

 

[Saro]

One of the reasons to name it the Philippine eagle, was to evoke some national pride among the people in the Philippines and therefore aid the conservation of the eagle. That is a good thing in my opinion. Otherwise, I agree with you on the Hunting dogs, Spectacled bears etc. !

 

[FBBird]

Saro: the same idea was behind the Andean Bear -- I think some of us [oh all right, me] just don't like change. Here's an idea; why not re-name the Forest & Bush Elephants 'Lesser' and 'Greater' African Elephants respectively -- just an idea, which I hope nobody takes up.

 

[Ned]

A few of the animals that I had longed to see before eventually seeing them:
Platypus
Sumatran rhino
Northern white rhino
Proboscis monkey
Uakari
Dugong
Manatee
Beluga
Walrus
Komodo dragon
Babirusa
Boto
Bonobo
Gerenuk
Aye-aye
Sifaka
Salt water crocodile
Cock-of-the-rock
Californian condor

Would like to see:
Pangolin, any species
Any species of Bird of paradise that I haven’t seen
Umbrella bird, any
Bearded Saki

 

[Hvedekorn]

Thousands of species did I want to see and finally saw, but some four particular stand-outs are probably:
Porpoises and dolphins at Dolphinarium Harderwijk
Koalas and echidnas at Planckendael
The giant panda at Berlin
Manatees at Randers Tropical Zoo

There are still embarassingly many animals I haven't seen yet. I guess the ones I want to see the most (in a zoo setting) are the following: Platypus, wombat, sea otter, sifaka, orca, river dolphin, pangolin, dugong, bird of paradise, tinamou and whale shark.
And maybe also cougars and Visayan warty pigs. More because of the fact that I seem to be the only zoo-goer around here who haven't seen those.