Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Are there any species that are either widespread in captivity, or that you have had multiple strong opportunities to see, and yet luck is simply not in your favour, and you are yet to have seen them? I have many, and in the hope that it will relieve some of the pain, I will be sharing them here, 
and am very interested to see if other ZooChat members share the agonising feeling.
Banded Mongoose (Mugo mugo): 93 European zoos hold this species, according to ZTL, 8 of which in the UK, and yet I have never seen one. Having always confused them with Dwarf Mongooses, I thought I had for quite some time, and the realisation that they remain a target species was a shocking one.
Beaver (Caspor sp.): With many childhood holidays to Southwest England, I had many night-time trips into the woodland with my parents searching for them, along with badgers. But all I had to show for it was a dead badger on the side of the road, and several trees which beavers had evidently gnawed at. I rectified the badger when discovering that a family member in Wiltshire has three that regularly visit their back gardens, but beavers continue to evade me. I went mad with excitement thinking I had seen one while cycling near Lauenberg in Germany, and although the realisation that they were invasive Nutria was a slight disappointment, they were still a nice species. Beavers are also decently common in zoos, but always seem to be sleeping without an onshow indoor area.
Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus): I have a feeling that I may have seen one in Twilight World at Bristol Zoo when I was younger, but am by no means certain. When I returned to Bristol, the building was closed due to the pandemic, and when I returned the following year after it had opened, the last quoll had passed away. I had another chance to see them at Menagerie JdP, but with mere minutes before the zoo's closure by the time we got to their exhibit, which I dismissed as a callitrichid house due to its icon on the map, I decided to skip it, a decision that I regret to this day.
Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox): Of the five euplerid species present in European zoos, the Fossa is by far the most common, kept at 36, of which 6 are in the UK. And yet, I have seen four of the five with the Fossa confusingly being the exception. They evaded me at Chester, I missed their enclosure at Marwell, and their exhibit was under renovation when I visited Vincennes! My luck with them is just terrible!
and am very interested to see if other ZooChat members share the agonising feeling.Banded Mongoose (Mugo mugo): 93 European zoos hold this species, according to ZTL, 8 of which in the UK, and yet I have never seen one. Having always confused them with Dwarf Mongooses, I thought I had for quite some time, and the realisation that they remain a target species was a shocking one.
Beaver (Caspor sp.): With many childhood holidays to Southwest England, I had many night-time trips into the woodland with my parents searching for them, along with badgers. But all I had to show for it was a dead badger on the side of the road, and several trees which beavers had evidently gnawed at. I rectified the badger when discovering that a family member in Wiltshire has three that regularly visit their back gardens, but beavers continue to evade me. I went mad with excitement thinking I had seen one while cycling near Lauenberg in Germany, and although the realisation that they were invasive Nutria was a slight disappointment, they were still a nice species. Beavers are also decently common in zoos, but always seem to be sleeping without an onshow indoor area.
Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus): I have a feeling that I may have seen one in Twilight World at Bristol Zoo when I was younger, but am by no means certain. When I returned to Bristol, the building was closed due to the pandemic, and when I returned the following year after it had opened, the last quoll had passed away. I had another chance to see them at Menagerie JdP, but with mere minutes before the zoo's closure by the time we got to their exhibit, which I dismissed as a callitrichid house due to its icon on the map, I decided to skip it, a decision that I regret to this day.
Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox): Of the five euplerid species present in European zoos, the Fossa is by far the most common, kept at 36, of which 6 are in the UK. And yet, I have seen four of the five with the Fossa confusingly being the exception. They evaded me at Chester, I missed their enclosure at Marwell, and their exhibit was under renovation when I visited Vincennes! My luck with them is just terrible!
