Species you could have seen, but didn't

At SDZ's latest USDA in last November they still had 4 Lion-tails. So they should still have a couple somewhere at least.
 
betsy said:
Lion-tailed Macaques are on exhibit on Monkey Trail just past the capuchins.
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The only enclosure I saw next to those capuchins was for the Wolf's Guenon, and they were no-shows (I went back in early February). Were the macaques still off-exhibit or are they rotated?
 
No less than two leopard subspecies:
  • The first was Cleveland Metroparks’ Zoo’s Persian leopard, on my first visit back in 2012. We did not see the leopard exhibit, and at the time I had no idea that the leopard they kept there was of a subspecies rare in the US. I’ve been to Cleveland twice since then, but both times after the leopard— think her name was Dara— passed away and was replaced by Edgar, the Amur leopard.
  • The second was the African leopards at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, which we went to in 2014. We only saw about half the zoo, and didn’t even have time to visit the Expedition Congo area. However, this one may have a happy ending. Fingers crossed… we might return to Columbus for a visit in early September.
Another example that comes to mind: I’m not actually sure if the San Diego Zoo had their white-bellied tree pangolin in 2010, but if they did, I missed it. Not that I was aware of it as a 7-year-old.
 
Too many different animals to fully create a list of what I was so close to seeing however there is one animal that I will never forget. It was 2008 or 2009 and I went to the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. During that time period, I had made a Save the Animal Club with few of my friends at school, and our goal was to save money to save Black-footed Ferrets and we actually did raise money to save them. So when my family decided to go to that zoo for the first time I was EXTREMELY excited to see the Black-footed Ferret because that is the animal my club focused on. Most people want to see the giant pandas at that zoo, but because I already saw giant pandas at Sandiego Zoo a year earlier, I was just more excited to see black-footed ferrets. No other zoo I have been to have had them on display for guests to see.

SO WHEN WE GET THERE THE FREAKING FERRETS WERE OFF DISPLAY DUE TO KEEPERS HAVING TO CLEAN THEIR EXHIBIT. And I will never forget that disappointment I have felt. I haven't been back to that zoo since then. And I haven't been to any other zoos out there that have them for guests to see. Soooooo yeah.
 
Jena said:
Too many different animals to fully create a list of what I was so close to seeing however there is one animal that I will never forget. It was 2008 or 2009 and I went to the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. During that time period, I had made a Save the Animal Club with few of my friends at school, and our goal was to save money to save Black-footed Ferrets and we actually did raise money to save them. So when my family decided to go to that zoo for the first time I was EXTREMELY excited to see the Black-footed Ferret because that is the animal my club focused on. Most people want to see the giant pandas at that zoo, but because I already saw giant pandas at Sandiego Zoo a year earlier, I was just more excited to see black-footed ferrets. No other zoo I have been to have had them on display for guests to see.

SO WHEN WE GET THERE THE FREAKING FERRETS WERE OFF DISPLAY DUE TO KEEPERS HAVING TO CLEAN THEIR EXHIBIT. And I will never forget that disappointment I have felt. I haven't been back to that zoo since then. And I haven't been to any other zoos out there that have them for guests to see. Soooooo yeah.
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You're from New Jersey, I see. You might want to check out Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, PA. Its not too far away and they also keep a Black-footed Ferret on display, though they can be difficult to view.
 
Jena said:
Too many different animals to fully create a list of what I was so close to seeing however there is one animal that I will never forget. It was 2008 or 2009 and I went to the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. During that time period, I had made a Save the Animal Club with few of my friends at school, and our goal was to save money to save Black-footed Ferrets and we actually did raise money to save them. So when my family decided to go to that zoo for the first time I was EXTREMELY excited to see the Black-footed Ferret because that is the animal my club focused on. Most people want to see the giant pandas at that zoo, but because I already saw giant pandas at Sandiego Zoo a year earlier, I was just more excited to see black-footed ferrets. No other zoo I have been to have had them on display for guests to see.

SO WHEN WE GET THERE THE FREAKING FERRETS WERE OFF DISPLAY DUE TO KEEPERS HAVING TO CLEAN THEIR EXHIBIT. And I will never forget that disappointment I have felt. I haven't been back to that zoo since then. And I haven't been to any other zoos out there that have them for guests to see. Soooooo yeah.
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ZooAmerica at Hershey Park, PA has one that I photographed in May.
 
Spotted Hyenas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They can be seen on the night safari, but the line was extremely long, and they’ve always been a species I’ve wanted to see.
 
ralph said:
That's a terrible species to miss out on. I've seen it in 3 out of 3 zoos I visited that hold/held them (Frankfurt, London, Berlin) so I consider myself lucky in that regard as it's nowhere near a guarantee to see them. I heard they're especially easy to miss in London.
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I saw an aye-aye at Omaha Zoo. In the Madagascar section under UV light.
 
ralph said:
Inspired by the 'species you have seen' and 'species you haven't seen' threads, I figured it might be interesting to list the species we didn't see, but came very close to.

What I'm looking for here are species that have avoided you and instances of having bad luck with seeing certain species.

Examples
- The species was a no-show. (You visited the enclosure, but the species was not showing itself)
- The species is a free-roamer (for example in a tropical house) but you could not locate it.
- The species was recently moved behind the scenes / taken off exhibit
- The enclosure was currently empty because of maintenance, births, or other causes.
- You missed the enclosure all together (perhaps it was at a well hidden location of the zoo, or because of time restrictions while visiting the zoo)

I'm NOT looking for species you haven't seen because it's permanently kept behind the scenes in a zoo you've visited, unless you also went behind the scenes and still did not see it.

Here's my list

Southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) Arguably the most frustrating one because I missed this species when in Australia, so there's little possibility for me to try again.Species missed in both Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Wildlife during 3 visits, making up for a total of 4 missed opportunities.

Short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). No-show in Zoo Brno.

Four-eyed opossum (Philander opossum). No-show in Zoo Plzen and once more a few years later.

Hammer-headed bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus). Free-roaming in the Afrykarium in Zoo Wroclaw, but I did not manage to find them.

Red-and-white giant flying squirrel (Petaurista alborufus). A notorious no-show in Zoo Wroclaw. Only a handful of people were lucky enough to see it, but I was not amongst those people.

Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans). A no-show in Zoo Plzen.

Panay bushy-tailed cloud rat (Crateromys heaneyi). Another notorious one. Missed it in London (like 99% of the people), missed in in Prague when it was still kept on-show there. And when visiting a behind the scenes area of Zoo Plzen, I missed it a third time.

African civet (Civettictis civetta). No-show at Dierenpark De Paay (Netherlands)

White-tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda). No-show in Zoo Heidelberg (over 10 years ago but still hurts)

Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). A very frustrating no-show in Zoo Lisbon (they added the species to the collection shortly after my first visit to the city and the zoo, so I went back 2 years later. No lynx was out that day though and I visited the enclosure multiple times)

Nubian red-necked gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis). Kept in a rotation enclosure in Zoo Dvur Kralove with sable antelopes. It wasn't out when I visited the enclosure (the sables were). Either it wasn't out at all that day, or only during the morning hours when I was visiting the other side of the zoo)

Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana). Missed it in Zoo Zurich in 2007 and then again in Poznan Nowe Zoo in 2018.

Blyth's hawk-eagle (Nisaetus alboniger). Missed it in Dusit Zoo Bangkok because of my own fault. I missed the enclosure...

Grey Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus). Missed in it Zoo Plzen. The zoo has a great collection of rare birds, but they often move around between enclosures as well as the behind the scenes area, so every visit there's different species to be seen. During my last visit, I didn't see this species anywhere even though it was supposed to be on public display at that time and had recently been seen.

Those were the most frustrating ones for me. Some others;

Blue-tailed Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula concinna). No-show in Zoo Prague
Great cuckoo-dove (Reinwardtoena reinwardti). No-show in Birdpark Walsrode
Ruddy quail-dove (Geotrygon montana). No-show in Birdpark Walsrode
Thick-billed ground pigeon (Trugon terrestris). No-show in Birdpark Walsrode / Tierpark Berlin
Large fig parrot (Psittaculirostris desmarestii). No-show in Birdpark Walsrode
Yellow-mantled widowbird (Euplectes macroura). No-show in Birdpark Walsrode

Barbour's map turtle (Graptemys barbouri) (No-show in Dvur Kralove)
Tree runner (Plica plica) (No-show in London)
Zebra-tailed lizard (Callisaurus draconoides) (No-show in Prague)
Golden fish-scaled gecko (Geckolepis maculata) (No-show in Plzen)
Blue-tailed day gecko (Phelsuma cepediana) (No-show in Opole)
Reunion Island day gecko (Phelsuma borbonica) (No-show in Plzen)
Réunion day gecko (Phelsuma inexpectata) (No-show in Plzen)
Speckled day gecko (Phelsuma guttata) (No-show in Plzen)
Chinese cage gecko (Goniurosaurus luii) (No-show in Koln)
Crocodile skink (Tribolonotus gracilis) (Wroclaw, enclosure under construction)
West Canary skink (Chalcides viridanus) (No-show in Wroclaw)
Bronze mabuya (Eutropis macularia) (No-show in Koln)
Ornate girdled lizard (Zonosaurus ornatus) (No-show in Wroclaw)
Madagascar keeled cordylid (Tracheloptychus madagascariensis) (No-show in Plzen)
Percival´s Legless skink (Acontias percivali) (No-show in Prague)
Borneon earless monitor (Tribolonotus gracilis) (No-show in Prague)
Rainer Günther’s monitor (Varanus rainerguentheri) (Koln, saw only the tip of its tail)
New Guinea ground boa (Candoia aspera) (No-show in Koln)

Eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) (No-show in Opole)
Vietnam crocodile newt (Tylototriton vietnamensis) (No-show inKoln)
Solomon island leaf frog (Cornufer guentheri) (Wroclaw, enclosure under construction)
Ankafana bright-eyed frog (Boophis luteus) (No-show in Plzen)
Betsileo reed frog (Heterixalus betsileo) (No-show in Plzen)
Green mantella (Mantella viridis) (No-show in Plzen)
Baron's mantella (Mantella baroni) (No-show in Paris Zoo)

There's probably a lot more I'm forgetting.

Hope to see some lists from other zoochatters.
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I was at Asheboro Zoo few years back and, seeing as this was not a rare species I found it ironic, but the fennel fox was gone. Either some sort of health issue or enclosure maintenance.
 
Sun bears have been a white whale kind of animal for me forever. I actually saw them when they were at Columbus Zoo a few years ago, but it was before I was into zoos as much as I am now. I'm a photography hobbyist and it's my goal to photograph every animal I can. I've photographed every species of bear except sun bears, and the worst part is, I had my camera with me on my trip to Ohio but decided not to take it with me to the zoo. Why? I couldn't tell you! I guess I just didn't have the forethought for it since it was before I was super involved in zoos. I'm still mad at myself for not getting photos of them, and the nearest zoo to me (as a resident of NYC) that has them is now ZooAtlanta. One day, I'll catch them!
 
Mary said:
Sun bears have been a white whale kind of animal for me forever. I actually saw them when they were at Columbus Zoo a few years ago, but it was before I was into zoos as much as I am now. I'm a photography hobbyist and it's my goal to photograph every animal I can. I've photographed every species of bear except sun bears, and the worst part is, I had my camera with me on my trip to Ohio but decided not to take it with me to the zoo. Why? I couldn't tell you! I guess I just didn't have the forethought for it since it was before I was super involved in zoos. I'm still mad at myself for not getting photos of them, and the nearest zoo to me (as a resident of NYC) that has them is now ZooAtlanta. One day, I'll catch them!
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If you're looking for sun bears that are closer than Atlanta, there is Catoctin Zoo in Thurmont, MD - not a fantastic exhibit, but a facility that has a long history with the species. That being said, between Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta is worth the trip, and (for all practical purposes) might be easier for you to get to than Thurmont
 
Aardwolf said:
If you're looking for sun bears that are closer than Atlanta, there is Catoctin Zoo in Thurmont, MD - not a fantastic exhibit, but a facility that has a long history with the species. That being said, between Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta is worth the trip, and (for all practical purposes) might be easier for you to get to than Thurmont
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Thank you for this! I've considered heading to Catocin, but couldn't get any clarity on if they actually still exhibit sun bears. I've also been mulling a weekend trip to Atlanta. Both facilities there look lovely!
 
Mary said:
Thank you for this! I've considered heading to Catocin, but couldn't get any clarity on if they actually still exhibit sun bears. I've also been mulling a weekend trip to Atlanta. Both facilities there look lovely!
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They still have several, though they're up there in age. Looking in the media gallery can sometimes help you find out if a species is at a place, especially since you're in my area and I usually post photos of every exhibit when I go somewhere :D
 
TinoPup said:
They still have several, though they're up there in age. Looking in the media gallery can sometimes help you find out if a species is at a place, especially since you're in my area and I usually post photos of every exhibit when I go somewhere :D
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Awesome! Thanks again!
 
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