To lifelisters: Why?

filovirus

filovirus

Well-Known Member
I recently watched a really wonderful YouTube documentary about hardcore birdwatching and found myself really moved by the similarities to a hobby that I've recently begun to explore and something that has been mentioned many times on this forum: Lifelists. The process of recording all the animals you've seen into a big list.

I wanted to ask why people on this forum who participate in this hobby find themselves driven to do so. Is it a competitive thing? Something more holistic/spiritual/environmental? Do you have personal goals? Quality or quantity?
 
For me it's a personal thing. I have not posted my list and may never do so. When I started my list I was surprised to see all the different kinds of animals I have seen.
I am 62 currently and I have only recently started keeping track, just outside of curiosity.
 
I like categorizing and listing things, and having a good excuse to do so. It’s legitimately fun to add new species, especially ones I know I may not see again anytime soon. It’s nice to be able to quickly reference how many times I’ve seen a particular species, or when the first or last time was. Plus keeping it organized helps me better understand taxonomy.

Basically it’s just personally rewarding for a lot of different reasons.
 
It is addictive and fun. I started my lifelist in my 60th year, so hardly a true lifelist. I think people do enjoy collecting things, whether they be stamps, old master paintings, orchids, whatever. My former brother in law collected beer cans (they had to be unopened, according to beer cans collection rules). I collect the names of animals I see in the wild. As a hobby it gets me out into the bush, gives me something to do when travelling for business, and makes me want to travel to interesting places. It is good for exercise and general health, and apparently it is also good for mindfulness.

A list also tells me what I have not seen, and what to search out. I am interested in seeing diversity, so being able to identify Families I have not seen in particular is useful. I also enjoy going over my list as it brings back memories.
 
I am definitely someone who has the habit of listing and collecting things, no doubt that helps.

I resisted making any kind of life list until last year, as I felt it would confirm me to be a 'stamp collector' kind of zoo nerd, which I was trying really hard to avoid, and there were a few factors that influenced me changing to the format:
  • Keeping track of species that are morphologically similar is hard for me to do off the cuff, so it made sense to keep a document where I could say where and when I had seen, for example, different subspecies or brown bear or orangutan.
  • I was planning a major multi-zoo trip at the time and was having trouble keeping track of which species were to be seen at which facility, and creating a reference list for the trip lent well to starting a general list, since I would be adding all of them there shortly later.
  • For certain groups, it helped to visualize how many species I had seen and how many species remain to be seen - such as with cranes and storks.
  • There are a couple of species I'd seen as children at my local facilities that are long phased out, and it was nice to sort through a few of those.
 
I like just to keep tracks on what I saw. I note birds and mammals, and only more remarkable species from other groups.

I am not a perfect lister - I find many similar small lizards or fish tedious to see or remember. Or species and subspecies of amazon parrots, which I saw 48 at the last count.
 
As someone who got into it from my friends starting it was honestly more of a game between us for flexing. Who saw the most stuff, the rarest stuff, the most x, all of y. I do think it's pretty cool looking back at my list though because I've kept such good record the last few years I would say I actually have a more complete list of holdings for zoos I've been to than even ZTL at this point. My life list has gone through many iterations but I have successfully logged every mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and select aquatics (sharks, rays, crustaceans, eels, seahorses, etc) with photos which I'm proud of. Almost like a trading card collection. Like others said, it's fun but I do think there's levels I think are "a bit much". I have friends who 'try' to log every fish and bug and that to me is silly because it's already near impossible to log wild birds at times, so every time you see a bug seems crazy. But, to each their own. I'm happy with my list I have photos, scientific names and a good organization system but admittedly it is a lot of work to keep up with depending on the place. That being said, when it's all said and done you do look back with a sense of accomplishment.
 
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