Zoo Highlights of 2014!

ThylacineAlive

ThylacineAlive

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Well it's that time of year again and I noticed no one had made one of these threads yet so here I am!

So what were your zoo/wild/animal-related highlights of 2014?

~Thylo:cool:
 
Visiting new zoos!-
CA
Living Desert
Orange County Zoo
Santa Ana Zoo
OH
Stearns Homestead
Lagoon Deer Park
African Safari Wildlife Park
Bringing my total of zoos from 21 to 27!
 
I have visited only 5 collections this year (although that includes 175 days on which I have set foot inside Sewerby Zoo), so my choice is limited. My top three highlights would be:-

The arrival of Raccoon Dogs at Sewerby.

Seeing Chico the Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo perform in the bird show at Flamingo Land - the first time I have seen him in action since 2004 at Paignton. I attended all three bird shows on the day too.

My visit to the Jungle Zoo at Cleethorpes - a very pleasant day out and lots of opportunities for photographing parrots.
 
I had a pretty ordinary zoo year. I only visited 23 collections, listed below in order of visitation.

Yadanabon Zoo (Burma)
Naypyitaw Zoo (Burma)
Kandawgyi Fresh Water Fish Garden (Burma)
Dusit Zoo (Thailand)
Alipore Zoo (India)
Assam State Zoo (India)
Nameri Pigmy Hog Conservation Centre (India)
Chiang Mai Zoo (Thailand)
Penang Bird Park (Malaysia)
Singapore Night Safari (Singapore)
Singapore River Safari (Singapore)
S.E.A. Aquarium (Singapore)
Jurong Bird Park (Singapore)
Melaka Zoo (Malaysia)
Melaka Bird Park (Malaysia)
Melaka Crocodile Park (Malayasia)
Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary (Malaysia)
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (Malaysia [Sabah])
Melbourne Zoo (Australia)
Melbourne SeaLife Aquarium (Australia)
Melbourne Museum (Australia)
Moonlit Sanctuary (Australia)
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (New Zealand)
 
Chlidonias said:
I had a pretty ordinary zoo year. I only visited 23 collections, listed below in order of visitation.

Yadanabon Zoo (Burma)
Naypyitaw Zoo (Burma)
Kandawgyi Fresh Water Fish Garden (Burma)
Dusit Zoo (Thailand)
Alipore Zoo (India)
Assam State Zoo (India)
Nameri Pigmy Hog Conservation Centre (India)
Chiang Mai Zoo (Thailand)
Penang Bird Park (Malaysia)
Singapore Night Safari (Singapore)
Singapore River Safari (Singapore)
S.E.A. Aquarium (Singapore)
Jurong Bird Park (Singapore)
Melaka Zoo (Malaysia)
Melaka Bird Park (Malaysia)
Melaka Crocodile Park (Malayasia)
Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary (Malaysia)
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (Malaysia [Sabah])
Melbourne Zoo (Australia)
Melbourne SeaLife Aquarium (Australia)
Melbourne Museum (Australia)
Moonlit Sanctuary (Australia)
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (New Zealand)
Click to expand...

I don't like your definition of "ordinary":p

~Thylo:cool:
 
I had several zoo/wildlife highlights!

-I went to the USA and Canada for the first time and visited a heap of zoos, and saw a heap of new species (both captive and wild). Captive highlights were Pangolin and Pronghorn, while wild species of particular note were Orca, Chipmunk and Hummingbird.
-I visited the tropical Northern Territory and Queensland (Australia) and saw a lot of awesome native birds, as well as a couple of the local zoos.
-I spent considerable time in Outback South Australia and Northern Territory, catching fish and seeing many wild birds, mammals and reptiles.
-I visited my favourite zoo, Auckland Zoo (New Zealand) and saw the new Tasmanian Devil enclosure.
-All in all I visited 13 new zoos, taking me to a total of 114 zoos.
-And I met my first two ZooChatters!

New Zealand zoos:
-One new mammal species has been imported this year (Caracal), but none have been lost, so for the first time in a few years the number of mammals in NZ zoos has increased (since 2010 there have been 4 new species, but eight lost)!
-Tiger cubs for Hamilton Zoo - extremely good news and it must have been very rewarding for the staff after having non-breeding animals for so many years.
 
My year was pretty fun and eventful. I only visited four new collections this year and only had 8 collection visits and total but it was still a very nice year considering.

New Collections:
-Adventure Aquarium
-Philadelphia Zoo
-Ponce Inlet Marine Science Center
-St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park

Existing Collections:
-Bronx Zoo (2 visits)
-Central Park Zoo
-Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo

Animal-wise I saw lots of great new species though my sightings were more impressive on the captive side than the wild side.

Highlight Mammals:
-Red-Shanked Douc Langur (Philly)
-Feathertail Glider (Philly)
-Striped Possum (Philly)
-Red-Capped Mangabey (Philly)
-Giant Otter (Philly)
-Black-and-Rufous Elephant Shrew (Philly)
-Short-Beaked Echidna (Philly)
-Hoffmann's Two-Toed Sloth (Philly)
-Javan Slow Loris (Bronx)
-Eastern Bobcat (Wild)

Highlight Birds:
-Secretary Bird (Philly)
-Javan Rhinoceros Hornbill (Philly)
-Guam Rail (Philly)
-Hawai'i 'Amakihi (Philly)
-Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise (Bronx)
-Sri Lankan Junglefowl (Central Park)
-American Swallow-Tailed Kite (Ponce Inlet)
-Piping Plover (Wild)

Highlight Reptiles:
-Australian Freshwater Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Australian Saltwater Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Mugger Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-West African Slender-Snouted Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Smooth-Fronted Caiman (St. Augustine)
-Scrub Python (St. Augustine)
-Bog Turtle (Philly)
-Malagasy Tree Boa (Philly)
-Solomon Islands Tree Boa (Philly)
-Central American River Turtle (Philly)

Highlight Fishes:
-Great Hammerhead (Adventure)
-Mahi-Mahi (Adventure)
-Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Adventure)

I certainly look forward to seeing where *2015 takes me!:D

*Wherever it does, I certainly hope it's on a hoverboard;)

-Thylo:cool:
 
zooboy28 said:
I met my first two ZooChatters!
Click to expand...
I met six Zoochatterers this year (three of them lifers), which brings my total to nine.

Chlidonias said:
Yadanabon Zoo (Burma)
Naypyitaw Zoo (Burma)
Kandawgyi Fresh Water Fish Garden (Burma)
Dusit Zoo (Thailand)
Alipore Zoo (India)
Assam State Zoo (India)
Nameri Pigmy Hog Conservation Centre (India)
Chiang Mai Zoo (Thailand)
Penang Bird Park (Malaysia)
Singapore Night Safari (Singapore)
Singapore River Safari (Singapore)
S.E.A. Aquarium (Singapore)
Jurong Bird Park (Singapore)
Melaka Zoo (Malaysia)
Melaka Bird Park (Malaysia)
Melaka Crocodile Park (Malayasia)
Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary (Malaysia)
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (Malaysia [Sabah])
Melbourne Zoo (Australia)
Melbourne SeaLife Aquarium (Australia)
Melbourne Museum (Australia)
Moonlit Sanctuary (Australia)
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (New Zealand)
Click to expand...

Of the 23 collections I visited during the year, 15 of them were new for me.

Main highlights of zoo animals seen would be Shortridge's langur in the Yadanabon Zoo (Burma), pigmy hogs at Nameri (India), Indian giant flying squirrel at Dusit Zoo (Thailand), drongo cuckoos at the Penang Bird Park (Malaysia), Sunda pangolins at Singapore Night Safari and at Lok Kawi (Sabah), cocks-of-the-rock at Jurong Bird Park (Singapore), and yellow-bellied gliders at Moonlit Sanctuary (Australia). Lots of others as well, but those I think stand out most in my mind.

Main zoo highlights:

Penang Bird Park
Jurong Bird Park (always a highlight, no matter how many times one may visit!)
Singapore River Safari
Moonlit Sanctuary
 
Leipzig Zoo was my highlight, I guess. I was very impressed with the zoo itself, but somewhat disappointed that I didn't manage to see a lot of the animals - especially the pangolins. I made a return trip to their exhibit several times, but no luck... Grr, I have to return some other time because I just have to see them. I didn't manage to see the giant otters, leopards, owl-faced monkeys, horseshoe crabs (both species), Thomson's gazelles, red kangaroos and tammar wallabies among others either. I guess it was because the zoo was completely crowded that day - some animals probably hid on purpose.

Second would be Dresden Zoo - it's not a very big zoo but it's a very pleasant one despite that it isn't mentioned often on here. And the visiting circumstances were much better: It wasn't crowded at all, and I managed to see almost all the animals (the only ones I'm annoying on having missed were the Siberian weasels).

Otherwise, I haven't visited too many zoos this year. I bought my first car in May and have used it for a couple of visits, but unfortunately, Danish zoo prices are very steep, and I'm not a rich man, so it's not something I can do every weekend.
 
Haven't gone to any new zoos this year yet, but I'm going to the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium in New Orleans next week.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
My year was pretty fun and eventful. I only visited four new collections this year and only had 8 collection visits and total but it was still a very nice year considering.

New Collections:
-Adventure Aquarium
-Philadelphia Zoo
-Ponce Inlet Marine Science Center
-St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park

Existing Collections:
-Bronx Zoo (2 visits)
-Central Park Zoo
-Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo

Animal-wise I saw lots of great new species though my sightings were more impressive on the captive side than the wild side.

Highlight Mammals:
-Red-Shanked Douc Langur (Philly)
-Feathertail Glider (Philly)
-Striped Possum (Philly)
-Red-Capped Mangabey (Philly)
-Giant Otter (Philly)
-Black-and-Rufous Elephant Shrew (Philly)
-Short-Beaked Echidna (Philly)
-Hoffmann's Two-Toed Sloth (Philly)
-Javan Slow Loris (Bronx)
-Eastern Bobcat (Wild)

Highlight Birds:
-Secretary Bird (Philly)
-Javan Rhinoceros Hornbill (Philly)
-Guam Rail (Philly)
-Hawai'i 'Amakihi (Philly)
-Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise (Bronx)
-Sri Lankan Junglefowl (Central Park)
-American Swallow-Tailed Kite (Ponce Inlet)
-Piping Plover (Wild)

Highlight Reptiles:
-Australian Freshwater Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Australian Saltwater Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Mugger Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-West African Slender-Snouted Crocodile (St. Augustine)
-Smooth-Fronted Caiman (St. Augustine)
-Scrub Python (St. Augustine)
-Bog Turtle (Philly)
-Malagasy Tree Boa (Philly)
-Solomon Islands Tree Boa (Philly)
-Central American River Turtle (Philly)

Highlight Fishes:
-Great Hammerhead (Adventure)
-Mahi-Mahi (Adventure)
-Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Adventure)

I certainly look forward to seeing where *2015 takes me!:D

*Wherever it does, I certainly hope it's on a hoverboard;)

-Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

When I went to adventure aquarium in early November, I kept trying to get a good shot of the hammerhead and mahi mahi, i never did, also, where in Shark Realm did you see the Grouper (I kept looking for 20+ minutes but never saw it)
 
AverageWalrus said:
When I went to adventure aquarium in early November, I kept trying to get a good shot of the hammerhead and mahi mahi, i never did, also, where in Shark Realm did you see the Grouper (I kept looking for 20+ minutes but never saw it)
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't do too well photo-wise there. I just happened to see it at the very last viewing window when I was leaving the exhibit. But here's the trick, it's a smaller one. So if you were searching for this big huge grouper that's probably why you didn't get anything.

~Thylo:cool:
 
As I mentioned already in another threat ( http://www.zoochat.com/25/vogelcommandos-anniversary-348032/?highlight=vogelcommandos ) mine highlight of the year was visiting Mexico at the beginning of the year with my first wild Hummingbirds, Trogons and many other wildlife I had never seen before in the wild and in many cases even not in captivity.
I visited 28 zoos, 15 of which were new to me :
Crococun - Cancun, Mexico ( new )
Xcaret - Mexico ( new )
Aquarium Cancun - Mexico ( new )
Aquatopia - Belgium ( new, 2 times )
Antwerp Zoo - Belgium ( 2 times )
Neeltje Jans - the Netherlands ( new )
Gaia Zoo - the Netherlands ( new, 2 times )
Mondo Verde - the Netherlands ( new )
Aqua Zoo Leerdam - the Netherlands ( new )
Passiflora hoeve - the Netherlands ( new )
Apenheul - the Netherlands ( 2 times )
Planckendael - Belgium
Oliemeulen - the Netherlands ( 3 times )
Kasteelpark Born - the Netherlands ( new )
Faunapark Flakkee - the Netherlands
Dierenrijk - the Netherlands ( new )
De Bosruiter - the Netherlands ( new )
Orchideeën hoeve - the Netherlands ( new )
Aqua Zoo Leeuwarden - the Netherlands ( new )
Berkenhof's Tropical Zoo - the Netherlands
Zoo Veldhoven - the Netherlands
Wisbroek Breeding Center - the Netherlands ( new )
Best Zoo - the Netherlands
Vogelopvang Breda - the Netherlands
Rotterdam Zoo - the Netherlands
Uilen- en Dierenpark De Paay - the Netherlands
Zie-ZOO - the Netherlands
Avifauna - the Netherlands
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Yeah I didn't do too well photo-wise there. I just happened to see it at the very last viewing window when I was leaving the exhibit. But here's the trick, it's a smaller one. So if you were searching for this big huge grouper that's probably why you didn't get anything.

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

Thats probably why I didnt see it, im used to seeing the Huge Atlantic Goliaths at Atlantis, Paradise Island
 
AverageWalrus said:
Thats probably why I didnt see it, im used to seeing the Huge Atlantic Goliaths at Atlantis, Paradise Island
Click to expand...

Oh well at least you'd seen the species before, and several times by the sound of it. My sighting was a lifetick for me. And it was made extra-special by the fact that the species died-out at the Newport Aquarium about a month before my visit in 2013.

~Thylo:cool:
 
Ah, a lovely list thread. :)

So far this year I've been to 36 zoos (43 visits total) - I'm hoping to add one or two more before the New Year, but these won't be 'lifer' zoos. Last two years were 53 and 54 zoos, so this is down (for reasons that will become clear when we examine the wildlife highlights!).

The brand-new zoos for me this year were:

Zoologico Simon Bolivar (San Jose, Costa Rica)
Arenal Natura (La Fortuna, Costa Rica)
Monteverde Bat Jungle (Monteverde, Costa Rica)
SeaLife Manchester
Pairi Daiza
GaiaZoo Kerkrade
Aachen Zoo
Tierpark Hamm
Solinger Tier- und Vogelpark (Solingen, Germany)
Tierpark Fauna (Solingen, Germany)
Olmense Zoo
Parc Zoologique de Lille
Sewerby Hall Zoo

A bit of a mixed bunch - the three that made the biggest impression were the huge Pairi Daiza, the surprisingly diverse Olmense and the fascinating Bat Jungle (see my thoughts here: http://www.zoochat.com/2145/view-bat-jungle-building-21-04-a-366746/ )

Zoo animal highlights (off the top of my head, so in no particular order, and I'll probably end up editing something in later):

Balabac Chevrotain arriving at Chester
Polar Bear arriving at YWP
Continuing antelope influx at Whipsnade
The swimming tapir at Pairi Daiza
Five 'lifer' mammals (and one second sighting) in one enclosure at the Bat Jungle
'Completing' peccaries with Chacoans in Berlin
Seeing Fanaloka at RSCC
Finally seeing Slender-horned Gazelles on European soil at the third attempt
Five new shark species at Aquatopia



It's been a very busy year for wildlife, with a conscious effort to see more UK wildlife and a county bat group membership combining with two big international trips meaning I've seen over 550 bird species, over 70 mammal species and around 40 herps so far. If you're desperate, they're all listed in the Big Year thread! Highlights split into 'Home' and 'Away' legs - 10 each:

Home - UK Wildlife Highlights - no particular order:

Harbour Porpoises at three separate locations
European Otters at Leighton Moss
Glossy Ibis at Frampton
Myotis near Matlock - a chilly evening observing a trapping study yielding Natterer's, Daubenton's and Whiskered Bats
Swarming Soprano Pipistrelles on an overnight bat watch
Red-backed Shrike at Bempton
Sooty Shearwaters off Bridlington
Long-tailed Duck at Leighton Moss
A hard-won Mountain Hare in the Dark Peak
Leisler's Bat and Noctules in bat boxes

Away - International Wildlife Highlights - alphabetical order:

Beisa Oryx
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
Ethiopian Wolf
Lammergeier
Mantled Howler Monkey
Mountain Nyala
Neotropical River Otter
Nile Crocodile
Resplendent Quetzal
Sungrebe

Ask me again later and you'll probably get a different set, but was keeping it strictly to 10 each.

There's time yet, of course, so I may be back with an update!
 
I placed photos for 3 mexican animal collections new to zoochat; acuario inbursa, zoologico nezahualcoyotl and zoomat - zoologico miguel angel del toro. Also put photos on Chapultepec zoo, Los Coyotes zoo, San Juan de aragon zoo and Guadalajara zoo. I also added to the Houston zoo gallery and have some Brookfield zoo pictures that i will place later. It was a good year in general.
 
Year's best: writing and publishing my southwest zoo book.

Year's worst: marketing and selling my southwest zoo book.
 
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