Hello all!
Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!
In the words of David Bowie, you may notice some ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. I have been handed the reigns of the European challenges by ShonenJake13, and I would like to start by thanking him for the wonderful challenges of the past two years. With additional thanks to KevinVar and Vision who started the European challenge and also to Shorts who was the founding father of all ZooChat challenges.
Now! Onto this year's challenge theme:
"Mainland Asia"
Much like the 2019 UK Challenge, this year’s challenge will be on a species from a geographical region, focusing this time on mainland Asia. This will be defined as any species found in the following countries:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peninsular Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye (Turkey), Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen
Species that are endemic to islands surrounding Asia (such as Japan, Taiwan, East Malaysia, Sri Lanka, etc.) will not count for this challenge, having previously been included in the 2019 European challenge on island endemics. All mammals, birds, herps, fish*, and invertebrates* found in the above countries count towards totals.
*However, only the first 25 fish and invertebrates species seen can be included in the total to avoid people with greater access to places such as aquariums and butterfly farms getting too large of an advantage in the challenge.
To avoid too much fuss around taxonomy, the challenge will be at the species level (so for example, an ‘African’ lion can be counted as an Asiatic lion under Panthera leo). Much like in previous years, IUCN will be used as a reference.
And a change in rules for this year's challenge;
Domestics: Unlike previous years domestic forms of species will not count, so no Bactrian camels sadly!
And here are the usual rules, with credits to Shorts for coming up with them:
1. You have to see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
3. You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically, the species has to be seen as Joe Public would.
4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, and the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.').
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who has the highest total by 31st December 2023;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
8. Any bullying/unsportsmanlike conduct directed towards myself or other players is grounds for immediate disqualification from the challenge, and barring from future Europe challenges.
Best of luck to all who compete, should hopefully be some large totals this year!
Ready. Set. GO!
Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!
In the words of David Bowie, you may notice some ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. I have been handed the reigns of the European challenges by ShonenJake13, and I would like to start by thanking him for the wonderful challenges of the past two years. With additional thanks to KevinVar and Vision who started the European challenge and also to Shorts who was the founding father of all ZooChat challenges.
Now! Onto this year's challenge theme:
"Mainland Asia"
Much like the 2019 UK Challenge, this year’s challenge will be on a species from a geographical region, focusing this time on mainland Asia. This will be defined as any species found in the following countries:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peninsular Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye (Turkey), Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen
Species that are endemic to islands surrounding Asia (such as Japan, Taiwan, East Malaysia, Sri Lanka, etc.) will not count for this challenge, having previously been included in the 2019 European challenge on island endemics. All mammals, birds, herps, fish*, and invertebrates* found in the above countries count towards totals.
*However, only the first 25 fish and invertebrates species seen can be included in the total to avoid people with greater access to places such as aquariums and butterfly farms getting too large of an advantage in the challenge.
To avoid too much fuss around taxonomy, the challenge will be at the species level (so for example, an ‘African’ lion can be counted as an Asiatic lion under Panthera leo). Much like in previous years, IUCN will be used as a reference.
And a change in rules for this year's challenge;
Domestics: Unlike previous years domestic forms of species will not count, so no Bactrian camels sadly!
And here are the usual rules, with credits to Shorts for coming up with them:
1. You have to see the animal, even if just for a second. You don't score if you visit a collection but don't see the animal (harsh, but fair);
2. Proof via photographs is not required, your word is your bond;
3. You have to see the animal via normal public access (i.e. not including zookeeper for the day or photography days behind the scenes) during normal public opening hours (i.e. no scoring because you know the keeper and can get access before/after hours). Basically, the species has to be seen as Joe Public would.
4. Only collections located in what is geographically Europe will count in this challenge (including Iceland, the UK, Ireland, and the Mediterranean islands, but excluding Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey to avoid conflicts about what is and isn't 'Europe.').
5. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along;
6. The winner will be deemed to be the person(s) who has the highest total by 31st December 2023;
7. My decision on any questions is final, but I am open to discussion and debate on any specific points.
8. Any bullying/unsportsmanlike conduct directed towards myself or other players is grounds for immediate disqualification from the challenge, and barring from future Europe challenges.
Best of luck to all who compete, should hopefully be some large totals this year!
Ready. Set. GO!
Last edited by a moderator:
you forgot to amend Rule 4!
