Happy New Year all! And with the new year comes a new challenge for those visiting European zoos in 2024!
This year the challenge will focus on:
"Least Concern Mammals"
The 2020 iteration of the North American ZooChat challenge focused on threatened species (any species that was Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the wild) as classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However this year for the European challenge, the aim is for players to see as many captive mammal species that are on the other end of the scale and are considered to be Least Concern by the IUCN.
Nowadays, rightfully, many zoos focus on more threatened species and conservation efforts for them. Although many zoos do still hold a wide variety of species that aren’t necessarily threatened with extinction. Amongst the mammals that are more common in the wild, there is great diversity, from anomalous aardvarks and the ever-ubiquitous meerkats all the way up to sizable South American sea lions.
After last year's challenge, I felt some aspects were unnecessarily complicated. So this year I have aimed for a challenge that will, with a bit of luck, be a lot easier and hopefully more fun. Most zoos should have the IUCN Red List status of species signed on exhibits, which will be a lot easier and enjoyable than having to look if the distribution of an insect edges into mainland Asia
To avoid too much fuss around taxonomy, the challenge will be at the species level (so for example, despite an Iberian wolf being considered vulnerable, it can be counted as a grey wolf under Canis lupus).
Unlike previous years of the European challenges, domestic forms of species do not count.
These are the core rules, with all credits to Shorts for originally 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 2024;
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.
I hope everyone has a zoo-filled 2024 and I look forward to seeing the scores!
This year the challenge will focus on:
"Least Concern Mammals"
The 2020 iteration of the North American ZooChat challenge focused on threatened species (any species that was Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the wild) as classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However this year for the European challenge, the aim is for players to see as many captive mammal species that are on the other end of the scale and are considered to be Least Concern by the IUCN.
Nowadays, rightfully, many zoos focus on more threatened species and conservation efforts for them. Although many zoos do still hold a wide variety of species that aren’t necessarily threatened with extinction. Amongst the mammals that are more common in the wild, there is great diversity, from anomalous aardvarks and the ever-ubiquitous meerkats all the way up to sizable South American sea lions.
After last year's challenge, I felt some aspects were unnecessarily complicated. So this year I have aimed for a challenge that will, with a bit of luck, be a lot easier and hopefully more fun. Most zoos should have the IUCN Red List status of species signed on exhibits, which will be a lot easier and enjoyable than having to look if the distribution of an insect edges into mainland Asia
To avoid too much fuss around taxonomy, the challenge will be at the species level (so for example, despite an Iberian wolf being considered vulnerable, it can be counted as a grey wolf under Canis lupus).
Unlike previous years of the European challenges, domestic forms of species do not count.
These are the core rules, with all credits to Shorts for originally 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 2024;
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.
I hope everyone has a zoo-filled 2024 and I look forward to seeing the scores!
