What's that animal that you'd love to see but lives in another continent?

I absolutely adore Fennec Foxes, but the odds of me ever making it to Africa to see one in the wild are pretty slim. I actually did see a couple in person once when my family took me on a surprise trip to the zoo a handful of years ago, and when I spotted them the sound I emitted was likely only audible to dogs lol!

While my love for fennec foxes is a tale as old as time, there are quite a few other faraway organisms I’ve discovered more recently, during my time on iNat, that have become some of my favorites. The Lilac-Breasted Roller, also from Africa, blew my mind when I first saw photos of it. They look like something out of a painting! I’ve found some truly stunning moths as well, such as those in the mostly South American genus Disphragis and the South African Coenobasis. If anyone asked me what my favorite moth was, as hard of a choice as it may be I would have to say the Indian Lily Moth from, well, India!

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Any new bird. Resplendent Quetzal, penguins, etc. Capuchin Monkeys, Red-eyed Tree Frogs, African mammals, Snow Leopards. More concisely: everything!

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We have land-based penguins in Cape Town (next stop Antarctica - you can fly there in 5 hours the tourism ads tell me - not for my carbon footprint, thanks)

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The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).

I know, I know! It doesn’t live on a continent but the world’s oceans might as well be a separate continent.

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That was always a dream of mine as well and I had the opportunity to live it. I can remember the elephants coming down to drink as if it was yesterday. They seemed so confident until one of them was spooked by some guineafowl. They did get their drink though and I had the privilege of watching a female pull a calf back to shallow water when she thought it might be in too deep.

The whole experience was awe-inspiring.

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This one: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/15562-Myzornis-pyrrhoura

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Seriously … who knew? And I bet there’s tons of other things there that we never hear about.

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Manta rays and so many other warm water marine species. I’d love to see the purple sock animal, too.

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Oh? I always somehow thought those penguins only migrated to South Africa in the summers from Antarctica. Thank you, though! Bucket list! :D (carbon footprint concerns aside, of course!..but maybe we can fly on renewable fuels over the next 30 years or am I being too optimistic?

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We have the cold Benguela current sweeping up our West Coast from Antarctica to Namibia.

Both even further way down South than us. New Zealand has the tiniest penguin species. And I presume South America has some?

I always dreamt of going to Antarctica - but - reading about scientists working there. And thinking about … pollution and habitat destruction. Where shall we put the landing strip for the plane, anchor the ship? Oops, sorry penguins, hop it!! Not a ‘green’ story - I will read my Antarctica.

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Yep. Magellanic Penguin

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Pangolins
African Wild Dogs
Harpy Eagle
Philippine Eagle
The California Redwoods.

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My nephew lives in Chemainus and works for the Canadian Coast Guard. He has seen Blue Whales at work - off the coast. It’s possible.

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Pretty much south of zero and then some - Galápagos too.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=map&taxon_id=67564

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Painted dogs for their unique patchwork of colours

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I’d love to see:

  1. The large cats of South and Southeast Asia
  2. Komodo Dragons on the southern islands of Indonesia
  3. Basically any and every marine animal in the coral reefs of the Pacific

Seeing as I can barely afford to travel around my own small(ish) country South Africa, this might stay a dream for some time

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Every time I take the ferry I watch and wait. Someday.

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You don’t have to go to Antarctica to see wild penguins! There are penguin species found in Australia, New Zealand, southern Africa, South America and the Galapagos Islands! Not the same species as you would find in Antarctica, obviously, but penguins nonetheless.

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Maybe, but he was off the west coast of the island. They do come into the St. Lawrence seaway.

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I love otters. All kinds of otters. Even these guys:

Giant River Otter

Given that they’re roughly as big as I am, it would be mildly terrifying if they decided to get aggressive (or even rambunctiously playful), but I’d still like to see them in the wild.

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