Favourite wild animal

Posted by: TOBYJUG on 03 February 2015

After a lifetime of watching wildlife documentarys" , without a doubt my favourite wild animal would have to be the cheetah, all the stealth, speed and agility without the bravado and clique of the bigger cats . Coming a close second would be the humble little ' mud skipper, probably the closest we have to a pre-historic living curiosity .

Posted on: 04 February 2015 by Huwge

Like Bruce, I'm a fan of the hare but since as long as I can remember the two animals that have most fascinated me have been the tapir and the okapi. My Mum used to work in Regent's Park and so I spent a lot of my childhood vacation time around London Zoo, iirc along with the wolves the tapir and okapi were both visible from outside the zoo. This would have been early '70s I guess.

Posted on: 04 February 2015 by DrMark

Don't know if I can have a single favorite, but on the short list is the ocelot:

 

Posted on: 04 February 2015 by Steve J

There are so many beautiful creatures on this planet and there will be no one winner on this thread. We have a duty to ensure the diversity is still there for future generations.

Posted on: 04 February 2015 by BigH47

Why is it that the Chinese seem to be hell bent on  killing off so many animals with their ridiculous  "medicine" formulas?

 

Any that are left are eaten by the Japanese.

 

Cue "racist" screams.

Posted on: 05 February 2015 by winkyincanada
Originally Posted by Richard Dane:

ahem...

 

well, it has to be the Pangolin. It's a favourite of David Attenborough's as well, so I count myself in good company.  I have long been fascinated by them and am alarmed at the speed and rate at which they are being annihilated.  For anyone who wants to know why, there was a recent piece on radio 4 as well as an article in this Saturday's Telegraph magazine.  My fan-hood goes as far as having a pair of silver Pangolin cuff-links that I invariably choose in favour of all others in a gesture of support.

 

The daft thing is, I've yet to see one in the wild.  I just hope that I get a chance to do so.  If the current situation continues, they'll be extinct in Asia within a few years and then in Africa not long after that.  Why do we wage war on such a wonderful creature?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30833685

 

The outlook doesn't look good.

Posted on: 05 February 2015 by Don Atkinson
Originally Posted by Richard Dane:

Bruce, it's simpler than that; Money is the problem.  You should count the egoists because they are the ones with the money who drive the demand - It is as much those who are willing to spend it as those who make it.

 

All down the line, there's money being made.  From the kids who go out and pick these things up from the wild for pennies, which may just feed their family for another week, to the illegal market trader, to the restaurant owner, to the pharmacist; however none of this is worth a damn without demand. Demand from the wealthy who wish to show off and display their prestige. Manage to enlighten these people and you will start to solve the problem.  And the first thing you have to do to tackle that is to try to tackle the root problem caused by money; corruption.

 

 

So, to summarise, nothing is going to change any time soon.

 

(Yes, I know that in this respect I am a pessimist.)

Posted on: 05 February 2015 by bicela
Originally Posted by Richard Dane:

Bruce, it's simpler than that; Money is the problem.  You should count the egoists because they are the ones with the money who drive the demand - It is as much those who are willing to spend it as those who make it.

 

All down the line, there's money being made.  From the kids who go out and pick these things up from the wild for pennies, which may just feed their family for another week, to the illegal market trader, to the restaurant owner, to the pharmacist; however none of this is worth a damn without demand. Demand from the wealthy who wish to show off and display their prestige. Manage to enlighten these people and you will start to solve the problem.  And the first thing you have to do to tackle that is to try to tackle the root problem caused by money; corruption.

Dear Richard, I am unplease that my English is not good enough for write you better words than I agree totally with what you wrote. Let me to add that education is the only way to add morality into animals.

Posted on: 05 February 2015 by MDS
Originally Posted by Andy Piercy:

Yes, I'd pick tigers, too. Magnificent creatures: graceful, powerful, deadly and beautiful all at the same time. They've always been my favourite to see at zoos and wildlife parks.  As a young child I remember being spell-bound by the white tigers I saw at what I think was Bristol zoo.  More recently I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Busch Gardens in Florida watching the tigers dive in and out of the water-pools in their very large enclosure and stalking the gulls that would unwisely perch on the trees within that enclosure. 

Posted on: 05 February 2015 by George J

I am more a dog and bird [as opposed to cat] person, and I wanted to point to one rather splendid Norwegian [other nationalities exist] duck

 

Elegant, super fast [70 mph is not bad for a duck], and gives us superb bedding without harm to the Eider itself, or the environment!

 

The female Eider duck:

 

I like a practical contribution from wild antimals rather than the risk that they will eat me!

 

ATB from George

Posted on: 07 February 2015 by bicela

I beg your pardon, but I can't resist to post my preferred wild (it needs to be tamed) animal (lovely but not yet educated properly). As you can see is being safe to get picture of him only behind the network of his cage...

 

Maurizio

 

DSC_0684

Posted on: 07 February 2015 by northpole

Difficult one to answer but I think I too would opt for the tiger as a magnificent creature.

 

One which used to visit my apartment daily when I lived out in warmer climes was the Doctor Bird - beautiful little birds with an amazing ability to hover as they plucked fibres from a textile art installation on the living room wall...!

 

Peter

Posted on: 07 February 2015 by hungryhalibut

My favourite, the wonderful yellow cheeked gibbon.

Posted on: 07 February 2015 by JamieWednesday

Go on, give me a tickle...

 

Oh Tiger!

Posted on: 07 February 2015 by MDS
Originally Posted by northpole:

Difficult one to answer but I think I too would opt for the tiger as a magnificent creature.

 

One which used to visit my apartment daily when I lived out in warmer climes was the Doctor Bird - beautiful little birds with an amazing ability to hover as they plucked fibres from a textile art installation on the living room wall...!

 

Peter

Almost thought you were saying there a tiger used to visit you apartment daily, Peter. Now that would have been exciting!!!

Posted on: 08 February 2015 by Gianluigi Mazzorana
Originally Posted by bicela:

I beg your pardon, but I can't resist to post my preferred wild (it needs to be tamed) animal (lovely but not yet educated properly). As you can see is being safe to get picture of him only behind the network of his cage...

 

Maurizio

 

DSC_0684