A few days ago I got back from the AZA national conference in Atlanta. I love when I go to zoos and see an animal that I have never ever heard of before. This animal is one of them that I saw at Zoo Atlanta:
Do you know what animal it is, or what animal it is related to?
Want a clue?
Read on…
STOP , GO NO FURTHER if you don’t want a clue.
Here’s the clue, and better yet, it’s a quiz at the same time. The above animal has six letters in its name. If you drop one of the letters and rearrange the remaining five letters, you get the name of the animal below. Can you name both animals??
At first I thought “is that a Binturong?” but after a closer look my mind said “that looks like a dark phase Red Fox.”
I don’t know how that ties in with the musk ox (bottom photo), except that both have an “o” and “x” in their names. Can someone help me out here?
That looks like some kind of bamboo in the foreground which made me hesitate and think “red panda,” but that’d be one messed up red panda if it were a panda.
The ox in the photo below, if it’s what I think it is, has a golden fleece. Can that somehow be tied in with fox, red, Jason and the Argonauts, or am I way off?
How about takin and tanuki?
Takin is the gnu goat below, and Tanuki is the raccoon dog above.
Tanuki!
Raccoon dogs! My friend lives in Korea and I keep telling him to go out and take pics of them for me in the wild- so far I only have gotten Tanuki socks.
Finally, Super Nintendo pays off in practical knowledge. Thank you, Super Mario Bros. 3! Tanuki are the only living species of their genus of Asian Canidae. The bottom picture is a Takin; a bit funny looking as adults and super adorable as babies!
Stumped I am.
Never heard of a Tanuki.
Takin, now that’s the musk ox, right? No wait, its not a musk ox but the closest living relative of the Musk Ox. Saw a documentary on those goats on PBS. Narrator said that’s the animal Jason was after when he set off with his Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece (maybe).
There was a Tanuki in Super Mario Bros? Guess i had the earlier version.
Good Quiz!!
Bottom Picture is a Takin for sure! I have a picture of one above my desk. The top stumped me.
I wandered around the Bovidae section of wikipedia until I was able to figure out what the second animal was (confirmed by San Diego Zoo website)… but the appropriate section of wikipedia doesn’t list the first animal by the name you were using, so the hint actually threw me off. I finally cheated and found it at Zoo Atlanta. Great challenge, though. I’d say what they are, but don’t want to give it away if others are peeking.
I did cheat and read on the Zoo Atlanta website that the first animal is related to wolves and dogs so it must be a cousin to the museum’s wolves!!!!
Well Done.
Takin and Tanuki!
I am a huge fan of Takins, the goat-antelope of Asia!
Not really fair to Greg since he knows all-things-native-NC/USA, but no so much Asian!