# Rarest animal you've seen in the wild?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 13, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919 "2007-04-13T06:06:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919/81 "2007-04-17T19:07:11Z")

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[Key deer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_deer)

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**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919/82 "2007-04-23T00:10:40Z")

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I guess it’s only rare for certain values of rare (there’s 800,000 to 900,000 of them out there) - but I just got to add Laysan Albatross to my list today. Saw one 3 miles west of [Southeast Farallon Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farallon_Islands) early this afternoon.

Even if not hugely rare, it was hugely exciting. I wish we saw them more often. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919/83 "2007-04-23T08:39:53Z")

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I saw a badger at my back porch in Wrightwood, CA. While badgers aren’t rare, apparently they aren’t even supposed to exist around here any more. I have had naturalists and forest rangers tell me it was impossible. But I still saw it.

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**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rarest-animal-youve-seen-in-the-wild/399919/84 "2007-04-23T11:04:13Z")

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[QUOTE=fifty-sixI am a little upset that my chances of seeing a Polar Bear are slim in my foreseeable future.

I second the suggestion to read Douglas Adams book. It is great[/QUOTE]

I’m impressed. I’d love to see even half of those creature. But you know, you don’t have to see a polar bear in the wild. Particularly as it will probably gut you and feed you to it’s young. And I hate when that happens.

But this whole thread I’ve been thinking about animals I haven’t seen in the wild. But I’ve seen. Like the albino tigers (I want one. I want to pet one while I’m explaining my plan to take over the world.) And giant pandas. I’ve met one and he seemed rather sad. But it’s hard to tell with pandas. He had enough bamboo.

But I think about the Central Park Zoo…hardly the wild, maybe the jungle. Where they have a place where you can see the polar bears swimming. Amazing. Because you’r inches of glass away for a bear that wants to eat your face of. And because they are so beautiful. And graceful.

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