Rarest animal you've seen in the wild?

[Colibri]

I worked with the New Zealand Wildlife Service from 1981-1985, and got to see some of the rarest animals in the world during my stint with them.

My favorite is the Kakapo, or Owl Parrot - a giant, flightless, nocturnal parrot. I worked with an island translocation program for them, and handled about 10% of the world population - which was about 50 in total at the time.

My own bird, which I was doing a study on, was the Stitchbird, or Hihi, at that time restricted to a single island, Little Barrier. I estimated the population at that time to be about 5000 birds.

Other species I’ve seen in the wild include Takahe, Saddleback, Kokako, Little Spotted Kiwi, and Tuatara.

@CannyDan

Perhaps relevant to this thread is the book Last Chance to See, coauthored by Douglas Adams, best known for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It chronicles observations of some of the world’s rarest creatures.

A great book. Adams spent some time in the field with some of my NZ friends, including the Dobbins family and Kakapo-catcher extraordinaire Gary “Arab” Aburn.

@CannyDan

Once, back in the late 1970’s, I followed an Ivory Billed Woodpecker around the Big Cypress Swamp for about an hour.

You may have me beat.