Just like real life, we cannot expect each and every known species kept in zoos in the past to be included in Planet Zoo. Even if you cross out obvious animals that won't make it such as baleen whales, cryptids, and species extinct for good, there is still a lot of animals left with only a few handful of species for the devs to choose from. While a man can dream and have xyz to be officially made by frontier, it is best to curb our enthusiasm. Which is why I am making this thread.
I will start off with not one but two species: the North American mountain goat and the Bighorn sheep. Caprids tend to be under represented in zoos compared to other species of hoofstock such as antelope and giraffe. This could be reflected by the fact that Planet Zoo only has two species of caprids: the Alpine Ibex and the Dall's Sheep. The Dall's sheep is one of the three species of North American caprids that are montane. Having another species that fills the same niche from a very overrepresented continent would be pretty redundant. Not to mention, there still isn't a caprid species from Asia which has a plethora of taxa such as markhor, takin, tahr, and a lot more.
People have ragged on Frontier for having "clones" of animals be it similar yet distinct species or barely distinguishable subspecies. However (despite my bias for their red counterparts) I will not hold my breath for neither Eastern nor Western Gray Kangaroo. Kangaroos aren't as popular as much as wolves and big cats to justify a second species. While we did get more macropod representatin with the arrival of the red-necked wallaby, I would not expect frontier to add any other members of this family except for tree kangaroos despite the diversity of species.
Despite having a fair number of representatives in the base game, the order Primata still feels underrepresented with only three additional species added through the DLCs. If we are to get new chances are we won't be getting any species grom the genus Eulemur. This is a diverse genus with twelve extant species which vary by color, habitat, and IUCN status. However, with three species of lemur already in the game, getting a member of the Eulemur genus as the fourth member would feel redundant especially when among lemurs, the community seems to prefer aye-ayes and sifakahs more than any other lemur, or so I have observed. Otherwise if the devs are to add a new primate into the game I would expect it to be from an under-represented taxa such as baboons, guenons, and especially New World Primates over lemurs.
The expansion packs have blessed us with many small mammals such as the American beaver, meerkat, raccoon, and much more. Despite being a pessimist myself I could see more small mammals such as coatimundi and porcupine being represented. However one small mammal I do not expect is the Common Brush-tail Possum. Now I am aware that Phalangerids, let alone brush-tail possums, are not commonly kept in zoos. I bring up this species bacause of the ironic obscurity it has bespite being extremely common on its home range similar to how raccoons are a mundane animal in people's lives in North America. The fact that this animal is rarely kept outside its native range does play a role on why I believe it won't make it, but I would not count on that alone since Frontier has provided us with rarely kept animals such as the Dall's sheep and Proboscis monkeys. When listening to discussions about Australian animals for planet zoo I barely even hear possums. I would not expect any new Australian mammals, let alone the brushtailed possum, after the arrival of the Tasmanian devil and (maybe) the short-beaked echidna. For the 11 other people who also voter for the brush-tailed perfection I would suggest you to hold your horses.
This is my list for the time being, but by all means it is not over. I will be back to add more taxa of animals that I think won't make it to the game. But for the time being I have some work to do before further working on this list.
I will start off with not one but two species: the North American mountain goat and the Bighorn sheep. Caprids tend to be under represented in zoos compared to other species of hoofstock such as antelope and giraffe. This could be reflected by the fact that Planet Zoo only has two species of caprids: the Alpine Ibex and the Dall's Sheep. The Dall's sheep is one of the three species of North American caprids that are montane. Having another species that fills the same niche from a very overrepresented continent would be pretty redundant. Not to mention, there still isn't a caprid species from Asia which has a plethora of taxa such as markhor, takin, tahr, and a lot more.
People have ragged on Frontier for having "clones" of animals be it similar yet distinct species or barely distinguishable subspecies. However (despite my bias for their red counterparts) I will not hold my breath for neither Eastern nor Western Gray Kangaroo. Kangaroos aren't as popular as much as wolves and big cats to justify a second species. While we did get more macropod representatin with the arrival of the red-necked wallaby, I would not expect frontier to add any other members of this family except for tree kangaroos despite the diversity of species.
Despite having a fair number of representatives in the base game, the order Primata still feels underrepresented with only three additional species added through the DLCs. If we are to get new chances are we won't be getting any species grom the genus Eulemur. This is a diverse genus with twelve extant species which vary by color, habitat, and IUCN status. However, with three species of lemur already in the game, getting a member of the Eulemur genus as the fourth member would feel redundant especially when among lemurs, the community seems to prefer aye-ayes and sifakahs more than any other lemur, or so I have observed. Otherwise if the devs are to add a new primate into the game I would expect it to be from an under-represented taxa such as baboons, guenons, and especially New World Primates over lemurs.
The expansion packs have blessed us with many small mammals such as the American beaver, meerkat, raccoon, and much more. Despite being a pessimist myself I could see more small mammals such as coatimundi and porcupine being represented. However one small mammal I do not expect is the Common Brush-tail Possum. Now I am aware that Phalangerids, let alone brush-tail possums, are not commonly kept in zoos. I bring up this species bacause of the ironic obscurity it has bespite being extremely common on its home range similar to how raccoons are a mundane animal in people's lives in North America. The fact that this animal is rarely kept outside its native range does play a role on why I believe it won't make it, but I would not count on that alone since Frontier has provided us with rarely kept animals such as the Dall's sheep and Proboscis monkeys. When listening to discussions about Australian animals for planet zoo I barely even hear possums. I would not expect any new Australian mammals, let alone the brushtailed possum, after the arrival of the Tasmanian devil and (maybe) the short-beaked echidna. For the 11 other people who also voter for the brush-tailed perfection I would suggest you to hold your horses.
This is my list for the time being, but by all means it is not over. I will be back to add more taxa of animals that I think won't make it to the game. But for the time being I have some work to do before further working on this list.
