How I think an Islands Animal Pack should be structured
- Thread starter FlameWizard492
- Start date
I think the flamingo was mentioned because the choices seem to fall short for the Caribbean. What other animals would you have in mind? Not being sarcastic,am definitely curious and would love more options.
roseate spoonbill is another option for a colorful island bird. Can frequently been seen in flamingo aviaries aswell. I just want a pink bird for my aviaries 
It is not much more of a reskin than many of the cats and dogs we have gotten over time. We know most packs will have some easy additions, and I would much rather have that being a bird this time instead of Frontier revisiting the same category for the 5+ time.
I don't think the difference between American and Greater flamingo is comparable to that of the different felids and canids but to each their own.
The roseate spoonbill as mentioned above is a much better idea, also easy additions can still be much better than this...
If we want to discuss a mammal for the Caribbean, the hutia would be one I would be fine with.
I think the roseate spoonbill would be my number 1 choice for a Caribbean animal though.
I would say that these kinds of differences
Are comparable to these kinds of differences
I agree that a spoonbill is more interesting to get than another flamingo, but I am unsure if that would be within the range of an easy-to-do animal. So since birds are so behind as they are, I would much rather let the ''easy-to-do'' spot go to a flamingo over an island fox or a Sri Lankan leopard or whatever Frontier would come up with here.
Are comparable to these kinds of differences
I agree that a spoonbill is more interesting to get than another flamingo, but I am unsure if that would be within the range of an easy-to-do animal. So since birds are so behind as they are, I would much rather let the ''easy-to-do'' spot go to a flamingo over an island fox or a Sri Lankan leopard or whatever Frontier would come up with here.
My Islands Animal Pack focuses on islands that are missing some representation and some that are often found on islands because of their distribution.
Tasmanian Devil: Tasmania
Fossa: Madagascar
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo: Papua New Guinea
North Island Brown Kiwi: New Zealand
Walrus: Arctic Islands
Musk Ox: Arctic Islands such as Somerset Island
Sea Otter: Vancouver and Coastal Islands along the West Coast of North America and in the North Pacific
Rhinoceros Iguana: Haiti, this could utilise open air exhibits if the PZ team wanted to add them in this update
Tasmanian Devil: Tasmania
Fossa: Madagascar
Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo: Papua New Guinea
North Island Brown Kiwi: New Zealand
Walrus: Arctic Islands
Musk Ox: Arctic Islands such as Somerset Island
Sea Otter: Vancouver and Coastal Islands along the West Coast of North America and in the North Pacific
Rhinoceros Iguana: Haiti, this could utilise open air exhibits if the PZ team wanted to add them in this update
I'd argue musk ox, walrus and sea otter wouldn't feel right in an islands pack but who knows maybe some cold water islands could diverge off the desired coastal pack and merge into an islands pack
I did try to come up with some species, but to be honest there are fairly limited options?
Realistically Galapogas is gonna be the go to, so options there would be:
Galapagos Penguin, Marine Iguana, Galapagos Fur Seal - the other options largely overlap with existing species.
Carribean is obviously a big archepelago, but if the remit is "decent sized terrestrial (near) endemic" I wasn't going up with much: Cuban or Hispaniolan Solenodon is realistically the only distinctive species, but they're not really classic zoo animals as they are secretive, nocturnal and extremely rare.
The other option would be the Falklands, which has no native mammals, but does have 5 penguin species - I'd personally say that Macaroni or Rockhopper would be the best bet visually as we don't have a crested penguin species and they're a zoo mainstay.
I can't really come up with much else for the Americas that doesn't fit better in other pack concepts?
Even more limited since one is only kept in zoos - the iguana, the rest die prematurely. If we are considering only having endemic animals to islands, the choice of an animal pack gets really difficult
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What about Humboldt penguins?
Guess everyone will complain they are indistinguishable to the African penguin to the untrained eye, same would go for the magnellanic penguin. Personally if we are talking penguins, I would want the rockhopper or Gentoo
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Madagascar:
1. Fossa
2. Sifaka, alternatively any other somewhat-held lemur (Blue-Eyed Black)
Oceania:
3. Matchie's Tree Kangaroo, alternatively Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo
4. Tasmanian Devil
5. Little Blue Penguin, alternatively North Island Brown Kiwi
New World:
6. Rosette Spoonbill
Full World:
7. Green Sea Turtle
No real preference for exhibit animals or anything else beyond that. At this point in the game, I don't really see the need for any true clones, which is why I'd love for prioritization to shift towards unique rigs and animals. Caribbean really doesn't have too much representation in zoo's aside from Spoonbills and Flamingos, and at that point I'd much prefer the more unique one over the clone. Sea Turtle would be a fun oddball one to have that we wouldn't really expect.
1. Fossa
2. Sifaka, alternatively any other somewhat-held lemur (Blue-Eyed Black)
Oceania:
3. Matchie's Tree Kangaroo, alternatively Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo
4. Tasmanian Devil
5. Little Blue Penguin, alternatively North Island Brown Kiwi
New World:
6. Rosette Spoonbill
Full World:
7. Green Sea Turtle
No real preference for exhibit animals or anything else beyond that. At this point in the game, I don't really see the need for any true clones, which is why I'd love for prioritization to shift towards unique rigs and animals. Caribbean really doesn't have too much representation in zoo's aside from Spoonbills and Flamingos, and at that point I'd much prefer the more unique one over the clone. Sea Turtle would be a fun oddball one to have that we wouldn't really expect.
True that, honestly. But better than the Galapagos penguin
I was actually referring to this instead of the Galapagos penguin. But actually, I'd prefer the southern rockhopper for a 3rd penguin
Which zoos got marine iguana?
Ok as for an actual prediction for an Islands animal pack... here goes (assuming we get one animal per island/archipelago):
- Tasmanian Devil (This doesn't need an explanation)
- Fossa (There will of course be a Madagascar animal in an Islands pack... and its either this or another lemur (sifaka or aye-aye most likely), also very popular so it edges out)
- North Island Brown Kiwi (Ground bird of the pack and finally gives New Zealand some representation)
- Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo (Too popular to ignore at this point, I think 3 species for Oceania in this pack is fine enough)
- Tanuki (Another canine yes but they are popular and we get so many of these guys its quite likely... plus having a more temperate/cold-adapted animal gives the pack variety - another option if Japan is to be represented is the serow but I think the tanuki is more likely)
- Sumatran Rhino (The large animal for the pack, obviously very rare in captivity nowadays but these are quite a popular animal and it would be good to have at least one megafauna here)
- Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat (This is the oddball of the pack and represents the Philippines, an arboreal rodent would be unique and these guys actually aren't too uncommon in zoos. We don't have a true mouse/rat yet and these guys are large and arboreal, definitely a fun addition).
My mistake, I checked my source on that and that was almost a decade ago in Japan. Yeah so no zoos anywhere hold of the previously mentioned species, likely due to the specialised diets they require or just the sheer difficulty of ethically sourcing animals from the islands
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As long as we finally get my American Flamingo that's all I care about. Saw Leaf's video a few weeks ago about the whole Islands and Highlands animal pack ideas kinda like how Wetlands and Grasslands play off each other nicely, and I have to totally agree that it would be an amazing idea to do Islands and Highlands this year. Both could have amazing animal choices. As for my personal list for Islands?
1. Tasmanian Devil (Obvious choice, it's been number 1 for quite awhile now)
2. Fossa (Another heavily requested animal)
3. North Island Brown Kiwi (Alternative - Little Blue Penguin) (Either one works for me, personally I want the little blue but I know the community loves the Kiwi)
4. Harbor Seal (We desperately need a new pinniped and the Harbor Seal is one of if not the most common in captivity)
5. American Flamingo (I just want my American Flamingo. One of my favorite animals to see at the Zoo. It's just super iconic for how pink it is, deserves to be in the game)
6. Sumatran Tiger (Alternative - Fishing Cat) (Ik Sumatran Tiger is controversial because it's a "clone" but it would be nice to have an updated Tiger and the most common in captivity)
7. Matschie's Tree Kangaroo (Alternative - Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo)
8. WE - Some sort of Bird like Lorikeet or Cocktiel
1. Tasmanian Devil (Obvious choice, it's been number 1 for quite awhile now)
2. Fossa (Another heavily requested animal)
3. North Island Brown Kiwi (Alternative - Little Blue Penguin) (Either one works for me, personally I want the little blue but I know the community loves the Kiwi)
4. Harbor Seal (We desperately need a new pinniped and the Harbor Seal is one of if not the most common in captivity)
5. American Flamingo (I just want my American Flamingo. One of my favorite animals to see at the Zoo. It's just super iconic for how pink it is, deserves to be in the game)
6. Sumatran Tiger (Alternative - Fishing Cat) (Ik Sumatran Tiger is controversial because it's a "clone" but it would be nice to have an updated Tiger and the most common in captivity)
7. Matschie's Tree Kangaroo (Alternative - Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo)
8. WE - Some sort of Bird like Lorikeet or Cocktiel
No I haven't. I've been to all of the notable Florida Zoo's and most of them just call their Florida sections "Florida" or "Everglades". Miami has an Everglades section but nothing really on the Keys. I don't think I've seen Key Deer in captivity outside of a few private collectors maybe. I mean unless you count American Alligators the Keys aren't a very well represented area in captivity.