Analyzing the Animals To Come - What's Likely and What's Needed (Cliff notes edition)

Well, it's time for another look at what animals are likely to come, now that we've got the Arid Line up. For the previous discussion: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...-no-flying-birds-fully-marine-animals.615369/

As much as I'm not thrilled with the pack, it took a LOT of animals off this overview and put them into the game. However, there's a good bit that's still needed, which is frankly a little daunting if we have just two packs left. If we have 4 or 6 packs left I'm much more comfortable. So I'm looking at animals that make the most sense for Frontier to put in the game, not just what we're wanting.

As before, we'll divide this up into several sections but getting the two big ones out of the way right now.

Animal groups with a very poor showing in the game thus far. Most urgent needs of all.

New World Primates
- I don't think I need to explain this one. I'm not a huge primate enthusiast and I can come up with 6 I'd like to see. At minimum!

Habitat Birds (and exhibit birds if possible) - and I don't think I need to explain this one either. I am a big bird enthusiast though and this is the only area that I feel Frontier is failing in. I love the game, I think it's a great game and I love the mammal roster. But I'm not going to try to make it out that the Bird situation is anything but pitiful at this point.

For both groups, it does make me wonder, is there maybe some other plan that Frontier has for these all along? Or is it just that we're destined to have the groups woefully underrepresented?


Animals with a high level of general recognizability that we do not have any of: - I realize they're not standard zoo animals, but as far as instant recognition, Rabbits and Hares are one of the biggest groups missing. Getting one is iffy especially if we do not get a Petting Zoo pack, but they're still well known animals. Additionally, Walruses are also very recognizable. Finally, for exhibits we're still missing a Cobra and a Chameleon and I honestly have no idea why they went for the snake they included in the Arid pack .

Animals that are high profile enough to stand out individually by their absence - Only the Porcupine was knocked off this list. This leaves the Tasmanian Devil, the Kiwi, and the Wolverine. A Baboon of some type is probably right under this group.

Animals from a family that have low representation in the game versus their extant species: We got a third equid, which I've set as the point at which a group of animals is removed from this list. It doesn't leave us with too much then. Really then the Procyonidae family has less than three representative, as does the Viverridae, family. I'd personally go with a Coati and the African Civet on those.

Animals in general from regions that need more representation - The North African region really got some love with this Arid pack, and there's a little bleed over to the Middle East but it's still a bit barren. The problem is, the theme would be too similar to the Arid Pack, so I'm really not sure we're going to get much if anything on that part. South America and specifically the Amazon are in desperate need of animals though. - Cut paste from the last discussion "The thing is that South America has such a vast diversity of life, that having what we have is just barely scratching the surface. In addition to NWP, the non-rainforest/tropical areas of South American could use a little filling in. The Spectacled Bear, Rhea and Patagonian Mara are all popularly talked about choices, but they're not the only ones out there."

Animals that have signs/props/something in the game already
We got the Black Rhino and the Dromedary, so really all that's missing here is the Cobra. Again, the surprise that we got the viper over a Cobra.

Animals not represented in a region but there are a variety in real life - This is a new category and it may not be as critical, but it's worth noting that we still do not have any Asian antelopes. There's options like the Blackbuck, Saiga Antelope and Nilgai as the most popular species. Ideally, I'd love to see at least two in the game. To clarify with this category, I'm not including any animals that are the sole representative of a continent - probably the most obvious being the Spectacled Bear. I love them and want them but I want to steer clear of situations where there's a singular species to refer to.


The list keeps getting smaller and smaller which is good, it's supposed to as time goes on. I'm not as concerned about the individual and recognizable animals, I suspect most of those will make into the game. I'm more concerned about the first two points, the birds and the New World primates.
 
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Looking at the biomes we currently have and potential biomes packs and scenery packs we could still get. I'd say we could really use/need some more European, Arctic, Antarctic, Islands, South American, Asian animal variety.

Mountain pack:
A mountain animal pack could easily add missing mountain area animals. So far we have the Ibex, Dall sheep, Snow leopard and that's it. With an Mountain animal pack, we could really get some more much needed variety with animals like; the Markhor, Golden takin, Gelada, Darwin Rhea, Spectacled bear and more. These animals are highly requested and needed(In my opinion)

Coastal pack:
More coastal animals would be nice. So far we have the African penguin, King Penguin, Grey Seal, Sea lion. With an Coastal animal pack, we might finally expand this biome with animals like; Walrus, Southern elephant seal, little blue penguin/Rockhopper penguin, brown/Dalmatian pelican, sea otter and more. We could really use more pinnipeds, and I don't think people would mind a sea otter ;)

Tundra pack:
The Tundra pack could give us the missing animals from the cold tundra. Animals like the Saiga, Musk Ox, Wolverine, Elephant seal, Walrus and perhaps another antarctic penguin? Either way it could give us some great variety of animals.

Islands pack;
Either a scenery or animal pack, this pack could add the unique island wildlife we so long for. Animals like the Tasmanian devil, Kiwi, Aye-aye? Tree kangaroo and perhaps a Sumatran rhino.

Forest/woodlands pack;
With a forest animal pack we could get some more European/North American animals as well. Note I want this to focus on temperate and boreal forest, that's why I leave out the rainforests, as they are unique in they're own way. This pack could give us the missing animals like; Wolverine, wild boar, perhaps another deer? Echidna from Australia as special pick.

Rainforest pack;
Yes I know we have a tropical pack, but to me that should've been an animal pack. The tropics are very rich in animal diversity. A Rainforest animal pack could give us animals like the Tamandua, Howler/Spider monkey, Peccary, Forest buffalo, Sumatran rhino and probably way more. Chances are slim, but I keep my hopes up. I just hope we'll get a better rainforest representation in the future.

My very own conclusion of needed and what could highly come;
Markhor, Takin, Wolverine, Musk Ox, Wild boar, Rhea, spectacled bear, Kiwi, Tasmanian devil, Tree kangaroo all have quite the high chance of coming into the game at some point. I think with some of the named packs above we have quite a chance to give us a lot of the desired and missing animals.
 
Takin, Chamois, Musk ox, and Pallas cat in a highlands pack. WAIT! And Patagonian mara too!

With the Arid pack now coming, I think likely candidates for next packs could be:

Highlands

Obvious choice that is speculated by many. On my personal wishlist I have the takin, chamois, and pallas cat that are big contenders for inclusion. The gelada is another big one, because the hamadryas baboon was skipped in the arid pack we now have a better chance of a mountain baboon. But there's also the golden snub nosed monkey to consider. Candidates from the new world include the spectacled bear and bighorn sheep.

Now, a big thing to keep in mind that an ideal pack (diverse) is not the same as a likely pack, as frontier has shown to not put a lot of importance to diversity in a pack. They can and will put multiple antelopes in a pack ;) No complaints here, by the way! I think the choices for the arid pack are excellent. So with that out of the way, a potential Highlands pack with a few 'new' animals that take a bit more work and a few 'easy' animals that serve to flesh out the pack and will probably get some controversy.
Takin: a huge interesting looking mountain caprid. Would be a new kind of animal we don't have yet.
Gelada: the game's first baboon, a new kind of animal we don't have yet.
Patagonian mara: a small cute looking rodent from the Patagonian highlands that looks like a blend between a capybara and an antelope, a new kind of animal we don't have yet.
Pallas cat: another small cat, yes, but very different from the sand cat with its grumpy face and long hair.
Bighorn sheep: another sheep from North America, yes, but it is an iconic one with a range of habitats and sufficiently different looking from the dall sheep.
Spectacled bear: another bear, yes, but the first one from South America and essential SA representation.
Markhor: another goat, yes, but spectacular looking with its large spiral horns, very different from the takin, and is probably easily made from the ibex rig.
+ either something really interesting that nobody asked for, such as walkthrough exhibit: mountain bluebird.
OR a random normal exhibit of some lizard.

I think this roster is 'plain' enough that extra time could be spent on the first bird walkthrough exhibit. Just like the bat caught everyone off guard. Critique on this pack would probably be along the lines of it being heavy on caprids, everyone is sick of goats, why not one goat and two other animals such as insert whatever, another bear is boring, I wanted a wolverine, again a feline everyone is sick of cats, and of course "why did we get the gelada which is way lower in popularity on the wishlist than the hamadryas which is the most popular baboon".
But in the end many people would be pleased with this pack, mainly for the baboon, the mara, and the expressively funny pallas cat. Also, a new bear might really give the base game bears a run for their money.

Islands

This one is another obvious choice and highly anticipated due to the Tasmanian devil still not being in game yet. We could finally get a chameleon, and the game could push boundaries with this pack...

Tasmanian devil: the expected and long awaited devil. A new kind of animal we don't have yet, but nothing too difficult to create.
Tree kangaroo: a cute and pretty tree dweller, a new kind of non-hopping macropod we don't have yet.
+ Chameleon: the long requested chameleon, preferably a really colorful species with multiple color variants. Normal exhibit.
West Indian manatee: the game's first animal that doesn't step a foot on land! The animal nobody saw coming because, even though it is high on the meta wishlist, nobody knew how they would work in the game.
Pelican: a bird that will make many people happy. A new kind of animal we don't have yet.

This pack would probably become an instant fan favorite due to a bird (!), manatee which offers something completely new in terms of habitat building, and the popular devil and tree roo. Critique would probably come along the lines of 'no kiwi/echidna?' and 'still no flying birds?'. The pelican would just waddle on land and drift on the water, just like the flamingo. The chameleon doesn't change colors, instead there are many color variants, which is something people might be bummed about.

Rainforests/Amazon

A pack that focuses on South America.

Spider monkey: a new kind of animal we don't have yet: a large leggy SA monkey.
Coatimundi: a new kind of animal we don't have yet.
Tayra: a climbing mustelid, a new kind of animal we don't have yet.
Howler monkey: another howling monkey like the gibbons, yes, but this is the first howler monkey and SA representation.
Squirrel monkey: another small new world monkey, yes, but sufficiently different from the capuchin and highly requested.
Margay: another cat, yes, but it lives mostly in trees and is sufficiently different from all the others we already have in game.
Collared peccary: another piggy, yes, but sufficiently different from all the others in game and with a wide variety of habitats.
+ Emerald tree boa, normal exhibit.

3 monkeys in one pack should make many people happy. This will flesh out SA some more. Critique might be about the collared peccary vs chacoan peccary, the chosen species of spider monkey and howler monkey, why margay instead of ocelot, what even is a tayra, and 'why not one monkey and two other species such as pudu/etc... But above all: No birds (!!) Rainforests/amazon without birds is a tragedy. Etcetera.

Other packs

I think the cry for birds is heard by Frontier loud and clear, and we will get a designated bird pack at some point.

Despite the hate for it, I also think we'll get a petting zoo pack.

And then there is one final pack left to make it to Fall of 2024. A cold weather pack? A community's favorites pack? Who knows.
 
I keep a short list of what I think would complete the roster the fastest. Some of the species are flexible, but I think this contains roughly what is needed, not including surprise or interesting picks. Things are grouped roughly by continent. I added some items that seem borderline critical below
  1. South America: 3 monkeys, a bird, coati, ocelot or margay, spectacled bear, other non-monkey arboreal, peccary
    • Probably also: at least two of: rhea, mara, guanaco, tegu for southern SA, but they aren't as popular, a deer
  2. Africa/Middle East: baboon, small tropical monkey, serval, grey crowned crane or secretary bird
    • Probably also: another small monkey or two (African monkeys overall are highly requested), another antelope or two, honey badger, a reptile or two, at least one more bird
  3. Eurasia: muntjac (or other small deer with fangs), Himalayan goat, Indian antelope, Indian monkey, Pallas's cat, swan, duck, European ungulate, pelican
    • Probably also: the other requested Himalayan goat, pheasant, another European ungulate (one should probably be the Wild Boar by now), another Asian monkey
  4. North America/Arctic: wolverine, American black bear
    • Probably also: musk ox, another goat, sea otter, a temperate bird
  5. Oceania: kiwi, Tasmanian devil, tree kangaroo, echidna
    • Probably also: another bird, a monitor, and at least one more marsupial
Obviously there are many other good choices. I don't think that list is too fluffy, and it adds a bit to the monkey, bird, and small mammal crowd without going overboard (I think). Most of the birds I want would work in some form of exhibit, which I haven't gone into here. I have some other, more unusual favorites that I kept out. I really hope to see all of these and more.
 
Looking at the biomes we currently have and potential biomes packs and scenery packs we could still get. I'd say we could really use/need some more European, Arctic, Antarctic, Islands, South American, Asian animal variety.

Mountain pack:
A mountain animal pack could easily add missing mountain area animals. So far we have the Ibex, Dall sheep, Snow leopard and that's it. With an Mountain animal pack, we could really get some more much needed variety with animals like; the Markhor, Golden takin, Gelada, Darwin Rhea, Spectacled bear and more. These animals are highly requested and needed(In my opinion)

Coastal pack:
More coastal animals would be nice. So far we have the African penguin, King Penguin, Grey Seal, Sea lion. With an Coastal animal pack, we might finally expand this biome with animals like; Walrus, Southern elephant seal, little blue penguin/Rockhopper penguin, brown/Dalmatian pelican, sea otter and more. We could really use more pinnipeds, and I don't think people would mind a sea otter ;)

Tundra pack:
The Tundra pack could give us the missing animals from the cold tundra. Animals like the Saiga, Musk Ox, Wolverine, Elephant seal, Walrus and perhaps another antarctic penguin? Either way it could give us some great variety of animals.

Islands pack;
Either a scenery or animal pack, this pack could add the unique island wildlife we so long for. Animals like the Tasmanian devil, Kiwi, Aye-aye? Tree kangaroo and perhaps a Sumatran rhino.

Forest/woodlands pack;
With a forest animal pack we could get some more European/North American animals as well. Note I want this to focus on temperate and boreal forest, that's why I leave out the rainforests, as they are unique in they're own way. This pack could give us the missing animals like; Wolverine, wild boar, perhaps another deer? Echidna from Australia as special pick.

Rainforest pack;
Yes I know we have a tropical pack, but to me that should've been an animal pack. The tropics are very rich in animal diversity. A Rainforest animal pack could give us animals like the Tamandua, Howler/Spider monkey, Peccary, Forest buffalo, Sumatran rhino and probably way more. Chances are slim, but I keep my hopes up. I just hope we'll get a better rainforest representation in the future.

My very own conclusion of needed and what could highly come;
Markhor, Takin, Wolverine, Musk Ox, Wild boar, Rhea, spectacled bear, Kiwi, Tasmanian devil, Tree kangaroo all have quite the high chance of coming into the game at some point. I think with some of the named packs above we have quite a chance to give us a lot of the desired and missing animals.
For me, it surprised me the most how lackluster the bird roster is. I mean there are so many now lost possibilities where they could easily add in a wading bird(Storks, shoebill etc..) Pelicans, penguins, swans, ratites, cranes and so forth. Many of these could easily been implemented. I mean, Grey crowned crane surprises me the most. How is this bird not added in yet? This is literally one of the most common zoo bird worldwide, even small zoos, pettings zoos and even holiday parks have been seen keeping crowned cranes, how are they not in yet? Same goes for Pelicans, like how? I mean, I understand that animation wise, the beak could be a problem, but come on!

Give us some bird diversity! :(
 
For me, it surprised me the most how lackluster the bird roster is. I mean there are so many now lost possibilities where they could easily add in a wading bird(Storks, shoebill etc..) Pelicans, penguins, swans, ratites, cranes and so forth. Many of these could easily been implemented. I mean, Grey crowned crane surprises me the most. How is this bird not added in yet? This is literally one of the most common zoo bird worldwide, even small zoos, pettings zoos and even holiday parks have been seen keeping crowned cranes, how are they not in yet? Same goes for Pelicans, like how? I mean, I understand that animation wise, the beak could be a problem, but come on!

Give us some bird diversity! :(

Dude. We don't even have ducks lol

It is indeed really puzzling
 
Quite a bit has changed here with the Oceania pack's reveal! Just a quick rundown from my initial post.

Animal groups with a very poor showing in the game thus far. Most urgent needs of all.

New World Primates
- No change, still very urgent. The general mammal group that is most urgent in fact (at least IMO), with only one representative. There may be specific species of other groups (see below) that might be more wanted but as far as a grouping, we simply need more new world primates.

Habitat Birds - I've given up on Exhibit birds. It's not going to happen. I mean, I'd love to be wrong but I'm now focusing only Habitat birds. Getting two with the new pack is great, but there's still plenty that could be added. Hoping we get at least two more - Swan/Shoebill/Secretary Bird seem like the logical species to pull from.

Animals with a high level of general recognizability that we do not have any of
: (cut and paste of OP) - I realize they're not standard zoo animals, but as far as instant recognition, Rabbits and Hares are one of the biggest groups missing. Getting one is iffy especially if we do not get a Petting Zoo pack, but they're still well known animals. Additionally, Walruses are also very recognizable. Finally, for exhibits we're still missing a Cobra and a Chameleon.

Animals that are high profile enough to stand out individually by their absence
- We got two specific animals marked off here, so that's great. The Wolverine and a Walrus make this section up.

Animals from a family that have low representation in the game versus their extant species: Mainly jut the Procyonidae family has less than three representative, as does the Viverridae, family. I'd personally go with a Coati and the African Civet on those.

Animals in general from regions that need more representation - Oceanian is now basically covered, though a Tree Kangaroo would be welcome. This really leaves South America as a whole, particularly the Amazon. See the first section.

Animals that have signs/props/something in the game already:
The Cobra, that's it I think?

Animals not represented in a region but there are a variety in real life -
Asian Antelopes, we have none - I'd like at least two, the Blackbuck and Saiga would be my pick.
 
Quite a bit has changed here with the Oceania pack's reveal! Just a quick rundown from my initial post.

Animal groups with a very poor showing in the game thus far. Most urgent needs of all.

New World Primates
- No change, still very urgent. The general mammal group that is most urgent in fact (at least IMO), with only one representative. There may be specific species of other groups (see below) that might be more wanted but as far as a grouping, we simply need more new world primates.

Habitat Birds - I've given up on Exhibit birds. It's not going to happen. I mean, I'd love to be wrong but I'm now focusing only Habitat birds. Getting two with the new pack is great, but there's still plenty that could be added. Hoping we get at least two more - Swan/Shoebill/Secretary Bird seem like the logical species to pull from.

Animals with a high level of general recognizability that we do not have any of: (cut and paste of OP) - I realize they're not standard zoo animals, but as far as instant recognition, Rabbits and Hares are one of the biggest groups missing. Getting one is iffy especially if we do not get a Petting Zoo pack, but they're still well known animals. Additionally, Walruses are also very recognizable. Finally, for exhibits we're still missing a Cobra and a Chameleon.

Animals that are high profile enough to stand out individually by their absence
- We got two specific animals marked off here, so that's great. The Wolverine and a Walrus make this section up.

Animals from a family that have low representation in the game versus their extant species: Mainly jut the Procyonidae family has less than three representative, as does the Viverridae, family. I'd personally go with a Coati and the African Civet on those.

Animals in general from regions that need more representation - Oceanian is now basically covered, though a Tree Kangaroo would be welcome. This really leaves South America as a whole, particularly the Amazon. See the first section.

Animals that have signs/props/something in the game already: The Cobra, that's it I think?

Animals not represented in a region but there are a variety in real life -Asian Antelopes, we have none - I'd like at least two, the Blackbuck and Saiga would be my pick.
Good analysis.

Another animal with props is a deer? I believe it is a white-tailed deer, it's a statue. I could be wrong though.

As for regions; I agree a tree kangaroo would be welcome, along with a short-beaked echidna. Other Oceanian animals are welcome of course. I'm thinking of central America and Antarctica. We only have the king penguin from antarctica, we basically only need like a Leopard Seal or a Southern Elephant seal and your done. For central America; Coati, Tamandua, another sloth, Howler monkey/spider monkey and the brown pelican.

Exhibit reptiles and other animals; Yeah a cobra, chameleons and geckos basically. They could still come in some way.
 
Thank you! Yes, I wasn't sure about that deer statue. it could well be a white tailed deer, but some have said it's the red deer instead. Kind of generic "deer" I guess.

Your point for Central America and Oceania are good ones. Lots of people still want a tree kangaroo and the echnidna is quite popular too. I'm not sure about more from Antarctica though, given its low number of species....wouldn't be opposed to the Leopard Seal or Southern Elephant Seal.

What's really kind of pressing here is balancing this analysis with an unknown number of packs left. Do we have 1, 3, 5 or more or somewhere in between all that. For instance if we say that the New World Primates are the biggest overall need, if there's only one pack left Frontier would either need to focus on the Amazon or Primates alone (a "family" pack probably won't happen) or work them into a single finale type of pack. If they didn't go with a finale pack, that would be a lot of the other animals missing here that have no chance. Yet...South America and the Amazon specifically are the regions that most people feel needs to most focus at this point. So where that leaves things like the Secretary Bird, the Wolverine, Walrus and Cobras that would have almost no chance of being put in. One could be an anniversary animal of course, but the rest?

It's actually kind of exciting and also alarming that we may very well be down to one pack left. Though I hope not...I'm also not discounting that possibility.
 
Thank you! Yes, I wasn't sure about that deer statue. it could well be a white tailed deer, but some have said it's the red deer instead. Kind of generic "deer" I guess.

Your point for Central America and Oceania are good ones. Lots of people still want a tree kangaroo and the echnidna is quite popular too. I'm not sure about more from Antarctica though, given its low number of species....wouldn't be opposed to the Leopard Seal or Southern Elephant Seal.

What's really kind of pressing here is balancing this analysis with an unknown number of packs left. Do we have 1, 3, 5 or more or somewhere in between all that. For instance if we say that the New World Primates are the biggest overall need, if there's only one pack left Frontier would either need to focus on the Amazon or Primates alone (a "family" pack probably won't happen) or work them into a single finale type of pack. If they didn't go with a finale pack, that would be a lot of the other animals missing here that have no chance. Yet...South America and the Amazon specifically are the regions that most people feel needs to most focus at this point. So where that leaves things like the Secretary Bird, the Wolverine, Walrus and Cobras that would have almost no chance of being put in. One could be an anniversary animal of course, but the rest?

It's actually kind of exciting and also alarming that we may very well be down to one pack left. Though I hope not...I'm also not discounting that possibility.
True all very true.

I too have the feeling we go down our last pack, but how many that would be? There are at least some biomes/habitat that they could cover that being; Highlands/mountains, Tundra/taiga, Temperate/boreal woodlands and coastal I would say.

And about the secretary bird, wolverine, walrus and cobra; well I personally wouldn't put my hopes high up for a Secretary bird, not saying it wouldn't come, but it's getting more and more unlikely. Just like the pelican, the only way we could get at least 1 species of Pelican is with a coastal pack, but we've could have already had in if it was in like the wetlands pack. The Secretary bird wasn't in the Africa pack, grasslands and arid pack either, so it's chances are slim, but not 0. The cobra? Yeah it might be difficult now, perhaps if the do a rainforest pack? As for both the walrus and the wolverine, they still have a chance of coming in and they are both highly requested now. They could both be coming in a tundra pack and the wolverine could either be in a highland, tundra or woodland pack, and the walrus in a tundra or coastal pack.
 
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