I think Short-Beaked Echidna is a possible choice for an anniversary animal, given how few Oceanian species are in the base game, it would be beneficial to the base-game roster.
Third Anniversary Animal
- Thread starter disneyandanimals
- Start date
Javan rhinos probably could survive and breed in captivity. The reason they don't is because there are too few to risk experimentation with in a captive environment. Any that you take out of the wild and put in a zoo are removed from the gene pool until they successfully breed in captivity, and you'd have to grab more than one of each sex in order to maximise the odds of success.
Echidna, along with either perentie or lace monitor, would be my much later choice and hope due to that game having more genera/kinds of Australians. One Australian after another.
yeah its animals like this that I have no problem being in planet zoo even if no real zoos have them because its very likely they would have no problem being in a zoo it just isnt kept because its to rare. A zoo game is perfect to showcase this animal as it highlights them and can bring more attention to their conservation whilst also not promoting animals that are unethical to keep such as orca.
Although i would love it, i don't think they will do an oceanian anniversary animal because they just did a oceania pack.
or that could be exactly why they do it.
In saying that, I'd still prefer the Sumatran rhinoceros, which actually has been successfully kept and bred in captivity until very recently (Cincinnati Zoo).
They won't do it because it's a wholly unique rig. The anniversary animal is always going to be an easily-made 'clone' of something already existing, so they can justify giving it away for free.
Given that it's likely to be a clone animal, my guesses are -
Rockhopper Penguin
At this point adding a base game penguin might push a few reluctant dlc adverse people to buy the game.
Grey Crowned Crane
A popular African bird that could reuse the the red crowned crane rig.
American Black Bear
Less popular than Paddington for some reason. I hope it comes as a regular animal though because aniversary animals haven't had colour morphs so far, and to me the morphs are a big part of the ABB appeal.
A Piggy
Eurasian wild boars and peccaries both have considerable support.
Rockhopper Penguin
At this point adding a base game penguin might push a few reluctant dlc adverse people to buy the game.
Grey Crowned Crane
A popular African bird that could reuse the the red crowned crane rig.
American Black Bear
Less popular than Paddington for some reason. I hope it comes as a regular animal though because aniversary animals haven't had colour morphs so far, and to me the morphs are a big part of the ABB appeal.
A Piggy
Eurasian wild boars and peccaries both have considerable support.
Doubt. They just gave us a penguin in the Oceania Pack, adding another one in November for free wouldn't be good business.
Too popular, too marketable. If it can sell in a DLC, it's not going to be free.
These two are possibilities, but both depend on whatever is planned for December.
My brain keeps going to: Spectacled Bear if no Highlands pack planned, Wild Boar if no Eurasian or Woodlands pack planned, or American Black Bear.
There's also the option for the Masai Giraffe, Grevy's Zebra or American Flamingo - all a second species of a very iconic and staple zoo animal.
Based on what I'd want personally it would be the Spectacled Bear. But based on what I actually think it will be? The American Black Bear.
If they choose to go as detailed as last time with the deer, I could see Banded Mongoose or Grey Crowned Crane.
If they go a bit more basic I could see another antelope or Masai Giraffe.
Rounding out everything though thinking about what the base game needs most, I for sure hope we get the mongoose or crane since we don’t have any weasel like animals or cranes in the base game.
The options are pretty endless. But at this point, I think I'm leaning toward a bear of some sort. North American black bear would make a lot of sense as people would be excited for them but... Might roll their eyes if they were in a pack. Wild boar would make sense for a similar reason (and, if they were continuing the trend of a European animal would make even more sense). These are probably my top 2 guesses for what it's likely to be.
Some of the other options people tend to put out are viable too but would also feel a bit less exciting to me (e.g., giraffe, zebra) because, for me, the in-game options work just as well for stand-ins.
As for what I want? My hope is that the quokka was meant to be the tree kangaroo but they had some issues with the animations so they switched to the quokka and adapted the rig or whatever for that instead... So we get the tree kangaroo now instead. Very unlikely and a speculation comprised of pure cope? Yup. Would it be awesome? Also yup.
Some of the other options people tend to put out are viable too but would also feel a bit less exciting to me (e.g., giraffe, zebra) because, for me, the in-game options work just as well for stand-ins.
As for what I want? My hope is that the quokka was meant to be the tree kangaroo but they had some issues with the animations so they switched to the quokka and adapted the rig or whatever for that instead... So we get the tree kangaroo now instead. Very unlikely and a speculation comprised of pure cope? Yup. Would it be awesome? Also yup.
Imagine if they want to make the anniversary "beary" special! Updating the Himalayan Brown Bear to the Eurasian Brown Bear (please Frontier....) and to "make up" from the first anniversary, both the Spectacled Bear and American Black Bear.
This won't happen I'm sure....I mean...at least the part about getting two anniversary gifts. An anniversary bear and the HBB remix could be possible. the HBB's certainly gotten enough flack for it, it's pretty low in popularity due to its unnecessarily restrictive natural range.
I don't understand the guesses for it being a bear, we have 3 bears in the base game, is a fourth one really what the base game needs? The deer was the first deer in the base game, the lemur, actually idk why they chose it, I guess for variety and they needed something quick. Putting my money with the mongoose.
There are zero small ferret like animals in the base game, making it not possible to make tiny exhibits for diggers.
There are zero small ferret like animals in the base game, making it not possible to make tiny exhibits for diggers.
The more I think about it as NZ stated a Nile crocodile does make perfect sense. I still think it could literally be anything with of course that mainly being a edited clone species. Even a exhibit animal this time around wouldn’t surprise me. But only having one crocodile thus far and a saltwater at that makes me think a Nile would have been the perfect base game inclusion left out for purposes like anniversary possibilities. I’d also take American or Cuban. A false gharial would also make a good choice.
Anything but a crocodile please, for my own personal needs lol I can make an enclosure for literally anything else but a crocodilian 
Best guesses:
A bird. A penguin, crane, or American flamingo could use existing rigs. Or they could make the Victoria Crowned Pigeon off the peafowl rig and use it to do another push on the Oceania pack.
A bear. American, Spectacled, or Sloth. It would be well received.
An ungulate. Lots of choices. Whether its a piggy, an antelope, a goat, or a new giraffe.
A reptile. Nile crocodile, African dwarf crocodile, or spurred tortoise.
A primate. Baboon, colobus, capuchin or squirrel. It would add to the base game and make a lot of players happy.
An exhibit. A cobra, because cobra engine.
A bird. A penguin, crane, or American flamingo could use existing rigs. Or they could make the Victoria Crowned Pigeon off the peafowl rig and use it to do another push on the Oceania pack.
A bear. American, Spectacled, or Sloth. It would be well received.
An ungulate. Lots of choices. Whether its a piggy, an antelope, a goat, or a new giraffe.
A reptile. Nile crocodile, African dwarf crocodile, or spurred tortoise.
A primate. Baboon, colobus, capuchin or squirrel. It would add to the base game and make a lot of players happy.
An exhibit. A cobra, because cobra engine.
thinking about the bear though, I would imagine people would be more happy with another bear (or two even) added to the base game than paying for another one. I think I get your point that the base game doesn't really "need" a bear in comparison to other types of animals, but the remaining bears do still come up in conversation, so they're somewhat wanted. I think the Highlands talk has people accepting of a Spectacled Bear, if it were to come in that type of pack. Which for a Highlands pack it almost surely would.