Cynogale bennettii's animal wishlist

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Even though the game has probably ended now, I figured I would still put some animal ideas here:

Prevost’s squirrel
Callosciurus prevostii

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Continents: Asia
Countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand

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The purple area is a non-native introduced population on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

Biomes: Tropical

Prevost’s squirrels live primarily in tropical rainforest, including dense primary forest, regrowing secondary forest and plantations of coconut and oil palm.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population

Captive presence: According to Zootierliste, there are no fewer than 124 zoos around the world currently keeping this species – these include 88 locations in Europe and Russia, 25 zoos in North America, 9 zoos in Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Israel) and 1 zoo each in South Africa and Argentina. They are probably among the most commonly-kept of all tree squirrels in captivity.

Reasoning: As well as their commonness in captivity and their obvious beauty, there are other things that make Prevost’s squirrels, I think, the most suitable species of tree squirrel to add to Planet Zoo (or a sequel).

These squirrels are surprisingly versatile when it comes to how they are exhibited – while the standard does seem to be a standard mesh or wire cage, they can be kept free-roaming in large tropical halls and also in large open-topped outdoor enclosures with access to live trees.

Prevost’s squirrels are very friendly animals that are amenable to living in mixed-species enclosures. Of the animals in Planet Zoo, they have successfully been mixed with Asian small-clawed otters and binturongs – indeed, there have been enclosures where all three species live together. They can also be mixed with all sorts of birds, tortoises and other small mammals. Their placidity would also make them an ideal animal to allow visitors to enter their enclosure.

Although they are less social than ground squirrels, the Prevost’s squirrel can and does live in small groups both in the wild and in captivity, so they would not feel lost in an enclosure. They are certainly big enough to be a habitat species, as they are similar in size to the meerkat. They are also fairly long-lived for such small mammals – on average, they live fifteen years but can reach a maximum age of twenty-one.

Variations (if any): This species has one of the most impressive ranges of coat pattern of any squirrel – as well as the famous red, white and black form, where the amount of each colour can differ in some populations, there are easily over a dozen other colour forms, incorporating brown, orange and grey colours alongside or replacing the standard tricolour. This picture shows just a few of the colour morphs that appear in northern Borneo alone:

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Any number of morphs would be very welcome indeed, but I do think the standard red, white and black form should predominate, as that is the most common form in captivity.

References:
A large open-topped outdoor exhibit for Prevost’s squirrel and binturong in France:

A smaller all-indoor exhibit for Prevost’s squirrel and elongated tortoise in the Netherlands:

The Asia Dome at Randers Zoo in Denmark, which has Prevost’s squirrels among its free-roaming species (the second picture being an ID board for all free-roaming animals in the Asia Dome):

An indoor mixed-species enclosure for Prevost’s squirrel, binturong and Asian small-clawed otter in the USA:

An indoor mixed-species enclosure for Prevost’s squirrel, chevrotain and Victoria crowned pigeon in Singapore:
 

Mr-Hyrax 2

Mr-Hyrax 2
Cynogale bennettii II said:
Even though the game has probably ended now, I figured I would still put some animal ideas here:

Prevost’s squirrel
Callosciurus prevostii

View attachment 404855

Continents: Asia
Countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand

View attachment 404856
The purple area is a non-native introduced population on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

Biomes: Tropical

Prevost’s squirrels live primarily in tropical rainforest, including dense primary forest, regrowing secondary forest and plantations of coconut and oil palm.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population

Captive presence: According to Zootierliste, there are no fewer than 124 zoos around the world currently keeping this species – these include 88 locations in Europe and Russia, 25 zoos in North America, 9 zoos in Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Israel) and 1 zoo each in South Africa and Argentina. They are probably among the most commonly-kept of all tree squirrels in captivity.

Reasoning: As well as their commonness in captivity and their obvious beauty, there are other things that make Prevost’s squirrels, I think, the most suitable species of tree squirrel to add to Planet Zoo (or a sequel).

These squirrels are surprisingly versatile when it comes to how they are exhibited – while the standard does seem to be a standard mesh or wire cage, they can be kept free-roaming in large tropical halls and also in large open-topped outdoor enclosures with access to live trees.

Prevost’s squirrels are very friendly animals that are amenable to living in mixed-species enclosures. Of the animals in Planet Zoo, they have successfully been mixed with Asian small-clawed otters and binturongs – indeed, there have been enclosures where all three species live together. They can also be mixed with all sorts of birds, tortoises and other small mammals. Their placidity would also make them an ideal animal to allow visitors to enter their enclosure.

Although they are less social than ground squirrels, the Prevost’s squirrel can and does live in small groups both in the wild and in captivity, so they would not feel lost in an enclosure. They are certainly big enough to be a habitat species, as they are similar in size to the meerkat. They are also fairly long-lived for such small mammals – on average, they live fifteen years but can reach a maximum age of twenty-one.

Variations (if any): This species has one of the most impressive ranges of coat pattern of any squirrel – as well as the famous red, white and black form, where the amount of each colour can differ in some populations, there are easily over a dozen other colour forms, incorporating brown, orange and grey colours alongside or replacing the standard tricolour. This picture shows just a few of the colour morphs that appear in northern Borneo alone:

View attachment 404857

Any number of morphs would be very welcome indeed, but I do think the standard red, white and black form should predominate, as that is the most common form in captivity.

References:
A large open-topped outdoor exhibit for Prevost’s squirrel and binturong in France:

A smaller all-indoor exhibit for Prevost’s squirrel and elongated tortoise in the Netherlands:

The Asia Dome at Randers Zoo in Denmark, which has Prevost’s squirrels among its free-roaming species (the second picture being an ID board for all free-roaming animals in the Asia Dome):

An indoor mixed-species enclosure for Prevost’s squirrel, binturong and Asian small-clawed otter in the USA:

An indoor mixed-species enclosure for Prevost’s squirrel, chevrotain and Victoria crowned pigeon in Singapore:
Click to expand...
I would love a Prevost Squirrel
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Common cusimanse
Crossarchus obscurus
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Continents: Africa
Countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

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Biomes: Grassland, Tropical

The cusimanse is primarily a mongoose of dense tropical rainforest, but in some parts of its range (in regions of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire) it will also live in open savannah grassland

Red List status: Least Concern, with an unknown population trend

Captive presence: Kept in a few places - Zootierliste records sixteen European zoos with cusimanse, plus two smaller zoos in the USA and one apiece in Israel, Thailand and Singapore.

Reasoning: If I had to choose another species of mongoose to include in Planet Zoo, it would be this one. They have the same active social lives as the meerkat and other more typical plains mongooses such as banded and dwarf mongooses, but primarily inhabit a completely different biome.

In the zoos that do keep them, cusimanse live in a variety of different enclosures. They can live in large outdoor and open-topped enclosures or in roofed-over displays. One thing that would make the cusimanse additionally interesting is that while they do spend most of their time on the ground, they are excellent climbers and some zoos provide climbing frames for them to showcase this behaviour. I would also let them use the burrow, but not dig tunnels like the meerkats do - everything I have found suggest they use other animal burrows instead of digging their own.

Like other mongooses, the cusimanse has been mixed with a variety of other animals, including some included in Planet Zoo. At Shepreth Wildlife Park (which the Planet Zoo team has worked with before), the cusimanse have been kept with both African crested porcupine and aardvark. They have also been kept with African brush-tailed porcupine, Diana guenons and a less geographically accurate mixing of lemurs. If there were guenons in the game, I would be tempted to give them an interspecies bonus, as the cusimanse will actively follow monkeys to gain mutual protection against predators and have even been recorded playing with monkeys.

I would go so far as to say that, apart from a handful of monkeys, the cusimanse is the most pressing mammal species missing from the African rainforest roster. I would love to see them at some point.

Variations (if any): I would probably just have the cusimanse come in two slightly different shades of brown; I cannot find anything suggesting they come in extremely noticeable different colour variations.

References:
A fairly standard outdoor enclosure for cusimanse:

A closed-top outdoor enclosure for cusimanse:

An outdoor enclosure for cusimanse complete with a climbing frame:

A picture of a captive cusimanse climbing in the same closed-top enclosure two links up:

A more forested enclosure for cusimanse:

The cusimanse at Shepreth when they shared with crested porcupines:

The same enclosure at Shepreth, except this time the cusimanse are sharing with aardvark:
 

Mikmuscle

M
Cynogale bennettii II said:
Yellow-throated marten
Martes flavigula

View attachment 330355

Continents: Asia

Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

View attachment 330357

Biomes: Taiga, Temperate, Tropical

Because it occurs over such a wide area and ranges from sea level to over 4,500m, the yellow-throated marten occupies a broad range of environments. The one thing it requires are trees but it can inhabit any type of forest, including snowy taiga forest in the Russian Far East, temperate woodlands in China, montane forest as high as the treeline in the Himalayas and tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia.

Red List status: Least Concern, although they are declining. The Formosan subspecies is thought to be Endangered, although it has not been assessed.

Captive presence: The yellow-throated marten is fairly common in captivity, with Zootierliste showing 33 zoos keeping the species across Europe (32) and Israel (1). While a single zoo in Canada (Assiniboine Park Zoo) kept the species, it seems they have recently died off. They are also kept in zoos in their native Asian range.

Reasoning: The yellow-throated marten is the biggest of the true martens. The largest males weigh up to 5.7kg, which is close in weight to the red panda (6kg). There is also not much difference in length between them – the yellow-throated marten’s total length (head-body-tail) is 110cm, while the red panda is 126cm.

Unlike most martens, the yellow-throated marten is almost entirely active by day, only coming out at night on a bright full moon. This would lend to their active behaviour in the game and make their activity levels feel realistic.

Another positive that sets the yellow-throated apart from other martens is their sociality. Most martens are solitary and indeed some species (like the European pine marten) have to be kept apart for prolonged periods if they are to successfully breed in captivity. Yellow-throated martens by contrast routinely travel in pairs or trios and have been seen in groups of seven or eight individuals. This allows them to be cooperative hunters that will attack prey no other marten would be able to, including monkeys, deer and small cats.

Because they are large, social and diurnal, yellow-throated martens make good displays, especially when given access to live trees. While they can be kept in mesh cages, the best example of a yellow-throated marten enclosure can be seen at Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. The 720 square metre enclosure allows the animals to climb, swim and explore a large area.

Variations (if any): There are nine subspecies of yellow-throated marten, which all look quite different from one another (one of these, the Javan yellow-throated marten, may be its own distinct species). However, the marten kept in zoos is the Northern or Amur subspecies Martes flavigula borealis. This is also the most vibrantly coloured subspecies, so I would choose to have this as the representative, with maybe two or three minor coat variations that can be seen within this subspecies.

References:
An image of the Nuremberg Zoo marten enclosure:

Yellow-throated marten enclosure - ZooChat

With over 700 meters easily the largest in Europe. It is even much larger than many Jaguar or Leopard enclosures currently built...
www.zoochat.com www.zoochat.com

More pictures showing the animals, enclosure and surroundings at Nuremberg:

Nuremberg Yellow-throated Marten — wild-design

www.wild-design.com www.wild-design.com
Click to expand...
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Tailless tenrec
Tenrec ecaudatus

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Continents: Africa
Countries: Madagascar (introduced to Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles)

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Biomes: Grassland, Tropical

The tailless tenrec is probably the most adaptable mammal in Madagascar, and is capable of living in all terrestrial habitats there. This includes not only natural rain and dry forests, but also farmland and urban areas.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a stable population

Captive presence: Now rather rare in captivity, being kept in five British and one Irish zoo, plus a single zoo in its native Madagascar. This species was much more widespread in Britain and Europe fairly recently.

Reasoning: While they are not the most decorative-looking of animals and are not abundant in captivity anymore, I still think the tailless tenrec has a lot to offer as a habitat animal.

The first issue to address is size – the tailless tenrec is the biggest of the tenrec species, and also larger than the biggest hedgehogs. It is about as long as a meerkat, albeit much more rotund, and weigh up to 2.5 kilograms. They are definitely large enough to work as a habitat animal in the game.

The second, more unique issue that the tailless tenrec has that can be addressed is that of litter size – these produce more babies in one go than any other mammal, with the record being thirty-two in a single litter. However, many of these offspring die while fairly young. I would be comfortable with this animal having maybe three to five babies per litter. As an aside, the babies themselves are wonderful-looking animals with bright orange stripes on their brown fur, similar to a red river hog piglet.

It is a surprisingly tolerant animal toward others of its own kind, and is sometimes kept in fairly large groups. They are also tolerant to other species, and have been mixed with lemurs. However, they can be quick to bite and have a pretty magnificent set of teeth, so I would probably not include them as a species for walkthrough enclosures.

All in all, I think the tenrec would be a very strong addition to Madagascar sections in the game. They are, along with the hyrax, manatee and maybe one of the larger sengis, the only Afrotherians that could reasonably work as a habitat animal. Additionally, they could also serve as an example of an early mammalian lifestyle that coexisted with the dinosaurs – at least one early Jurassic species of cynodont produced similarly large litters of young, and most early mammals were nocturnal insectivores.

Variations (if any): I would be tempted to just have three subtly different coat variations for this species – one is the standard rich brown, another is more grizzled with grey hairs and the third has areas of more yellowish fur. There are a number of images online of tailless tenrecs that are partially bald – this is something that happens seasonally in the breeding season, so I probably would not include this as a variation.

References:
A picture of the indoor area of an enclosure that tailless tenrecs share with two species of lemur

A broader view of the enclosures in the same building as above
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Black-and-rufous sengi
Rhynchocyon petersi

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Continents: Africa
Countries: Kenya, Tanzania

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Biomes: Tropical

The black-and-rufous sengi can occupy most forested habitats that produce deep leaf litter, including evergreen forest, dense woodland, overgrown agricultural land and coral rag (forests growing on exposed coral stone). All of these habitats, I think, would correspond to the tropical biome.

Red List status: Least Concern, with a declining population

Captive presence: This is quickly becoming quite a regular species in Europe, with nineteen zoos currently keeping them. Despite the fact that the population originated in American zoos, for whatever reason they have fallen out of favour there – only four zoos in the USA now hold them.

Reasoning: The black-and-rufous sengi is not the largest or rarest sengi, but is brightly-coloured, relatively common in captivity and is still of conservation importance – it was listed as Vulnerable until fairly recently, and its classification as Least Concern is highly precautionary. They are within the same size range as the meerkat, so I would argue they are large enough to be a habitat animal.

Perhaps even more so than the larger tailless tenrec, the sengi seems to benefit from being in a large space. Even the much smaller species of sengi can be kept in fairly large open-topped indoor enclosures within a larger building. The sengi is a pretty docile animal towards other species, and can be mixed with birds, reptiles such as tortoises and small primates. Unlike the tenrec, the sengi is not as social towards its own kind, and tends to live in pairs with maybe one or two offspring hanging around. While the black-and-rufous sengi has not – to my knowledge – been kept in a walkthrough display, smaller species have been and I would be tempted to make them walkthrough compatible.

Variations (if any): I would not include any coat variations for this species – all the images I have seen of them seems to suggest a rather uniform appearance.

References:
A large indoor tropical enclosure

A large open-topped enclosure for black-and-rufous sengi within a tropical house (a free-flying grey hornbill is visible on the vine above)

A large open-topped display for the smaller round-eared sengi

A mixed indoor enclosure for black-and-rufous sengi and Bolivian grey titi monkey
 
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