Would anyone accept a general leopard?

[NZFanatic]

So, the Amur leopard has a clear lead on the meta-wishlist, even moreso if you count the 'indifferent' votes towards it. There's good reason for this - it's the most endangered subspecies, and it's also the most common in AZA and EAZA accredited zoos. Odds are, if we get a leopard it will be the Amur leopard.

A lot of people also want the African leopard, which is extremely rare in captivity, but is more widely known about because of the countless nature documentaries about Africa.

What I'm wondering is, if they just gave us a 'Leopard' in the same way they gave us the 'Cougar', with all the associated biomes linked to it and the total range included, would people be okay with that? There are defined morphological differences between the various subspecies, yes, much moreso than the cougar, but in the interest of balance, would it be the worst idea? I mean, they gave us a generic wolf despite the morphological differences between subspecies there (granted we also got the Arctic wolf later, but still).

 

[peafowl]

I would personally prefer if they gave us one correct species instead of a generic overall one but I wouldn’t mind an overall leopard too much

 

[NZFanatic]

I would personally prefer if they gave us one correct species instead of a generic overall one but I wouldn’t mind an overall leopard too much

Technically a generic leopard would be the correct species (Panthera pardus). The others are subspecies, like how the in-game timber wolf is Canis lupus, the generic species, but the Arctic wolf is Canis lupus arctos.

 

[nutrit]

I would prefer two subspecies as it was done with the tigers. One from the North and one from the South.
Personally I would prefer North Chinese subspecies and Javan Subspecies that would be really cool because they are so different from each other.

North Chinese

Javan

 

[NZFanatic]

Well, it's almost certainly going to be the Amur, and I doubt we'll get a second one. I know the preference is for subspecific representation, but what I'm wondering is if they gave us the generic Panther pardus instead, would the community be okay with that?

 

[nutrit]

I would not be ok with that. I hope they would give us Amur or Chinese subspecies and squeeze the southern subspecies in as a part of animal pack or as a anniversary animal.

Amur subspecies is not so popular in Europe as it is in America. Chinese subspecies is as popular as Amur in here.

 

[Karen F]

I wouldn't mind. I also don't mind about the wolf we have in game.

 

[Aramar]

I would prefer two subspecies as it was done with the tigers. One from the North and one from the South

Although I wouldn't mind getting a general leopard, I agree with @nutrit that getting two would be the best thing. I would go for the Amur leopard as the 1st option and then an Indian or Sri Lankan leopard for 2nd option. As far as I know, there are no black Amur leopards, so getting an additional tropical leopard with that variant would be a plus.

 

[nutrit]

Thank you @Aramar.

Leopard it’s one of the most important species for me and I just can’t imagine not being able to have one in my tropical zoos as we would end up only with the Amur subspecies from Taiga.

We just simply need two. And generic leopard is just not fair taking to consideration how different subspecies are from each other. Melanistic option of the Indian subspecies is also crucial.

There is actually one black Amur leopard that lives in San Diego and her name is Mystique. They are extremely rare.

 

[Alexjh]

I mean, tbh while I'll be happy with any leopard, I'd prefer African or Indian - they are more iconically "leopard" to me than Amur, which while really cool, kinda feel like an outlier to me because most leopards are not taiga animals? Like, the Amur population is a tiny % of their global range.

 

[Doran]

Amur leopard all the way.

 

[SalamAnders]

Amur subspecies is not so popular in Europe as it is in America. Chinese subspecies is as popular as Amur in here.

Around 90 (Edit: 60) zoos in Europe got Amur (15 of these zoos are in Russia though). Only around 30 got Chinese.

---

I see mainly two reasons to let animals be subspecies rather than just species in Planet Zoo.
1. If real zoos mainly showcase/breed this animal as a specific subspecies.
2. If the subspecies within this species look visibly different.

The leopard fits both of these reasons, in my opinion. For the same reasons I don't like the generic wolf, but I'm happy that they went with a non-subspecies aardvark.

Also, I think it takes away the focus on conservation there is on some leopard subspecies if we make it generic. The leopard as a species is considered Vulnerable, while the Amur Leopard on its own is critically endangered, and seen as the most endangered big cat.

 

[nutrit]

Around 90 zoos in Europe got Amur (15 of these zoos are in Russia though). Only around 30 got Chinese.

---

I see mainly two reasons to let animals be subspecies rather than just species in Planet Zoo.
1. If real zoos mainly showcase/breed this animal as a specific subspecies.
2. If the subspecies within this species look visibly different.

The leopard fits both of these reasons, in my opinion. For the same reasons I don't like the generic wolf, but I'm happy that they went with a non-subspecies aardvark.

Also, I think it takes away the focus on conservation there is on some leopard subspecies if we make it generic. The leopard as a species is considered Vulnerable, while the Amur Leopard on its own is critically endangered, and seen as the most endangered big cat.

Not 90 but 62 for Amur leopard, and 28 for North Chinese leopard

 

[SalamAnders]

Not 90 but 62 for Amur leopard, and 28 for North Chinese leopard

Oh sorry, I must have counted one part twice for some reason

 

[AlexSea]

Absolutely not. There's a much clearer difference between different subspecies of leopard than the different subspecies of cougar.

This is an Amur Leopard.

And this is an African Leopard. Wouldn't you agree they look noticeably different?

 

[DarthQuell]

Personally, even though I'd accept a generic leopard, the community would not, which in turn could harm sales. I'm sure Frontier has thought of that.

So, I think 2 leopards are best: Indian leopard and Amur leopard

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

I think splitting into amur and african would be a good idear, as these are two most distinct, popular and also on two different continents. I think that combo should satisfy most people

 

[FoxyDee]

I am not really a leopard fan, so if its added, I am fine with one way or another. But I hope there wont be more than one, since the slots in DLC are probably becoming limited.

 

[coatifan]

It’s hard to say, but I guess if we got an Amur leopard I could just use it as a stand-in for other subspecies… after all, that’s what almost every AZA zoo does.

 

[Antimony96]

With a finite amount of DLC left I think one leopard is fine, and it should be the Amur leopard, which is both the most-requested and by far the most common in zoos.