Animal types in Planet Zoo - a European perspective

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Last night, the latest version of EAZA's Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) report was released. It looks at what each TAG has done over the years 2022-23, and often includes some very interesting news and information (perhaps topping the news for me, personally speaking, was finding out that there are plans to completely phase out the giant panda from European zoos). The full report can be seen here:

I then decided, after looking at the contents page, I would divide up every animal currently into Planet Zoo into whichever TAG it would fit into.

Terrestrial Invertebrates
  • 18 species in Planet Zoo (Amazonian giant centipede, Brazilian salmon pink tarantula, Brazilian wandering spider, cloudless sulphur, European peacock, giant burrowing cockroach, giant desert hairy scorpion, giant forest scorpion, giant Malaysian leaf insect, giant tiger land snail, goliath beetle, goliath birdeater, Menelaus blue morpho, Mexican redknee tarantula, monarch, Old World swallowtail, sacred scarab beetle, titan beetle)
Freshwater Teleost (freshwater bony fishes)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Marine Teleost (marine bony fishes)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Elasmobranch (cartilaginous fishes)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Coral
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Jellyfish
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Amphibian
  • 8 species in Planet Zoo (American bullfrog, axolotl, Danube crested newt, fire salamander, golden poison frog, goliath frog, Lehmann’s poison frog, red-eyed tree frog)
Reptile
  • 22 species in Planet Zoo (Aldabra giant tortoise, American alligator, Asian water monitor, boa constrictor, common death adder, Cuvier’s dwarf caiman, desert horned viper, diamondback terrapin, Eastern blue tongued lizard, Eastern brown snake, Galapagos giant tortoise, gharial, gila monster, green iguana, Komodo dragon, lesser Antillean iguana, Nile monitor, puff adder, saltwater crocodile, spectacled caiman, Western diamondback rattlesnake, yellow anaconda)
Ratite
  • 3 species in Planet Zoo (Common ostrich, emu, Southern cassowary)
Penguin
  • 2 species in Planet Zoo (African penguin, king penguin)
Ciconiiformes and Phoenicopteriformes (herons, ibises, spoonbills, storks and flamingos)
  • 1 species in Planet Zoo (Greater flamingo)
Waterfowl and Pelecaniformes
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Raptor
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Galliformes (gamebirds)
  • 1 species in Planet Zoo (Indian peafowl)
Gruiformes (cranes and their relatives)
  • 1 species in Planet Zoo (Red-crowned crane)
Charadriiformes (gulls, terns, auks and waders)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Pigeon and Dove
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Parrot
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Toucan and Turaco (also including)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Hornbill
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Songbird
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Monotreme and Marsupial
  • 5 species in Planet Zoo (Common wombat, koala, platypus, red kangaroo, red-necked wallaby)
Prosimian
  • 3 species in Planet Zoo (Black-and-white ruffed lemur, red ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur)
Callitrichid (marmosets and tamarins)
  • 0 species in Planet Zoo
Larger New World Monkey
  • 1 species in Planet Zoo (Colombian white-faced capuchin)
Afro-Eurasian Monkey
  • 3 species in Planet Zoo (Japanese macaque, mandrill, proboscis monkey)
Gibbon
  • 2 species in Planet Zoo (Lar gibbon, siamang)
Great Ape
  • 4 species in Planet Zoo (Bonobo, Bornean orangutan, Western chimpanzee, Western lowland gorilla)
Small Mammal
  • 10 species in Planet Zoo (Aardvark, African crested porcupine, black-tailed prairie dog, capybara, brown-throated sloth, Chinese pangolin, Egyptian fruit bat, giant anteater, nine-banded armadillo, North American beaver)
Canid and Hyaenid
  • 11 species/subspecies in Planet Zoo (African wild dog, arctic fox, arctic wolf, dhole, dingo, fennec fox, maned wolf, red fox, spotted hyena, striped hyena, timber wolf)
Bear
  • 6 species/subspecies in Planet Zoo (Formosan black bear, giant panda, grizzly bear, Himalayan brown bear, polar bear, sun bear)
Small Carnivore
  • 9 species in Planet Zoo (Asian small-clawed otter, binturong, common raccoon, European badger, fossa, giant otter, meerkat, red panda, striped skunk)
Felid
  • 12 species/subspecies in Planet Zoo (Amur leopard, Bengal tiger, caracal, cheetah, clouded leopard, cougar, Eurasian lynx, jaguar, sand cat, Siberian tiger, snow leopard, West African lion)
Marine Mammal
  • 2 species in Planet Zoo (California sea lion, grey seal)
Elephant
  • 2 species in Planet Zoo (African savannah elephant, Indian elephant)
Equid
  • 3 species in Planet Zoo (Plains zebra, Przewalski’s horse, Somali wild ass)
Rhinoceros
  • 3 species in Planet Zoo (Black rhinoceros, Indian rhinoceros, Southern white rhinoceros)
Tapir and Suiform (tapirs, pigs, peccaries and hippos)
  • 7 species in Planet Zoo (Baird’s tapir, common warthog, hippopotamus, Malayan tapir, pygmy hippopotamus, red river hog, Sulawesi babirusa)
Cattle and Camelid
  • 6 species in Planet Zoo (African buffalo, American bison, Bactrian camel, dromedary camel, llama, wild water buffalo)
Deer
  • 4 species in Planet Zoo (European fallow deer, moose, red deer, reindeer)
Antelope and Giraffid
  • 15 species in Planet Zoo (Addax, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, bongo, dama gazelle, gemsbok, Nile lechwe, nyala, okapi, pronghorn antelope, reticulated giraffe, sable antelope, scimitar-horned oryx, springbok, Thomson’s gazelle)
Caprinae
  • 2 species in Planet Zoo (Alpine ibex, Dall sheep)
Of the 42 TAGs, 14 have no representative species at all in the game. Only one mammal TAG lacks any species (the callitrichids), along with 3 fish, 2 invertebrate and 8 bird TAGs. Of all the missing groups, I would say perhaps the most important to bring to the game in some fashion is the parrots - the report mentions a survey done of parrots in EAZA zoos. Over 300 species or subspecies of parrot are currently kept, with more than 18,000 individual birds. On average, an EAZA zoo keeps 10.9 species or subspecies of parrot. Even if we do not get that number, I still think it would be important to get at least 7 or 8 species. Fortunately, I think a lot of parrots can be fairly simply divided up into a few similar size or shape classes, from which more detailed models could be made from:
  1. Long-tailed, thick-billed parrots - Larger models could make macaws, smaller ones for parakeets and conures
  2. Short-tailed, thick-billed parrots - Could be used to make amazon parrots, African greys and their cousins and eclectus parrots, with smaller models for birds like caiques
  3. Cockatoos - crested birds with intermediate length tails
That being said, what groups do you think are most important to bring in or build up further? Would be excellent to read what others think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom