Does anyone know if there are any animals that don't say they are enriched by living together, but can still share the same habitat anyway?
Animals Sharing Habitats
- Thread starter Pyrosandstorm
- Start date
Great, thanks. I'm just starting my zoo with an antelope section and don't want the gazelle, springbok and sable antelope being the only ones sharing. I was hoping to also at least put Bongo and Nyala together if possible, especially with how closely related the two species are.
Bongo and nyala live in two extremely different biomes. Bongo are from the central African rainforests, nyala live on the savannah. The combo isn't ideal (though in zoos it often isn't - I still wish the gemsbok was happy in the grassland biome so I could mix them with other African animals.
In the game there is an area where the terrain and coverage needs overlap, and Nyala actually live in savanna woodlands. So, yes, in the wild they wouldn't be found together. But then again the game has the Springbok, Sable Antelope and Thomson's Gazelle enriched by living together when in reality they all live in different parts of Africa. And Gemsbok are desert animals. In the wild they are found in places like the Kalahari and Namib deserts.
If you have animals that come from the same biome/continent and they're herbivores odds are they can share a habitat. I've put pygmy hippos with African Elephants (I don't even know why I chose that combo in the first place, LOL) and they're getting along swell. I haven't tried this with other animals yet, but you've given me ideas now... Muahahahahaha!
Thanks everyone. I'm planning on organizing my franchise zoo by animal type (antelope, canines, felines, etc.), and want as many multi-animal habitats as I can get. I'm just also making sure I leave space between areas and make the habitats larger than needed so if animals are added in the future I can hopefully fit them into the right area. Some areas will just have one thing for now, but hey, lol.
In the wild African elephants, lions, giraffes, and springbok all also venture into the Kalahari and Namib deserts. Many zoos display gemsbok in mixed species habitats with other African herbivores (it's also next to impossible to replicate a desert biome in real-world zoos to the extent that you can in the game). I'm obviously aware that the gemsbok is primarily a desert-dweller, my point was that mixing bongo and nyala is unrealistic but not impossible or outside the realm of what a real zoo would do (in fact, I even think Wellington Zoo here in New Zealand had a single female bongo living with their nyala herd for a short while - the animal was here on its way to Singapore, IIRC).
I've also seen zoos that mix addax and scimitar-horned oryx, which are both far more exclusively desert-based than gemsbok, with gazelles, ostriches, and other grassland species. The dama gazelle is another desert animal often mixed with grassland habitats.
I hope the game adds Addax or Oryx at some point. In Zoo Tycoon 2 I always had the Addax and Oryx together, and I'd love companions for the Gemsbok.
Thanks. I'm still not very good at the aesthetics part though, lol. I'm still working on that.
Sharing my animal compatabilty matrix (who can live with who!)
So this is a little premature because I'm not even a third of the way through yet (turns out there are loads of combinations!) but I wanted to get feedback in case you think I need to change something (easier to do near the start!). I've seen some people surprised by the small number of animals...