Animals that should be walkthrough but aren't?

[Villa11]

African penguins and maybe the grey seals could be walkthrough, Pairi Daiza keeps their harbor seals in a walkthrough, the seals tend to stay in the water, they have some room if they want to come on land that is roped off for guests. The African penguins can technically wander over the guest path, but I haven't seen them do it for myself. Planckendeal keeps Humboldt penguins in a walkthrough aviary. A walkthrough with small penguins is definitely feasible. Fallow deer should 100% be walkthrough.
I think somebody posted in the announcement of the Europe Pack about a zoo that keeps Ibex in a walkthrough habitat.
Red panda is not a good idea, they are shy and sleep during the day, the same is true for koalas. Allowing a lot of people to come through their habitat on a daily basis just sounds super stressful. Not sure about reindeer either, several years ago there was an incident in Antwerp Zoo where a keeper got pinned to the ground by the male reindeer. After that they changed their safety policy and no longer allowed keepers in the habitat together with the reindeer.

I wish green iguanas where habitat animals, they would qualify to be walkthrough.

 

[Kolikokoli]

If you don't know yet, then all animals are walkthrough. You just have to use railings on the path (and then make overpass over the path for animals). Animals won't get stressed and guests won't run away.

 

[DarthQuell]

If you don't know yet, then all animals are walkthrough. You just have to use railings on the path (and then make overpass over the path for animals). Animals won't get stressed and guests won't run away.

That's exactly what I do when I want a super safe walk-in tiger enclosure. It's a neat "hack" to get some cool designs that way

 

[Cornicula]

I'm pretty sure unless the Camels are such Dwarves (maybe even not in this Case) as the ones in the Game, they are too dangerous. There are known Cases of them killing People. Is there even a Zoo where Guests are allowed to enter their Enclosure?

At least, I've been to a zoo where you could feed them pellets. It feels like feeding a friendly door mat
In Planet Zoo, it's usually a path way crossing the enclosure, the guests are not allowed to approach the animals on their own. I think this would be realistic, also for the reindeer.

I totally agree on the fallow deer. In Germany, it's very common in wildlife parks, and in many cases, you are allowed to enter their enclosure or even feed them. Of course, they might harm you, like any animal, but if there is a visitor's path and you are not allowed to leave it, it's probably quite safe. I guess those deer tend to just go away if you're annoying them ...

 

[Firestar97]

At least, I've been to a zoo where you could feed them pellets. It feels like feeding a friendly door mat
In Planet Zoo, it's usually a path way crossing the enclosure, the guests are not allowed to approach the animals on their own. I think this would be realistic, also for the reindeer.

I totally agree on the fallow deer. In Germany, it's very common in wildlife parks, and in many cases, you are allowed to enter their enclosure or even feed them. Of course, they might harm you, like any animal, but if there is a visitor's path and you are not allowed to leave it, it's probably quite safe. I guess those deer tend to just go away if you're annoying them ...

Feeding them from outside of the Enclosure sounds nice and relatively safe. I wish we would get this in a Update (cough cough Frontier cough Petting Zoo DLC )

 

[coatifan]

African penguins and maybe the grey seals could be walkthrough, Pairi Daiza keeps their harbor seals in a walkthrough, the seals tend to stay in the water, they have some room if they want to come on land that is roped off for guests. The African penguins can technically wander over the guest path, but I haven't seen them do it for myself. Planckendeal keeps Humboldt penguins in a walkthrough aviary. A walkthrough with small penguins is definitely feasible. Fallow deer should 100% be walkthrough.
I think somebody posted in the announcement of the Europe Pack about a zoo that keeps Ibex in a walkthrough habitat.
Red panda is not a good idea, they are shy and sleep during the day, the same is true for koalas. Allowing a lot of people to come through their habitat on a daily basis just sounds super stressful. Not sure about reindeer either, several years ago there was an incident in Antwerp Zoo where a keeper got pinned to the ground by the male reindeer. After that they changed their safety policy and no longer allowed keepers in the habitat together with the reindeer.

I wish green iguanas where habitat animals, they would qualify to be walkthrough.

African Penguins are walkthrough, actually! I don't think grey seal walkthroughs would make sense; they're large predatory animals with significant claws, even if they're very cute and not so agressive. This article even asserts that a grey seal attacked a hunter at one point and can outrun humans on land.

 

[SallinDaemon]

I don't know if anywhere else in the world has the same standards, but here in the UK we actually have a 'Category' system for deciding whether an animal is 'dangerous' and the given Category of an animal determines the kind of barriers that are appropriate. This are detailed in the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice (SSSMZP) document, which should be available online as a pdf for anyone interested in looking through it to see which species are sorted where (the list of animals and their Categories is at the bottom of the document, though the rest of the thing might be worth a read if you're interested in zoo practice and don't mind a little legalese). I'll give a super quick rundown here:

Category 1 are the 'greater risk' animals, in that by dint of size, temperament, venom or other characteristics they are easily able to cause serious and even potentially life-threatening harm/injuries. Generally barriers for Cat. 1 animals need to prevent the public from being able to touch them. (And in a lot of cases, no free-contact with keepers, either! Zookeepers just wandering around in the big cat/ape/etc habitats in this game stresses me out a little I'll be honest, but I think making a fully-functional 'lock the animals in/out while the keeper Does Stuff' system might be a bit tedious for the game, ha!)

Category 2 are the 'less risk' animals, in that by dint of size, temperament, venom or other characteristics they may cause harm/injury that is unlikely to be immediately life-threatening. Barriers for Cat. 2 animals need not necessarily limit all contact with the public, but thought should be put into minimising species-specific risks if at all possible.

Category 3 are the 'least risk' animals, in that by dint of size, temperament, venom, other characteristics or lack of knowledge, they aren't deemed as likely as Cat. 1 or Cat. 2 animals to cause significant harm/injury to the public. (Though the risk with animals is never 0!) Appropriate barriers for Cat. 3 animals are usually determined by individual zoo risk assessments and such.

If nothing else I figure this might make for an interesting discussion point for anyone unfamiliar with the system we have here!

 

[Roxxsmom]

I'm pretty sure unless the Camels are such Dwarves (maybe even not in this Case) as the ones in the Game, they are too dangerous. There are known Cases of them killing People. Is there even a Zoo where Guests are allowed to enter their Enclosure?

Even domesticated camels can be surly and aggressive with people who aren't their usual handlers, or if they aren't well socialized. Of course any animal can be dangerous if mishandled or frightened. One thing about the way the game does walk throughs that feels unrealistic is that in real zoos I've been to with walk through habitats, there are generally docents/security guards/keepers or whatever present at all times to make sure no one does anything foolish.

Also, IRL people couldn't bring guest food into a walk through exhibit. At least not to the zoos I've been to.

A suggestion, actually, would be no food or drink signs as an addition to the security signs we already have to be more realistic with walk throughs. You just know the monkeys would get into the trash in a real rainforest exhibit if they had trash cans. This could help with the problem with litter in certain areas where you don't want to stick trash cans every sixteen meters or so as well.

African penguins can indeed have walkthroughs, though. At least I have one such habitat in a zoo in the game.

I agree about the gray seals. They are large, potentially dangerous carnivores. Plus they are extremely shy. I find they get stressed, even with normal exhibits where guests can watch them from outside. I always need to use one-way glass and do not disturb signs.

Some zoos do have "back stage tours" for some large habitats, but they are carefully guided. Might be a fun addition to the game if it could be done easily, and it might be another use for those educators.

I think we could have reindeer be walk through, though, if llamas are.

 

[Firestar97]

Also, IRL people couldn't bring guest food into a walk through exhibit. At least not to the zoos I've been to.

A suggestion, actually, would be no food or drink signs as an addition to the security signs we already have to be more realistic with walk throughs. You just know the monkeys would get into the trash in a real rainforest exhibit if they had trash cans. This could help with the problem with litter in certain areas where you don't want to stick trash cans every sixteen meters or so as well.

It would also be nice if we could put something next to it that we can make the Workplace for a Security Guard, so they could make sure that no one is bringing Food in there

I agree about the gray seals. They are large, potentially dangerous carnivores. Plus they are extremely shy. I find they get stressed, even with normal exhibits where guests can watch them from outside. I always need to use one-way glass and do not disturb signs.

Interesting. I think I've never had them get stressed

Some zoos do have "back stage tours" for some large habitats, but they are carefully guided. Might be a fun addition to the game if it could be done easily, and it might be another use for those educators.

Would be nice if we could do different Tours. For Example also a general Zoo Tour and a Tour through a Plant House or Garden

I think we could have reindeer be walk through, though, if llamas are.

If that's realistic, I might build a walk through Enclosure with white Reindeer next to the Llamas and Peafowl when I continue my Wildpark

 

[Jiminy]

It would be nice to see more animals in walk through exhibits. Here in the UK I've been through a number of walk through exhibits, and some stranger than others. This is covering the last 20 odd years so some may no longer be walk through, but we're within that short period. These are all I have actually been through that I can currently remember, not including ones I've seen and not been in.

Just in the UK I've been through:

In Game Animals:
Tortoise (can't remember exact species)
Iguanas (tropical houses etc)
Lizards (tropical houses etc)
Lemur (many species)
Many insects (tropical houses etc)
Flamingoes
Peafowl
Llama
Meerkat (guided encounter though 1 full walkthrough exists)
Red Kangaroo
Reigndeer


Not Currently Offically In Game:
Alpaca
Sloth (tropical house)
Rabbits
Guineapigs
Bats
Emus
Horses, Sheep, Pigs, Donkey other farm animals. (Public Footpaths run through areas where cows and sheep are grazed outside of zoos in uk too with out anyone being present)
Goats and other sheep like species
Marmosets, tamarins and other small monkeys
Deer (Many Species)
Snakes (tropical house)
Wallabies
Mara
Ducks and Birds (Countless Species)

Of course this doesn't include any exhibits where you could still touch animals but where you were seperated by a fence or touch pools etc. And I know that one safari park used to let you roam with zebra, giraffe, and other savana animals, but that was a long time ago.

And as a side note, here in the UK the cassowarry is treated as a much more dangerous animal it seems with duel fences or electric fences stopping you getting anywhere near them.

 

[XT]

UK the cassowarry is treated as a much more dangerous animal

The cassowarry is a dangerous animal. Frontier's choices on what is a dangerous animal and what isn't can be ... odd.

 

[Mjmannella]

The Southern cassowary isn't actually a walkthrough animal. Though the giant anteater is, which I assume was a carryover from using the aardvark or pangolin as a base.

 

[Roxxsmom]

Interesting. I think I've never had them get stressed

I think my zoos attract the noisiest, messiest, rudest guests imaginable.

It helps with the seals, though, if I use one-way glass for underwater viewing areas instead of that stronger glass that was introduced for the aquatic pack. They don't seem to like being able to see the guests when they are swimming. Sea lions, on the other hand, seem to enjoy it. At least at the zoos I've been to. They swim right up to the glass and look at the guests.

That's another dynamic I wish they'd add. Some (such as chimps) animals actually do enjoy watching and interacting with the guests in real zoos. I think I mentioned this already, but I read an article written when most zoos were shut down to guests (earlier covid times), and it mentioned some animals were actually sad not to be able to ham it up for an audience.

They have some nice walk through aviaries at the San Diego zoo, and some of them have small primates in them. The South America one has golden lion tamarins, for instance.

Speaking of birds, some zoos also have peafowl, jungle fowl, and some ducks that roam around the premises uncaged. I am guessing they are wing clipped or are species that don't fly. That would be a fun dynamic, as would be duck ponds and some native animals like pigeons and butterflies for effect.

 

[Firestar97]

It helps with the seals, though, if I use one-way glass for underwater viewing areas instead of that stronger glass that was introduced for the aquatic pack

If you want those Rock Pillars though, you can make the complete Barrier One Way Glass but replace the Pillars between the Segments

That's another dynamic I wish they'd add. Some (such as chimps) animals actually do enjoy watching and interacting with the guests in real zoos. I think I mentioned this already, but I read an article written when most zoos were shut down to guests (earlier covid times), and it mentioned some animals were actually sad not to be able to ham it up for an audience.

Would be really nice. Especially juvenile Apes seem to love to interact with human Children through the Barrier.
Also hope this will soon finally be over. Not only because it fills my whole Life with Stress and Hatred but also because way too many Zoos already needed to close their Gates forever

Speaking of birds, some zoos also have peafowl, jungle fowl, and some ducks that roam around the premises uncaged. I am guessing they are wing clipped or are species that don't fly. That would be a fun dynamic, as would be duck ponds and some native animals like pigeons and butterflies for effect.

If they are Indian Peafowl, they won't just fly away (they do sometimes though if their Partner dies). Green Peafowl however need to either get their Wings clipped or need to be kept indoors.
Due to domesticated Chickens also normally almost only flying to sleep in Trees, I assume it's the same for Jungle Fowl. Not sure about Ducks but I assume it might be similar for them.
Also absolutely agree that we need Pigeons and Butterflys. Also Bees, Crows, Squirrels and maybe Hedgehogs. I wonder if something like the Ambient Animals from Zoo Tycoon 2 would work (not being Part of the Zoo but still acting like normal Animals). What would be really nice, would be if we could also keep those as Zoo Animals and maybe sometimes a juvenile that needs to be cared for, gets brought in by someone. Reminds me of those Squirrel Parks in Japan again, where People can visit the Squirrels and can even feed them (don't remember which Species though). There's also a domesticated Variation of the Red Squirrel which might be nice due to all the Color Variations but the normal Red Squirrel could also have some nice Variations already, including black and partially black. I think leucistic ones do also exist

 

[horse14t]

Speaking of birds, some zoos also have peafowl, jungle fowl, and some ducks that roam around the premises uncaged. I am guessing they are wing clipped or are species that don't fly. That would be a fun dynamic, as would be duck ponds and some native animals like pigeons and butterflies for effect.

No, Peafowl at least don't have their wings clipped and can fly if they want just fine.
Peafowl just tend to stay in their territory so there's no fear of them wandering off too far. There's a local park in my area with a petting zoo that's famous for their peacocks that are free roam. People even feed them. Never once had a single one leave the park entirely. They are more than capable of flying over fences too if they want to. They even sleep in the trees in the park too.

 

[ElectricMonk]

No, Peafowl at least don't have their wings clipped and can fly if they want just fine.
Peafowl just tend to stay in their territory so there's no fear of them wandering off too far. There's a local park in my area with a petting zoo that's famous for their peacocks that are free roam. People even feed them. Never once had a single one leave the park entirely. They are more than capable of flying over fences too if they want to. They even sleep in the trees in the park too.

In zoos they are often clipped. Whilst they are unlikely to leave their territory, you don’t want them flying into a tiger enclosure…. Not something you have to worry about in a petting zoo.

 

[horse14t]

In zoos they are often clipped. Whilst they are unlikely to leave their territory, you don’t want them flying into a tiger enclosure…. Not something you have to worry about in a petting zoo.

That is fair XD

 

[Firestar97]

In zoos they are often clipped. Whilst they are unlikely to leave their territory, you don’t want them flying into a tiger enclosure…. Not something you have to worry about in a petting zoo.

Now I realize how bad the Enclosure Design in one of my Zoos is. Free roaming Peafowl directly next to a Tiger Enclosure and the Birds are even running on the Barrier of the Enclosure sometimes

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

I saw this news and figured I would update this thread. There was an unfortunate incident yesterday at a petting zoo in northwest Tennessee that I think demonstrates very well why camels (of any sort) should definitely not be included as a walkthrough animal.

Two men killed by camel at petting zoo in northwest Tennessee

The Tennessee River Valley News told NewsChannel 5 he confirmed a camel attack killed two men at petting zoo in northwest Tennessee.

www.newschannel5.com

 

[Mjmannella]

Any animal can be aggressive and violent if need-be. Red kangaroos are known to be very dangerous, but Frontier retroactively made them walkthrough animals because of demand. Looking at fatal attacks doesn't automatically mean an animal can't be a walkthrough animal.

That said, determining criteria for what should(n't) be a walkthrough animal will ultimately be up to personal opinion. Naturally, I'll be providing my opinion on what I'd like to see be permitted as a walkthrough species:

The green group are animals I'd advocate to be walkthrough animals, while the yellow group is animals one could make a reasonable argument for eligibility, but I'm not a strong advocate for such additions.