Animals you would adore for your current zoo

Idears simple.
What animal that you might even not be that fond of in general is something you would love for your curreng zoo?
Its a need little thought experiment, because sometimes you only know you want something because you build something and feel like "dang, animal x would have been perfect here!"
In my case its the chinese muntjak.
Overall i like these cute small deer good enough, but today i started work on a small chinese/japanese garden inspired part of my zoo to prep for the new crane and i just noticed how amazing they would be to have for this kind of build. Their small size makes them fit in easily and they are also quite the common zoo animal.
They would fit perfectly next to the crane and red pandas, or instead of the later cause u know climbing animals + building with the east asian set is fun
 
Well...

- Aviary birds that have the ability to freely fly around in aviaries or glass-domed buildings

- More exhibit animals like small little insects, lizards, chameleons, snakes, etc.

- More small mammals like Pudu, Honey Badger, Porcupine, etc. Just to name a few

- Farm animals like cows, sheep, goats, pigs, etc. And horses would be really cool too.

Yeah, that's really all I got. I would have a lot more to say before I just got into modding recently.
 
Not sure how realistic this is, but for East Asia, the musk deer. Imagine you're used to seeing red pandas, giant pandas, cranes, Japanese macaques, then you come face to face with a fanged deer? The shock and awe (and smell). That's like, one of 2 East Asian animals I want.
The other is the raccoon dog.


Oh, the raccoon itself. Apparently popular in Europe, and in zoos here. Perfect for a low upkeep prankster with a cool costume
 
Idears simple.
What animal that you might even not be that fond of in general is something you would love for your curreng zoo?
Its a need little thought experiment, because sometimes you only know you want something because you build something and feel like "dang, animal x would have been perfect here!"
In my case its the chinese muntjak.
Overall i like these cute small deer good enough, but today i started work on a small chinese/japanese garden inspired part of my zoo to prep for the new crane and i just noticed how amazing they would be to have for this kind of build. Their small size makes them fit in easily and they are also quite the common zoo animal.
They would fit perfectly next to the crane and red pandas, or instead of the later cause u know climbing animals + building with the east asian set is fun
My zoo (Nola Zoo) is inspired by two zoos I visit frequently (Smithsonian Zoo and Audubon Zoo) so all animals will be found at one or both:
  • Red River Hog (common, found at both zoos, low-budget, rounds out Africa and Tropical biome)
  • Golden Lion Tamarin (adorable, found at both zoos, active, bright, unique)
  • American Flamingo (nicer colors, found at both zoos)
  • Maned Wolf (found at both zoos, very unique, adds to South America)
  • Andean, Sloth, American Black Bears (two at Smithsonian, one at Audubon, very cool and pretty different biome and region-wise from existing bears)
  • Bennet's Wallaby (common, cute, low-budget)
  • White-Nosed Coati (same as above plus one of my favorite animals)
  • Speed Round: The Nola Zoo is located in the south and as such would (in an ideal world) have some sort of Southern Swamps exhibit. Needs for this are (IMO):
    • Cougar, Alligator (Already Have)
    • American Black Bear
    • Bobcat
    • Nutria Rat and/or North American River Otter
    • Common Raccoon
    • Red/Gray Fox
 
Recreating Italian zoo Parco Natura Viva from Verona is a long passion project of mine. So a lot of needed animals would come from there, or be similar to what they have.

From Africa:
-Scimitar Horned Oryx
-Fossa
-Gelada
-Red River Hog
-Somalian Wild Behind
-L'Hoest Monkey
(Their antelope selection is actually earily similar to what we have in game, with Lechwe on top)

From Asia:
-Przewalski Horse
-Chinese Muntjac
-Blackbuck
-Peere David's Deer
(+ A lot of vultures)

From Europe:
-Wisent
-Dalmatian Pelican
-European Wild Cat
-Barbary Ape
(Owls ☹️)

From North America:
-Actually nothing, damn, good work

From South America:
-Maned Wolf
-Andean Bear
-Rhea
-Two Toed Sloth
-Big Hairy Armadillo
-Ocelot
-Squirell Monkey
-White Faced Saki
-All the Tamarins
(Lika a LOT of birds)

And From Australia:
-Emu
-Bennets Wallaby
-Black Swan
-Sarus Crane
 
It feels so impossible to create a proper small mammal house, which tend to be among my favorite areas in real zoos. I appreciate all the ones we do have, but this selection just never feels truly cohesive to me and there's so few that you cycle through them all very quickly. Meerkat, fennec, binturong, lemurs, capuchin, (Asian small clawed otters), maybe the clouded leopard or aardvark if you wanna push it, and then pangolin or koala (or platypus) if you want to be spicy. I think any of the following would do wonders to help:
  • Fishing cat
  • Sand cat
  • Common genet
  • Brazilian porcupine
  • Matschie's tree kangaroo
  • Rock hyrax
  • Two-toed sloth
  • Three banded armadillo
  • Fossa
  • various monkeys - squirrel monkey, white-faced saki, one or more tamarins (golden lion and then emperor being the priority)
Small, mostly not flashy, perfect small mammal house candidates.
 
My current project is meant to be a mid-sized Northeastern US zoo taking inspirations from institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and to some extent New York/New England, as well as Leaf Productions' fantastic Foxborough Zoo project. The holes in my zoo ideas (both the present one and my brewing ideas for a bigger zoo) are mostly in the sort of small and mid-sized habitat species that are common in zoos but not in PZ (or just starting to get added--examples include the meerkat and prairie dog). Setting aside aviary birds, aquarium fish and other fully-aquatic animals, and domestics, the ones that would appeal to me the most:

South American animals--still a very diverse and heavily underrepresented continent whose exotic species are very common in US zoos.
  • Spectacled bear
  • White-nosed or South American coati
  • Ocelot
  • Patagonian mara
  • Chacoan peccary
  • At least two New World monkeys, with one mandatory being the golden lion tamarin
  • Two-toed sloth if Frontier can pull it off
Various kinds of ground-dwelling birds that don't require aviary mechanics:
  • Emu
  • Greater rhea
  • Grey crowned crane
  • White stork
  • Golden or Lady Amherst pheasant
  • Mandarin duck
  • A couple geese and swans--possibilities include red-breasted, Hawaiian, or Egyptian goose, trumpeter or black swan
  • Helmeted guineafowl
  • American or Chilean flamingo
A few more North American animals, especially covering the eastern part of the continent:
  • American black bear
  • Elk/wapiti
  • White-tailed deer
  • Raccoon
  • North American river otter
 
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