Antelope thread

becks474

B
I must say I became a big antelope fan within the last year. As a child this was surely not the case. As there were in other threads some comments about further antelopes are not necessary or boring or all looking the same I just want to open this thread to discuss a bit about further possible antelopes for the game. I have taken the top 10 rated antelopes out of the meta wishlist (hopefully I have not overread one).

1. Saiga (place 37, 75 votes until now)

I think this would be a really nice addition. They are somehow funny looking with its noses and would bring us a central asian antelope which are living in semi desert areas or steppes. --> I really would like to get a Saiga in the game

2. Addax (place 46, 55 votes until now)

This white coloured antelope has beautiful horns and lives within the Sahara desert. Its natural area decreased within the last years. There are not much free living individuals now. --> I would have preferred the Addax over the Scimitar horned Oryx within the last pack. For me not a must, but a nice to have antelope.

3. Blackbuck (place 48, 54 votes until now)

I have recently seen them IRL in a Zoo. They have a very beautiful coloration with its clear brown and white separation. Males are darker brownish and have impressive winding horns whereas females have a brigther brown color. They are living in India in open steppes and belong to the most common zoo animals --> I really qould like to have them in the game

4. Greater Kudu (place 51, 52 votes until now)

A greyish-brown antelope with white lines on the body which is one of the biggest antelopes around the world. There is a huge sexual dimorphism. They are living in Savannah regions or arid regions. The coloration remembers a bit the bongo or the nyala but ist not as reddish as the later two --> nice to habe, but not a must for me.

5. Kirks Dik Dik (place 70, 37 votes until now)

One of the smallest antelopes around the World which have some Kind of a funny nose. Their prefered area are steppes with bushes to hide but they are kind of flexible. They do not live in bigger herds but as monogame pairs and are a very shy species. I was lucky to see Them again some weeks ago in my local zoo. Often they stay in their private building. --> One of my most favourite species and for me personally a must-have in the game

6. Gerenuk (place 77, 32 votes until now)

These are also special loooking antelopes with its long necks and the small head compared to the body. Its Kind of funny to look at them while trying to get higher leafs. They are not living in bigger herds and prefer aride areas. --> I would really like to have the Gerenuk in the game.

7. Giant Eland (place 86, 26 votes until now)

This is the biggest antelope around the World and they are living in smaller or even bigger herds. Males have a big dewlap. The general body remembers to me a bit on a cow. The are not endangered --> Nice to have but not a must

8. Nilgai (place 98, 21 votes until now)

When I said the giant elands body somhow remembers to a cow the Nilgai, especially the Male, remembers even more. The body is long stretched with relative small horns. They live in India and prefer grassland areas with accesible water areas close. Males are living more or less alone whereas females are forming smaller herds. --> Nice to have, not a must

9. Arabian Oryx (Place 115, 17 votes until now)
Close relative to the scimitar horned Oryx we get with the next pack. They are also somehow close looking to them. They were already extinct in the wild but now there are again around 1000 individuals living in the middle east. They prefer deserts or semi-desert areas. --> I personally do not need a third Oryx antelope im the game even if the releasing program surely was a success story until now

10. Impala (Place 122, 16 votes until now)
For me somehow the standard gazelle species. They are brown colored andive in smaller or bigger herds together. They prefer savannah areas and are famous for their jumping while escaping from Predators. --> I do not need Impalas but it would be okay to get it.
 

Fabian

Fabian
I also belong to those who cannot get enough of antelopes. 😁 But I understand why others feel like they take up slots of more appealing animals.

Out of the top 10 from the meta-wishlist, the ones I really still want are the Saiga, the Blackbuck, the Nilgai, and either the Kudu or the Eland. Blackbuck and Nilgai feel essential for my hopes to create more interesting and bigger Asian mixed habitats; the Saiga is too unique-looking to pass up on, and I feel like the Kudu and Eland are so iconic to African savannahs that at least one of them is still needed.

The dik-dik is another great-looking species that I'd like to have in the game; I haven't seen them in real life yet as far as I know, so they don't matter much to me at the moment, but they would certainly be a unique addition. The Addax would be nice-to-have, but the need for its niche has been somewhat satisfied by the Scimitar-Horned Oryx.
 

TheYeti

TheYeti
I'm a supporter of some more antelopes, but the saiga is a no for me. Though I used to want it, it is apparently not found in any zoos, so it would be as unrealistic as, say, a Sumatran rhino. I think they would work if we get some kind of 'wildlife park' function, where animals are protected in the wild, but in the current system I don't think we should get these animals.

I would support a blackbuck, nilgai and some more distinct African antelopes such as the waterbuck, gerenuk, kudu/eland and dik-dik.
 

FoxyDee

FoxyDee
Not the biggest fan of antelopes, but I would still love to get some more unique ones such as Generuk, Addax and Giant Eland.
 

DarthQuell

DarthQuell
The only 2 antelopes I really would like are the addax, which could live alongside the oryx, and also something unique, like the bontebok.

Personally, instead of antelopes I'd rather other ungulates, notably deer, but a bushpig and wild boar are fun
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
TheYeti said:
so it would be as unrealistic as, say, a Sumatran rhino.
Click to expand...
Less realistic.

The Sumatran rhino was kept in Cincinnati Zoo (which is also AZA accredited) until very recently, and was successfully bred there. The only "captive" populations of saiga are in reserves in Russia and (IIRC) Kazakhstan, not really zoos. In other words there is precedent for the Sumatran rhino, but not really for the saiga.
 

TheHippoGirl

TheHippoGirl
I'm also a big antelope lover but unpopular opinion I would not like the saiga to be included in the game. As others have said, there are not kept in zoos. Other than that, I would never be unhappy about getting a new antelope. But there are only three I still really really really need: ADDAX, GIANT ELAND and NILGAI. And if we could only get one of those, then I would choose the nilgai I guess because antelopes from Asia are really missing. So my favorites are not really the ones with the more votes but one can hope... 🙏
 

Pentoleaf

Pentoleaf
NZFanatic said:
Less realistic.

The Sumatran rhino was kept in Cincinnati Zoo (which is also AZA accredited) until very recently, and was successfully bred there. The only "captive" populations of saiga are in reserves in Russia and (IIRC) Kazakhstan, not really zoos. In other words there is precedent for the Sumatran rhino, but not really for the saiga.
Click to expand...
www.zoochat.com

History of saiga in captivity

Is it true that Highland Wildlife Park once held saiga? Are there any collections other than Cologne which have had them in the past?
www.zoochat.com www.zoochat.com

Saiga antelopes (Saiga tatarica) at Cologne Zoo: husbandry experiences and observations | Saiga Conservation Alliance

saiga-conservation.org saiga-conservation.org

They seem to have been far more widely kept and bred in the past, even into the early 2000s, but they have difficult housing requirements and aren't a huge draw compared to, say, a rhino.
 
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KönigDerKaffeebohnen

K
But regarding antelopes, i actually made a thread once why i am dissatisfied with the base game antelope roster, because while beeing all decent choices at least when looking at them one at a time, it quickly falls apart as all of them are primarly south african species, with only the thompson gazelle and the sable antelope living in east africa and the bongo in the tropics.
The basegame felt bloated but unsatisfying, because the mix was bad, with us not having a single asian, arabian, north african or even north of the african tropics living antelope, aswell as only 3 non savanah antelopes and neither a very big or very small one.
Thankfully this was helped nicly with the leechwe and the SHO as north african wetland and deserts antelopes respectivly.

So how do we change that even further?
Simple, we add in the last missing pieces.

First, black buck and nilgai, asian, common in captivity antelopes with the nilgai being one of the largest ones.
Two slots to drasticly improve our asian ungulates? Yes pls!

For the last spot im gonna go against the norm, as the dik-dik, while still a great addition as they are small and not from south africa, i have another proposal thats also not from the savanah: A duiker.

Duikers are a group of small antelopes from Africa, many ranging into the tropics.
In zoos they have steadily become more common over the last 20 years, eventhough its a slow process.
Our three candidates include:

The red forresr duiker, the most common duiker in zoos. Small and reddish brown, they live in mountainous and coastal areas stretching across allmost all of the east african coast.
They would be our first mountanius antelope and our first bright red one.
In zoos they are often held with other hoofstock, most notably okapi.
And now for a little fun fact:
Their is one reason why they are the most common species of duiker in european zoos, and thats the Zoo Berlin.
Their duikers breed like crazy, which is why allmost all duikers in europe are related with each other.
Download.jpeg-35.jpg


Next up is the blue duiker, afaik the most common species in North American Zoos.
They are the smalles of the duikers, reaching 32-41 cm at the shoulder and just under 10 kg.
They live in south and most of central africa, covering most of the sub saharan parts of the continent up to the lush tropical forrests.
They live in all kinds of forrests across their range with their mate, being monogam like the dik dik.
Also they are a blueish color, something quite rare in the animal kingdom.
Blauducker.jpg


Last but not least, we have the yellow backed duiker, with a size if up to 79 cm to the shoulder the largest species if duiker.
Their homelands are the tropical rainforrests of central africa, a rn underrepresented region in the game.
Of these three duikers, they are also the most directly threatend, being sawn after as bush meat and facing habitat destruction.
Luckily for them, they chare quite a bit of their range with gorillas, making protected areas made for gorillas a safe haven for the duikers.
They also are simply beautiful to look at and would be my pick for the duikers in the game.
csm_Gelbrueckenducker_Ausschnitt_klein_ee1cc72d37.jpg


But what do you guys think? Would you like a duiker and if you do, which one of these 3 most common and likly would you like to see?
 

becks474

B
KönigDerKaffeebohnen said:
For the last spot im gonna go against the norm, as the dik-dik, while still a great addition as they are small and not from south africa, i have another proposal thats also not from the savanah: A duiker.
Click to expand...
No duiker for me. I like the Dik Dik. They look more special to me than the duiker. If we should get a Dik Dik a Duiker is eine, too 😀
 

NachoB

NachoB
Yes to that whole list. The ones i would replace are the arabian oryx (i think i'm fine with the oryxes we got, i don't really want another spot being taking by yet another oryx) and the eland (is pretty unique tbh but not something that is high in my wishlist). I would add instead a duiker species for sure.
 

yoav_r

yoav_r
I still advocate for the Arabian oryx as an anniversary animal, but the one I'd like most in a normal pack is the Blackbuck.

Aside from that I'd be fine with the antelopes we have.
 

avietar

avietar
Same, I want them all too!

My top antelopes that are still missing:

- Nilgai and Blackbuck: Two wildly different Indian antelopes. The huge and beautiful 'blue cow' Nilgai, and the colorful black&white and red&white spiral-horned blackbuck.

- Saiga antelope: The endangered odd looking central Asian plains antelope.

- Greater kudu and giant eland: Two huge African antelopes.

- Addax: A beautiful endangered desert dwelling antelope.

- Dikdik: A tiny pretty antelope species.

Other species I'd love are simply more variety of antelope, such as hartebeest, bontebok, impala, gerenuk, rhebok, oribi, tsessebe, dama gazelle, Arabian sand gazelle.
 
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