Best Animal for Entrance

wda1250

W
Hi All,
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but looking into my roster for my new sandbox project & can't seem to decide which animal to start with. Initial plan was flamingoes at forefront (like most zoos) surrounded by bison/llama/camels before splitting off into respective sections. But now that we have sea lions, I'm tempted to put them in the flamingos place and have the birds join the other animals that'll be surrounding the entrance hub of the zoo. Anybody have any thoughts on this?
(fyi the theming and 95% of the animal roster for this project is based off a real life zoo that has both species i mentioned)
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
I tend to choose a smaller species. My local zoo keeps their meerkat/porcupine mix near the entrance, and their small-clawed otters a step away as well. In-game I usually start my zoo with red pandas, or meerkats/aardvarks. Now that I have the NA Pack, the Arctic fox might show up a bit, or the prairie dog.
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
If you decide to use the Flamingos directly at the Entrance, make sure that they can hide and put Signs there that tell the Guests to be quiet. I also recommend it when you get more Animals to put Billboards on the Way to the Flamingo Enclosure that advertise the other Animals so there won't be such a big Crowd near them all the Time
 

KönigDerKaffeebohnen

K
Something that i figured works really well is to have 2-3 entrance habitats in a cone shape.
For example when you step into the zoo through the gate you first see something small, typically meerkats, penguins, lemures and by now prariedogs as something cute that gives a nice first charme, most ofthe time i layer an ungulate habitat behind it, for example i think i will do prariedog bisons for my next zoo while my current one has african penguins abd kangaroos.
And then to either the right or the left of the entrance building i put a big habitat, in most cases for my biggest plant animals, in most cases giraffes or elephants, but im sure other animals would work as well.
This not only gives a nice mix and escalation of animals (small, medium, big), but also in most cases of attraction, which leads to a nice guest flow where they first flock to the cuteness bomb and then they spread out with the majority following the mainpath where i put the high attractive large animal.
Also helps to hide/integrate their giant shelters, as they feel less out of place.
This also works best if their is another path to the other side, where depending on your wishes, you either put a high attraction animal to devide the guestflow 50/50 or a lesser attraction animal, deviding it just a bit, but leaving the other one as the mainpath.
This is were i like to put flamingos and other low attraction animals, as this really helps to guide the visitors around.
But these are just my 2 cents, dont know if you wanted that much of a deepdive, but following this, i would choose the high attraction sealion as a first star and guest magnet ^^
 

Roxxsmom

Roxxsmom
Small primates are a good draw in entrance areas. Most of them are pretty bold, and guests seem to like them and make good donations. Monkeys and lemurs don't need huge enclosures either. If you have a cooler biome zoo, the Japanese Macaques work pretty well near the entrance I've found.

Red pandas can work too in temperate to cooler biomes as long as you provide a quiet area in their habitat that is away from the path with a treehouse type shelter. It helps if you have access to 2-way glass. Recessed viewing areas work for reducing clogging in an entry plaza. Red pandas are a bit harder as a starting animal in challenge or in your first franchise, since they always seem to cost eco credits and not be available for cash.

Meerkats also seem to be a nice entrance area animal. I've tried tortoises, and they work well early in a zoo's life, but when guest numbers grow, they get stressed, even with 1 way glass and habitats with a quiet back area. They take so long to reach their hiding place they are always stressed and do better in a less busy corner of a zoo.

I've had success with wolves near the entrance too, if you want to build a larger enclosure, or Bactrian camels. People seem to like camels, even though they aren't really super exotic or rare zoo animals (and are even domesticated).

Many real-life zoos have flamingos in a sort of waterfowl lagoon near the entrance, but I haven't been successful in this game. No matter how I design the habitat, the birds always seem to be stressed by the guests. Maybe the species they have near the entrances of real-life zoos are not as shy as these greater flamingos.
 
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SotF

SotF
With both the old and current entrance for Cincinnati Zoo, you had birds there.

The old one had a turn right and you had the big outdoor aviary followed by the bird house (The train station in front of that and the shops for the kids zoo beyond that), turn left and you had gardens which led to their swan lake full of waterfowl.

New one has right for the lake and left has the 2 big raptor aviaries, not sure if there is still the stairway down to one end of the old canyon that was revamped into Roo Valley.

Both mainly had info, food, and shopping right at the entrance. The old one also had the train pretty much right there, when they replaced the old entrance with their africa section and revamped the ancient entrance from a LONG time ago into the new one with some major changes there.
 

GRAMPERS62

G
I would plan an exhibit feature at the entrance and maybe combine some with a transport ride and/or shops.
Refrain from putting any shy animals in the entrance area due to stress issues. Keep the big attraction animals at the back. And never let a guest have a straignt line to get to those big draw species. beyond those general thoughts the zoo is your creation and you alone are the one that has control over how it looks or functions. Just have fun and try new things.
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
GRAMPERS62 said:
I would plan an exhibit feature at the entrance and maybe combine some with a transport ride and/or shops.
Refrain from putting any shy animals in the entrance area due to stress issues. Keep the big attraction animals at the back. And never let a guest have a straignt line to get to those big draw species. beyond those general thoughts the zoo is your creation and you alone are the one that has control over how it looks or functions. Just have fun and try new things.
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I think Reptile Houses are really nice for this. You can have Exhibits at the Entrance of the Building and maybe also Monitor Lizards and/or Crocodiles and then the Tortoises in the Back of the Building. I think I had one like that once in a Zoo and it worked pretty good without the Animals being stressed all the time
 

Iben

Iben
The general rule of thumb for an entrance animal is an animal that is loud and visually attractive. It's the reason why flamingos are so often a starter animal for zoos, they're both loud and colorful, and that's what draws people in. The loudness of the animal helps to entice people to find out where that noise is coming from and the colorfulness is another visual attraction. Flamingos, penguins, sometimes louder primates are all good entrance animals.

Usually zoos try to keep more big ticket animals at the "back" of the zoo, so that you have to spend more time in the zoo to see them. By doing that, you also guide people along animals they don't usually come to the zoo for, and build the anticipation. That's why big savanna exhibits, elephants, rhinos, pandas, etc. are usually further down the zoo.

However, the vast majority of zoos grow organically and there are always exceptions to these "rules". I believe there's a zoo in America that even has elephants right at its entrance, can't think of what it was again but I'm pretty sure someone here will know 😅
 

markun

markun
Iben said:
However, the vast majority of zoos grow organically and there are always exceptions to these "rules". I believe there's a zoo in America that even has elephants right at its entrance, can't think of what it was again but I'm pretty sure someone here will know 😅
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Also Chester Zoo in the UK. I believe you can even see them from outside.
 

Axo

Axo
They have already said the most common and suitable animals for the entrances, but then I use another way. Imagine your zoo in a certain area / country and put a representative or common animal of that area / country. With this you can justify putting wildebeest in an African zoo or a cougar in the American West or a cloud leopard in Southeast Asia, this works better if you use that animal as an image or pet for your zoo.
 

Spiderhawk

Spiderhawk
as a “welcome/first animal” peafowls roaming around is fun
Flamingos get too stressed out for me to use them anymore no matter how many do not disturb signs and security guards
Capuchins I personally have never seen get too stressed
I remember at the woodland park zoo they had African penguins (or humboltd idk) as the first animal along with roaming peafowls.
I have also put most of my exhibit animals up front.
Sea lions probably would be a fun welcome animal.
 

GRAMPERS62

G
Another thing to consider is the advertising boards for the things at the rear of one's zoo.
The guests really do interact with them and they work! Use any images and tag it for an appropriate habitat or shop.
 
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