"Boring" Animals You Want

synthetase

synthetase
In addition to North America's only marsupial
Non-exotic animals I want
  • European Boar (iconic of the countryside or something)
  • American Black Bear (colormorphs!)
  • Grey Fox (pretty and unlike other foxes)
  • Golden Jackal (would be a jackal and represents areas without many animals in-game yet)
  • Coyote (cool vocalizations but I don't want a coyote [or another wolf] UNLESS we get a jackal, bush dog, tanuki or "genetically basal" fox FIRST
  • White-tail Deer (beautiful animal that I've seen so much I'm deeply fond of them)
  • Any Duck (water birds are needed)
  • Any Squirrel (although it would preferably be an exotic species)
  • Any Rat (they are a big part of animal lore)
  • Yak (IMO it'd be a good addition to the game)
Non-unique animals I want that are already somewhat represented in game
  • Elk/Wapiti (majestic, IMO even moreso than the red deer)
  • Bat-eared Fox (my favorite zoo animal)
  • Masai Giraffe (would be cool since it has different patterning)
  • Grevy's Zebra (In addition for reasoning given for Masai Giraffe it looks different)
  • ANY Antelope
 

Hanged_Stan

Hanged_Stan
British person here with my top 10!

1. Mute Swans
2. Mallard Ducks
3. Canada Geese
4. Mandarin Ducks
5. European Rabbits
6. Domestic Sheep
7. Pygmy Goats
8. Shetland Ponies
9. Barn Owls
10. Eurasian Red Squirrel
 

BananaLeech

B
I already want most of the animals mentioned here such as waterfowl and deer. But I can’t help but notice the lack of the common brushtail possum being mentioned.

They are similar to raccoons in Australia in the way they behave and are mundane in areas of settlements (at least in the east).

For a common mundane animal the brushtail possum has a hard time being known by people other than the Australians who are subjected to their scattering on their rooftops and the New Zealanders who are trying to get rid of them. Is it because they don’t have a flashy pattern like stripes and spots? Is it their nocturnal behavior? Is it because of opossums inadvertently getting the spotlight from possums due to Americans too lazy to say the O? Are they just that “boring” and “forgettable”

It’s not like they are too difficult to maintain and breed. They historically were more commonly kept before a myriad of factors such as zoos shifting from nocturnal and least concern species along with invasive species regulations. They do look like animals people love such as cats and foxes (the latter being where they get their names from in many other languages including their scientific one), so why isn’t it as famous like it’s bear-like distant relatives, the koala?
 

SuzieSky

SuzieSky
BananaLeech said:
I already want most of the animals mentioned here such as waterfowl and deer. But I can’t help but notice the lack of the common brushtail possum being mentioned.
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Every since I learned they have color morphs, they've jumped to pretty high on my list for Oceania. Now, especially, they don't seem that boring. While the tiny animals (smaller than raccoon) don't look as good without a large social group, a few (like the skunk) would be nice. I hope they add some from Oceania; there are so many cute/interesting choices: possum, bilby, cuscus, quokka, quoll, and numbat all seem viable for less-requested "surprise" picks.
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I want the yellow one!

"Boring" picks I want from NA/my backyard:
  1. American black bear: I don't think of it (or any of the bears) as boring, especially not this one with its many color morphs. Some people said it was, though.
  2. Bighorn Sheep: While similar to the Dall sheep in many ways except color and range, the bighorn is very iconic, and I think it is a good species for the southwest desert/Mexico. A desert goat would be nice to have in general.
  3. White Tailed Deer: This is a basic deer, and would make good filler for NA and SA. Wapiti is also good, maybe better? I can't decide. Hopefully enough animals are added to justify both.
  4. Wild Turkey: They aren't rare anymore, but temperate NA really needs a bird. Roadrunners and cranes could also work.
  5. Bobcat/Canadian Lynx: They are ubiquitous in our zoos and fill a different ecological niche. I kind of want the bobcat, but even I can see that other animals should have priority
  6. Grey Fox: It's pretty, climbs trees, and is the most basal canid. They aren't popular though, and I could live without them. The coyote is also possible for a small, desert canid from NA.
  7. Others: wolverine, musk ox, sea otter, and walrus are too popular to be considered "boring", and the wood duck is too colorful to be boring
Other boring/"clone" species that I think would be good:
  1. Black backed jackal: too distinct for me to view as boring
  2. Arabian Oryx
  3. American Flamingo
  4. Guanaco
  5. Masai Giraffe
  6. African Leopard (there are still ~100 species I'd prefer right now, but it's still good)
  7. Some domestics, especially the highland cow (there are still 40-50 wild species I'd prefer right now)
  8. Another European goat: variety is good.
 

SpookDoc

SpookDoc
I think the topic of what makes us consider an animal “boring”, or at least consider it boring to the broader public, is an interesting one and something that can’t be explained only by what region of the world you are from. For example, I’m from North America but do notice the global popularity of the Raccoon in both zoos and global pop culture. So while these animals are technically in my backyard everyday, I still recognize their overall popularity and uniqueness.

Maybe a better way of putting things is by instead calling “boring” animals “not flashy”. There’s a lot of animals, globally, that I’d like to see in PZ, but struggle to stand out to the general public when they exist in a potential line-up of large, colorful, or culturally-charismatic species. For example, there are so many amazing rodent, small ungulate, reptile, and waterfowl species, but very few ever get put in the “spot light”.

For example, a Garden Pack containing a Squirrel, Rabbit, Swan or Goose, and larger habitat turtle species would definitely be my favorite DLC Frontier has made since the Aquatic Pack. But majority of people definitely wouldn’t agree with me lol.

There’s subjectivity in what’s considered boring, but there are commonalities that can be found amongst most, such as species that have larger counterpart/comparable species, might be more muted or “dull” in color, or have large populations or are even invasive.
 

SpookDoc

SpookDoc
NZFanatic said:
Please read the edits I made ages ago to the OP, in bold.

I understand that pedantry is part of the culture of the forum, but come on.
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I wasn’t trying to critique you or get you to change anything you had previously put (not a big deal to me). I just think the subjectivity of what a “boring” animal is and how it varies person-to-person is interesting.

I like that you created this thread 👌
 
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