The raccoon could work, some minor adjustments might be needed like barrier height but I'll give it a go. There's actually quite a few mods in Eurasia that don't work in current game versions like the pallas cat so I'll have to venture into substitute animal territory eventually.
Calgary Zoo
- Thread starter Captain Callum
- Start date
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- Tags
- calgary recreation zoo
Wild Canada - Prairies - Prairie Dogs & Bison
As my videos are on catchup mode with the prehistoric park tours and basically every single video thumbnail for wild canada will feature a modded animal meaning I can't link it over to the forum, I think I will just post progress as I complete building than waiting for the video slot to match with the forum post. So... welcome to wild canada everyone! The single largest animal zone in the zoo starts off with a prairie biome.
The prairie biome is the first stop on the wild canada loop where we start at the northwest entrance of wild canada. If anyone took the time to read the real zoo overview for wild canada, we will understand this is not featured in the real zoo but rather a mix of existing features in the area of the zoo and my own creativity. Taking inspiration from grasslands national park in canada and the minnesota zoo bison/prairie dog habitats, I have created a natural looking prairie habitat for wood bison and prairie dogs each in their own habitat.
To help us understand where exactly wild canada is located in the zoo, it is right across from the prehistoric park entrance and below the penguin plunge building. We can see lots of sand shapes in the background which is the rough position of all habitats in wild canada, it is really going to be a huge animal zone to build for.
On the ground, the entrance to wild canada is rather simple but effective with these 2 modern signs for wild canada.
Throughout wild canada these kind of animal signs will be present displaying all the facts we need to know about the animals and a detailed fact and question. I will admit I used ai to help me write these signs since there was very little images of the newer signs especially any readable text
The interesting thing is that none of the signs in wild canada have the scientific animal names which is uncommon to see on animal info boards.
The other kind of animal signs we will find in wild canada for the upgraded areas is these long and colourful sign boards. The full image design works great for a modern approach for signage.
Enough about reading about the animals, what about the animals themselves? The first habitat we find is the prairie dog habitat. A natural rock barrier provides a seamless view into the bison habitat behind and great views of the prairie dogs themselves in their 700m2 habitat. 3 burrows provide natural shelter and lots of buffalo grass and a custom blend of light grass and light dirt paint for the terrain creates a prairie/grassland landscape.
At this angle up close to the prairie dogs, we can almost imagine the prairie dogs are inside the same habitat. A good view of the double layer barriers to keep the bison in is an approach the calgary zoo did when they had their old bison habitat. The wooden reinforcement barrier is taken from the current muskox habitat which uses both barriers in that habitat.
The bison have a spacious 7500m2 habitat which is just a bit larger than the old bison habitat. The habitat is 'divided' in half with an underpass for the bison to travel between habitats. Like the prairie dog habitat, lots of buffalo grass and the same terrain paints were used to replicate the prairie landscape as much as the game allows me to.
On the side of the main bison habitat a modern shelter allows the bison to sleep indoors, the simple stained wood shelter has the keeper hut and staff room in the space to the left of the sleeping area to allow easy access for keepers maintaining the large habitat. A small hill in front of the shelter where the birch tree is allows most of the shelter to be hidden from view from the guests.
Turning around to the other portion of the bison habitat, we can see a small river here for the bison to drink. Some rocky cliff features and a sloped hill leading up to the backstage areas. The backstage areas will be given full detail in this zoo recreation, we can get a view of a greenhouse/insulated building complex from the guest path. Various detailed features such as shipping containers and building materials will be placed around backstage areas to make it feel much more realistic than just a bunch of buildings.
Lastly we get a view of the full prairie biome from here, the huge penguin plunge building doesn't look so big right now.
As my videos are on catchup mode with the prehistoric park tours and basically every single video thumbnail for wild canada will feature a modded animal meaning I can't link it over to the forum, I think I will just post progress as I complete building than waiting for the video slot to match with the forum post. So... welcome to wild canada everyone! The single largest animal zone in the zoo starts off with a prairie biome.
The prairie biome is the first stop on the wild canada loop where we start at the northwest entrance of wild canada. If anyone took the time to read the real zoo overview for wild canada, we will understand this is not featured in the real zoo but rather a mix of existing features in the area of the zoo and my own creativity. Taking inspiration from grasslands national park in canada and the minnesota zoo bison/prairie dog habitats, I have created a natural looking prairie habitat for wood bison and prairie dogs each in their own habitat.
To help us understand where exactly wild canada is located in the zoo, it is right across from the prehistoric park entrance and below the penguin plunge building. We can see lots of sand shapes in the background which is the rough position of all habitats in wild canada, it is really going to be a huge animal zone to build for.
On the ground, the entrance to wild canada is rather simple but effective with these 2 modern signs for wild canada.
Throughout wild canada these kind of animal signs will be present displaying all the facts we need to know about the animals and a detailed fact and question. I will admit I used ai to help me write these signs since there was very little images of the newer signs especially any readable text
The interesting thing is that none of the signs in wild canada have the scientific animal names which is uncommon to see on animal info boards.The other kind of animal signs we will find in wild canada for the upgraded areas is these long and colourful sign boards. The full image design works great for a modern approach for signage.
Enough about reading about the animals, what about the animals themselves? The first habitat we find is the prairie dog habitat. A natural rock barrier provides a seamless view into the bison habitat behind and great views of the prairie dogs themselves in their 700m2 habitat. 3 burrows provide natural shelter and lots of buffalo grass and a custom blend of light grass and light dirt paint for the terrain creates a prairie/grassland landscape.
At this angle up close to the prairie dogs, we can almost imagine the prairie dogs are inside the same habitat. A good view of the double layer barriers to keep the bison in is an approach the calgary zoo did when they had their old bison habitat. The wooden reinforcement barrier is taken from the current muskox habitat which uses both barriers in that habitat.
The bison have a spacious 7500m2 habitat which is just a bit larger than the old bison habitat. The habitat is 'divided' in half with an underpass for the bison to travel between habitats. Like the prairie dog habitat, lots of buffalo grass and the same terrain paints were used to replicate the prairie landscape as much as the game allows me to.
On the side of the main bison habitat a modern shelter allows the bison to sleep indoors, the simple stained wood shelter has the keeper hut and staff room in the space to the left of the sleeping area to allow easy access for keepers maintaining the large habitat. A small hill in front of the shelter where the birch tree is allows most of the shelter to be hidden from view from the guests.
Turning around to the other portion of the bison habitat, we can see a small river here for the bison to drink. Some rocky cliff features and a sloped hill leading up to the backstage areas. The backstage areas will be given full detail in this zoo recreation, we can get a view of a greenhouse/insulated building complex from the guest path. Various detailed features such as shipping containers and building materials will be placed around backstage areas to make it feel much more realistic than just a bunch of buildings.
Lastly we get a view of the full prairie biome from here, the huge penguin plunge building doesn't look so big right now.
Very realistic looking ... one day I will advance from amateur to almost trained rofl.. after all it has only been 4-5 years. I think most of my problems are lack of patience to painstakingly design each area. I try, honest, I just give up after 30 minutes and go the quick and dirty route of bam, basic barriers, splat of terrain coverage to meet their needs and similarly the foliage rofl.
Thanks, honestly patience is probably the key to learning how to build great habitats. The game can be frustrating when trying out new techniques even when following advice from youtube videos or similar sources, for me it took years basically the same 4 or so years learning to work with the game and pushing my building abilities the entire time to reach the stage where I am now. Starting small often helps like modifying a habitat you already built, adding custom pieces to a building blueprint or building a nice wooden fence.
To add what captain said, the best way to start building better habitats is by stop worrying and just doing.
Sounds silly, but just turning the brain of and just decorating helps a ton to get into the zone where you just do and do not worry about the time you put into it.
Maybe start by building a shelter or fence, pick out some foliage youd like for the habitat to have and then just sit back, relax and place foliage and once your done and worked your way through the entire habitat placing foliage and rocks in detail, then you suddenly look back and have a great habitat and didnt worry about the time that took you.
I can also highly recommend to seperate those two parts.
When you feel like thinking, plan out the habitat, build the fences, build the shelter, decide where the enritchment will go.
And then whenever you feel like actually decorating it you can allways come back, turn your brain of and place rocks and foliage
Yeah, I just started playing with fencing, but then I either hit a habitat that takes far too long to fence manually - or I run out of money half way through, or hit animals that don't like to see people - so, I'm having to think about whether to try and get the fence to work, or just go back to the built in habitat fencing with one way glass. I always end up with the last one, for ease rofl. I'm artistic so I am sure the creative juices will kick in, hopefully when I am playing rofl, and my zoos in the last few years are better designed than the ones in the early years, so I am improving. I'll get there one day I'm sure fingers crossed rofl.
Wild Canada - Entrance Improvements & Rocky Mountains
Entrance Improvements:
A suggestion on the youtube video for the bison suggested I should try and build those abstract northern lights sculptures, I mean it can't look that bad with my knowledge of building stuff? I even said myself it would look awful:
Well, I'm glad to be wrong! I built the set of abstract northern light sculptures and they came out looking great , the downside is both of them are about 1500 pieces so not a low piece count entrance piece. Curved metal rods and flat letter shapes were used to construct the sculptures, I don't like abstract art that much myself but these ones aren't too bad. Also for the entrance improvements, the wild canada signs received a small mountain shape in front of the signs and some cloud? lines on the signs themselves.
If anyone is interested in the sculptures to use in their own zoo, here's a workshop link:
steamcommunity.com
Rocky Mountains:
Moving on from the entrance and prairies of wild canada, let's climb upwards into the territory of the rocky mountains, where bighorn sheep and mountain goats roam wild among rocky terrain. The rocky mountains biome of wild canada has not been changed in the wild canada upgrade but still remains a very effective display for mountain caprines with 2 habitats themed around the environment of the rocky mountains. Let's get an overview for the area first, bighorn sheep are on the right and mountain goats are on the left.
Lots and lots of rocks are this biome to make the mountain theme truly at home. Upon entering the rocky mountains, we are greeted with a biome sign for the region exactly like the prairie biome sign. No climbing signs are posted here aswell to try to not encourage guests climbing over the rock mounds. Large faux rock walls encase the habitats, with the bighorn sheep habitat being the largest in this area.
The habitats in the rocky mountains are sloped to give the feel of a mountainside, deep ditches near guest viewing areas prevent the sheep from climbing or jumping their way out of the habitat. Landscaping the terrain on this large slope with angled rock layers was a slight challenge that required several attempts of landscaping the terrain to the correct shape.
The other side of the habitat shows a small covered shelter which is actually usuable by the sheep, the dall sheep rig is one of the few animals that doesn't have a hitbox height the size of the empire state building! Meanwhile the likes of a tapir shelter needs to be 4-6 metres tall for them to pass.
On the left side of the bighorn sheep habitat we can see a much rockier habitat for mountain goats, the dall sheep fits much better to represent the mountain goat, maybe I should of placed some alpine ibex in the bighorn sheep habitat. Lots of rocks make these goats happy, zoo guests will see them jumping and running around the rocks all day without using intrusive enrichment like the goat mountain.
Another angle of the goat habitat can be seen from this forest amphitheatre, guests are able to sit and watch the goats from here away from the main path crowds. These amphitheatres are common throughout the calgary zoo in places such as the hippo habitat, polar bear habitat, african savanna habitat and so on. This is one of the unique features of the zoo.
Finally here's a closer look of the amphitheatre viewpoint.
Entrance Improvements:
A suggestion on the youtube video for the bison suggested I should try and build those abstract northern lights sculptures, I mean it can't look that bad with my knowledge of building stuff? I even said myself it would look awful:
Well, I'm glad to be wrong! I built the set of abstract northern light sculptures and they came out looking great , the downside is both of them are about 1500 pieces so not a low piece count entrance piece. Curved metal rods and flat letter shapes were used to construct the sculptures, I don't like abstract art that much myself but these ones aren't too bad. Also for the entrance improvements, the wild canada signs received a small mountain shape in front of the signs and some cloud? lines on the signs themselves.
If anyone is interested in the sculptures to use in their own zoo, here's a workshop link:
Steam Workshop::Abstract Northern Lights Sculptures
Rocky Mountains:
Moving on from the entrance and prairies of wild canada, let's climb upwards into the territory of the rocky mountains, where bighorn sheep and mountain goats roam wild among rocky terrain. The rocky mountains biome of wild canada has not been changed in the wild canada upgrade but still remains a very effective display for mountain caprines with 2 habitats themed around the environment of the rocky mountains. Let's get an overview for the area first, bighorn sheep are on the right and mountain goats are on the left.
Lots and lots of rocks are this biome to make the mountain theme truly at home. Upon entering the rocky mountains, we are greeted with a biome sign for the region exactly like the prairie biome sign. No climbing signs are posted here aswell to try to not encourage guests climbing over the rock mounds. Large faux rock walls encase the habitats, with the bighorn sheep habitat being the largest in this area.
The habitats in the rocky mountains are sloped to give the feel of a mountainside, deep ditches near guest viewing areas prevent the sheep from climbing or jumping their way out of the habitat. Landscaping the terrain on this large slope with angled rock layers was a slight challenge that required several attempts of landscaping the terrain to the correct shape.
The other side of the habitat shows a small covered shelter which is actually usuable by the sheep, the dall sheep rig is one of the few animals that doesn't have a hitbox height the size of the empire state building! Meanwhile the likes of a tapir shelter needs to be 4-6 metres tall for them to pass.
On the left side of the bighorn sheep habitat we can see a much rockier habitat for mountain goats, the dall sheep fits much better to represent the mountain goat, maybe I should of placed some alpine ibex in the bighorn sheep habitat. Lots of rocks make these goats happy, zoo guests will see them jumping and running around the rocks all day without using intrusive enrichment like the goat mountain.
Another angle of the goat habitat can be seen from this forest amphitheatre, guests are able to sit and watch the goats from here away from the main path crowds. These amphitheatres are common throughout the calgary zoo in places such as the hippo habitat, polar bear habitat, african savanna habitat and so on. This is one of the unique features of the zoo.
Finally here's a closer look of the amphitheatre viewpoint.
Very nicely done, I really like what you've done with the Rocky Mountains section. I really like the way you used a lot of the faux rocks to make those nice big rocky cliffsides for the backgrounds of the habitats. A good backdrop can make all the difference between an average habitat and a spectacular habitat. I also like the sloped landscape you did in both habitats, because I believe that habitats on a slope can look really awesome if they are done right. A mountainside/slope in a zoo habitat just creates a really dynamic landscape to view the animals in.
I also love just how prevalent you've made the Douglas Fir Pine trees in this area of the zoo. They're one of my favorite trees in the game, they're one of the only tree species in the game that are from the Rocky Mountains IRL, and they're just such a useful scenery piece. Those trees really help to create that wilderness feeling, perfect for a more wild part of a zoo build or a more natural area.
I also love just how prevalent you've made the Douglas Fir Pine trees in this area of the zoo. They're one of my favorite trees in the game, they're one of the only tree species in the game that are from the Rocky Mountains IRL, and they're just such a useful scenery piece. Those trees really help to create that wilderness feeling, perfect for a more wild part of a zoo build or a more natural area.
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Thanks, the Douglas fir tree placement was actually unintentional
It just looked similar to the trees in the reference pictures I had so I just went with it. But considering how well it works and trying to make it realistic, I'll try and place a realistic set of foliage for each biome such as using the black spruce tree in the boreal forest biome for the owl aviary and reindeer habitat instead of using the Douglas fir trees.Wild Canada - Boreal Forest - Walkthrough Owl Aviary
After climbing through the rocky mountain biome in wild canada, we reach the northern forests of canada - the boreal forest. The boreal forest biome in wild canada features 2 distinct habitats, one is a walkthrough owl aviary and the other is the woodland caribou (or reindeer) habitat. The walkthrough owl aviary is called the rocky mountain aviary which must confuse some people as it is no longer in the rocky mountain biome but now in the boreal forest biome which seems to be more suitable for owls.
An overview of the first half of the boreal forest helps us see that black spruce trees now dominate the foliage instead of the douglas fir trees that we can see in the rocky mountain biome. A handful of white birch trees are also placed to help variety in the forest scenery, white birch and black spruce are both found in the canadian boreal forests which helps realism. The walkthrough aviary itself is the biggest I have built that is free-standing as large aviaries are often indoors not outdoors.
On the ground, we are postioned at the top of the rocky mountain biome path where the path finally reaches its highest point in wild canada. The urban background with transmission towers, large backstage buildings and city skyline are great additions to what would otherwise be the bland default background. The alpine meadow as we can see with the yorkshire fog grass continues into the edge of the backstage area so no immediate cutoff of nature is obvious when moving from the rocky mountain biome to the boreal forest biome. Custom direction signage helps guests navigate wild canada with the several different paths in some areas.
Turning around, we can find another path. This path is the bypass path straight towards the reindeer habitat for those not wanting to visit the owl aviary. The path going down is back towards the rocky mountain area where the biome sign tell us that. The boreal forest biome sign can be found further along the bypass path if anyone can see it in the shadows on the left side of the path.
The owl aviary path first features a hidden toilets building where faux rock provides a fake front to hide the ugly toilet building. Air conditioning units as always help make the roofs more realistic than just a solid material. There is also a small waterfall amongst the rocks, the rocky mountain theme is still clearly visible here as the boreal forest doesn't really start until the aviary.
Past the toilets, we are greeted with the boreal forest biome sign and further along the entrance to the aviary. We can easily tell from here this is a large aviary with plenty of cable supports to hold the aviary together, while often overlooked in aviary construction, the addition of the cable supports adds so much more than just a simple large box. All the mesh for the aviary aswell was manually placed so there is a couple hundred pieces of mesh for the walls and roofs with no overlapping occuring.
Inside the aviary, we can find 2 species of owl, Snowy owl and Great grey owl. Either perched on broken trees or even flying above guests heads, these owls will likely be in the trees away from the guest path since owls are not really fond of humans too much. A small pond can also be found in the center of the aviary.
After climbing through the rocky mountain biome in wild canada, we reach the northern forests of canada - the boreal forest. The boreal forest biome in wild canada features 2 distinct habitats, one is a walkthrough owl aviary and the other is the woodland caribou (or reindeer) habitat. The walkthrough owl aviary is called the rocky mountain aviary which must confuse some people as it is no longer in the rocky mountain biome but now in the boreal forest biome which seems to be more suitable for owls.
An overview of the first half of the boreal forest helps us see that black spruce trees now dominate the foliage instead of the douglas fir trees that we can see in the rocky mountain biome. A handful of white birch trees are also placed to help variety in the forest scenery, white birch and black spruce are both found in the canadian boreal forests which helps realism. The walkthrough aviary itself is the biggest I have built that is free-standing as large aviaries are often indoors not outdoors.
On the ground, we are postioned at the top of the rocky mountain biome path where the path finally reaches its highest point in wild canada. The urban background with transmission towers, large backstage buildings and city skyline are great additions to what would otherwise be the bland default background. The alpine meadow as we can see with the yorkshire fog grass continues into the edge of the backstage area so no immediate cutoff of nature is obvious when moving from the rocky mountain biome to the boreal forest biome. Custom direction signage helps guests navigate wild canada with the several different paths in some areas.
Turning around, we can find another path. This path is the bypass path straight towards the reindeer habitat for those not wanting to visit the owl aviary. The path going down is back towards the rocky mountain area where the biome sign tell us that. The boreal forest biome sign can be found further along the bypass path if anyone can see it in the shadows on the left side of the path.
The owl aviary path first features a hidden toilets building where faux rock provides a fake front to hide the ugly toilet building. Air conditioning units as always help make the roofs more realistic than just a solid material. There is also a small waterfall amongst the rocks, the rocky mountain theme is still clearly visible here as the boreal forest doesn't really start until the aviary.
Past the toilets, we are greeted with the boreal forest biome sign and further along the entrance to the aviary. We can easily tell from here this is a large aviary with plenty of cable supports to hold the aviary together, while often overlooked in aviary construction, the addition of the cable supports adds so much more than just a simple large box. All the mesh for the aviary aswell was manually placed so there is a couple hundred pieces of mesh for the walls and roofs with no overlapping occuring.
Inside the aviary, we can find 2 species of owl, Snowy owl and Great grey owl. Either perched on broken trees or even flying above guests heads, these owls will likely be in the trees away from the guest path since owls are not really fond of humans too much. A small pond can also be found in the center of the aviary.
Wild Canada - Boreal Forest - Woodland Caribou/Reindeer Habitat
Exiting the owl aviary, we are greeted with a very large reindeer habitat, a total of 7000m2! The 7000m2 habitat is split into 2 biomes - the boreal forest and tundra. The most notable section is the boreal forest which is why I have linked it to the boreal forest biome in the title, the forest habitat features a forest portion, grassy slopes and a small stream running through the majority of this habitat. The tundra section as the name implies is a far more sparse habitat with no trees in the habitat itself and several rocks scattered amongst the grass field. A herd of 8 reindeer have been added to this habitat which is a slight increase from the 6 reindeer present in the real zoo.
An overview of the largely simple but effective boreal forest themed reindeer habitat. No need for thousands of buffalo grass pieces here, the long grass paint is more than enough grass for the reindeer.
The first viewing area next to the owl aviary looks down the length of the long habitat. In the distance, the second viewing area is next to the tundra habitat gate.
Reindeer are often seen by the stream where the owl aviary towers over the habitat even over the tall spruce trees.
A reindeer spotted moving through the boreal forest.
From the guest perspective between the viewing areas, the metal and mesh fence may be visually unappealing but definitely realistic.
From the second viewing area, guests can look into both the boreal forest habitat and the tundra habitat. The stream starts near this viewing area.
In the other direction, the sparse tundra habitat is not frequently visited by the reindeer but at least 1 or 2 may wander over for a short while. Calgary forest scenery is placed at the back of the tundra habitat to block any views of the backstage area or even the busy highway.
Exiting the owl aviary, we are greeted with a very large reindeer habitat, a total of 7000m2! The 7000m2 habitat is split into 2 biomes - the boreal forest and tundra. The most notable section is the boreal forest which is why I have linked it to the boreal forest biome in the title, the forest habitat features a forest portion, grassy slopes and a small stream running through the majority of this habitat. The tundra section as the name implies is a far more sparse habitat with no trees in the habitat itself and several rocks scattered amongst the grass field. A herd of 8 reindeer have been added to this habitat which is a slight increase from the 6 reindeer present in the real zoo.
An overview of the largely simple but effective boreal forest themed reindeer habitat. No need for thousands of buffalo grass pieces here, the long grass paint is more than enough grass for the reindeer.
The first viewing area next to the owl aviary looks down the length of the long habitat. In the distance, the second viewing area is next to the tundra habitat gate.
Reindeer are often seen by the stream where the owl aviary towers over the habitat even over the tall spruce trees.
A reindeer spotted moving through the boreal forest.
From the guest perspective between the viewing areas, the metal and mesh fence may be visually unappealing but definitely realistic.
From the second viewing area, guests can look into both the boreal forest habitat and the tundra habitat. The stream starts near this viewing area.
In the other direction, the sparse tundra habitat is not frequently visited by the reindeer but at least 1 or 2 may wander over for a short while. Calgary forest scenery is placed at the back of the tundra habitat to block any views of the backstage area or even the busy highway.
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Wild Canada - Muskox Habitat and new birds in the owl aviary
Sticking to the perimeter habitats for the time being for wild canada, another 7000m2 basic hoofstock habitat can be found as we descend down to the second half of the wild canada area. This large habitat is for Muskox this time, with some wisents being our showcase animal as I didn't want to have 2 habitats of american bison. I have shown alot of pictures close up in the wild canada area so let's take a look at a much wider overview:
The above picture shows the entire wild canada area with its completion so far. I could say the area is about 50 percent completed with the prairie, rocky mountain, boreal forest and tundra biomes complete. Remaining is the coastal, the aspen woodland and bugtopia playground areas however there is still lots of animals to build for. The new musk ox habitat can be found on the left side of the picture with the sloping path next to it.
The muskox habitat is pretty similar to the reindeer habitat built in the last post. A grass field habitat with some scattered rocks and surrounded by north american taiga trees. This time the habitat is built with the bison habitat barriers and it's modern shelter.
The sloped path that connects the upper wild canada portion to the remaining lower portion does have a nice little feature that is actually accessible by staff and guests. A natural rock stairs is a shortcut on the long sloping path. The sloping path is long is provide a gentle gradient for disabled guests while the rock stair shortcut allows able guests to reach the muskox much faster.
Along with a new muskox habitat, some new residents have arrived in the Owl aviary back in the boreal forest area. Thanks to my static birds packs, a much more detailed selection of birds of prey now live in the aviary. The new selection includes rough-legged hawks along with the grey gray owl and snowy owls.
Sticking to the perimeter habitats for the time being for wild canada, another 7000m2 basic hoofstock habitat can be found as we descend down to the second half of the wild canada area. This large habitat is for Muskox this time, with some wisents being our showcase animal as I didn't want to have 2 habitats of american bison. I have shown alot of pictures close up in the wild canada area so let's take a look at a much wider overview:
The above picture shows the entire wild canada area with its completion so far. I could say the area is about 50 percent completed with the prairie, rocky mountain, boreal forest and tundra biomes complete. Remaining is the coastal, the aspen woodland and bugtopia playground areas however there is still lots of animals to build for. The new musk ox habitat can be found on the left side of the picture with the sloping path next to it.
The muskox habitat is pretty similar to the reindeer habitat built in the last post. A grass field habitat with some scattered rocks and surrounded by north american taiga trees. This time the habitat is built with the bison habitat barriers and it's modern shelter.
The sloped path that connects the upper wild canada portion to the remaining lower portion does have a nice little feature that is actually accessible by staff and guests. A natural rock stairs is a shortcut on the long sloping path. The sloping path is long is provide a gentle gradient for disabled guests while the rock stair shortcut allows able guests to reach the muskox much faster.
Along with a new muskox habitat, some new residents have arrived in the Owl aviary back in the boreal forest area. Thanks to my static birds packs, a much more detailed selection of birds of prey now live in the aviary. The new selection includes rough-legged hawks along with the grey gray owl and snowy owls.
Wild Canada - River Otter Lodge
After 2 not very exciting hoofstock habitat builds in the wild canada area of Calgary zoo, the challenge of building increases greatly in the next biome areas. We ignore the polar bear habitat for now that is obviously opposite the reindeer and muskox habitats at this stage. Continuing along the path from the muskox is an impressive, if not one of the coolest North American River Otter habitats there is. A canadian wooden lodge building is the centerpiece of this habitat, where guests can visit inside and see the 2 otter habitats from many viewing areas. The habitat is unique, being one of the few habitat designs to allow otters to travel via an overhead walkway across the guest path to the other habitat.
The layout of this habitat can seem a little complicated so a birds eye view of the habitat always helps. We can see below the main wild canada path wraps around from the muskox viewing platform to the center of the otter lodge. Otter habitats can be found on both sides of the path with multiple viewing areas, the habitats are connected by an overhead walkway which allows the non climbing otters to easily move from each habitat.
First off, lets turn back to the muskox habitat area. As guests reach the bottom of the slope, a wooden log cabin building containing a gift shop is seen. Path signage and a staff path to the right continues to the right while guests keep left.
Inside the building, a small polar themed gift shop is here for guests to buy polar bear plushies after visiting the (in the next update) polar bear habitat. I'll admit I was feeling lazy so I just used the souvenir shop shelves to speed up progress.
That staff access area brings staff to the back of the lodge, giving us a great view of the general exterior construction. Lots of wooden logs (indonesian stained timber poles to be exact) and stained wood walls are used for the construction of the lodge. Large framed windows provide natural light into the lodge interior allowing the lodge to have a natural rustic feel to it instead of having lots of artifical lights inside.
Returning to the guest path, guests get the first look into the otter habitat with an appealing sloped curved glass barrier. Here we can see otters enter/exit the overhead walkway and swimming in the shallow pool. Foliage in this habitat is provided by buffalo grass, bracken and ferns for a distinct temperate look compared to the tundra habitats we just came from.
A view inside the walkway, showing otters using it with ease.
As the path wraps around the first habitat, we finally come into view of the second habitat. A raised viewing platform decorated with a large wooden frame gives guests underwater and elevated views into this habitat. This pool is deeper but not deep enough for deep diving abilities sadly.
One of the best experiences of wild canada, must be travelling into the lodge when otters run above your head. With luck, the otters will run past continuing their journey into the next habitat. To ensure this happens often, smart placement of enrichment items into both habitats was needed to make the otters want to visit both.
Guests now enter the river otter lodge, an impressive canadian wooden lodge with a detailed interior. We can see a central fireplace with a working fire, large wooden beams as support beams for the building structure, an indoor air conditioning pipe , viewing windows into both habitats, educational signage for the otters and benches for guests to rest on to watch the otters or chill around the fireplace.
Viewing windows into the habitats provide another way to view the otters, large windows framed with the logs and metal beams give a realistic look while maintaining the natural feel to them. The overhead walkway is seen easily from these windows aswell on both sides of the habitat so guests will surely see otters in this habitat no matter where in the habitat they are.
After 2 not very exciting hoofstock habitat builds in the wild canada area of Calgary zoo, the challenge of building increases greatly in the next biome areas. We ignore the polar bear habitat for now that is obviously opposite the reindeer and muskox habitats at this stage. Continuing along the path from the muskox is an impressive, if not one of the coolest North American River Otter habitats there is. A canadian wooden lodge building is the centerpiece of this habitat, where guests can visit inside and see the 2 otter habitats from many viewing areas. The habitat is unique, being one of the few habitat designs to allow otters to travel via an overhead walkway across the guest path to the other habitat.
The layout of this habitat can seem a little complicated so a birds eye view of the habitat always helps. We can see below the main wild canada path wraps around from the muskox viewing platform to the center of the otter lodge. Otter habitats can be found on both sides of the path with multiple viewing areas, the habitats are connected by an overhead walkway which allows the non climbing otters to easily move from each habitat.
First off, lets turn back to the muskox habitat area. As guests reach the bottom of the slope, a wooden log cabin building containing a gift shop is seen. Path signage and a staff path to the right continues to the right while guests keep left.
Inside the building, a small polar themed gift shop is here for guests to buy polar bear plushies after visiting the (in the next update) polar bear habitat. I'll admit I was feeling lazy so I just used the souvenir shop shelves to speed up progress.
That staff access area brings staff to the back of the lodge, giving us a great view of the general exterior construction. Lots of wooden logs (indonesian stained timber poles to be exact) and stained wood walls are used for the construction of the lodge. Large framed windows provide natural light into the lodge interior allowing the lodge to have a natural rustic feel to it instead of having lots of artifical lights inside.
Returning to the guest path, guests get the first look into the otter habitat with an appealing sloped curved glass barrier. Here we can see otters enter/exit the overhead walkway and swimming in the shallow pool. Foliage in this habitat is provided by buffalo grass, bracken and ferns for a distinct temperate look compared to the tundra habitats we just came from.
A view inside the walkway, showing otters using it with ease.
As the path wraps around the first habitat, we finally come into view of the second habitat. A raised viewing platform decorated with a large wooden frame gives guests underwater and elevated views into this habitat. This pool is deeper but not deep enough for deep diving abilities sadly.
One of the best experiences of wild canada, must be travelling into the lodge when otters run above your head. With luck, the otters will run past continuing their journey into the next habitat. To ensure this happens often, smart placement of enrichment items into both habitats was needed to make the otters want to visit both.
Guests now enter the river otter lodge, an impressive canadian wooden lodge with a detailed interior. We can see a central fireplace with a working fire, large wooden beams as support beams for the building structure, an indoor air conditioning pipe , viewing windows into both habitats, educational signage for the otters and benches for guests to rest on to watch the otters or chill around the fireplace.
Viewing windows into the habitats provide another way to view the otters, large windows framed with the logs and metal beams give a realistic look while maintaining the natural feel to them. The overhead walkway is seen easily from these windows aswell on both sides of the habitat so guests will surely see otters in this habitat no matter where in the habitat they are.
Wild Canada - Polar Bear Sanctuary
The centerpiece of the modern additions to the wild canada area certainly has to be the polar bear sanctuary, a massive polar bear habitat at the center of wild canada. The polar bears, 2 of them, enjoy a spacious 14,000m2 habitat with 1600m2 of water which finally meets the ingame requirements for the polar bears! This is the first and probably last polar bear habitat in a real zoo build that meets the welfare needs of a polar bear. While not as ambitious as the polar bear habitats found in detroit zoo or the assiniboine park zoo which include an underwater tunnel, the calgary habitat certainly still stands out from many polar bear habitats found in city zoos.
An overview of the polar bear habitat below shows us just how big the habitat is, the 2 bears can be found on the right side of the habitat. The polar bear habitat is placed between the mountain goat, reindeer, muskox and otter habitats finally filling in the upper portion of wild canada nicely.
The main guest area for the habitat is found next to the reindeer habitat where a small plaza features 2 large viewing windows, education signs and introducing guests to the small coastline biome area of wild canada.
A small play area with logs decorates the middle of this plaza while polar bears can be seen behind swimming in the deep pool.
The main viewing window in this plaza is the 16 metre long underwater window. We can see the bear swimming and occasionally underwater in this large pool, this pool is roughly 1200m2 of water fufilling the majority of the bears need for water.
To the right of the underwater viewing window, another viewing window looks into the upper portion of the habitat which features a shelter for the bears. Of course the bears don't actually use the shelter, they like to sleep on the ground in the middle of the habitat instead
Leaving the plaza for the underwater viewing, we follow the path following both the polar bear habitat or reindeer habitat. Most likely guests will view the reindeer habitat more here since it can be hard to spot the bears from this path. The large mesh barriers and path fence don't provide great viewing for guests.
Once guests reach the end of the polar bear habitat, the barriers follow the terrain downwards allowing guests to get a good view across the habitat. This rocky area with some trees is in the tundra biome which works great with the open area on the left side. That forest on the right is an unusal sight for a polar bear habitat but the habitat covers the 3 biomes found in this part of wild canada. Coastline for the deep pool, boreal forest for the middle of the habitat, and tundra for this end.
Guests then travel past the muskox and river otters before finally seeing the polar bears again in the lower portion of wild canada. A great view of the habitat can be seen above where the future wolf habitat will be. Varying terrain, large pools and canadian trees make this a unique habitat.
When guests reach the polar bears again, there is an open viewing area into the habitat. We see the smaller shallow pool and the hilly terrain climbing up to the deep pool. Polar bears do travel around the majority of the habitat with enrichment and water pools at different location, sometimes polar bears are obessed with deep diving but thankfully not this time!
The final part of the polar bear habitat is the staff building, the stained wood and faux rock building holds the main indoor area for the bear, toilets for the guests and another viewing area with some angled glass windows to see the bears getting fed. Since keepers do not like large habitats, they drop food off in front of this window.
The centerpiece of the modern additions to the wild canada area certainly has to be the polar bear sanctuary, a massive polar bear habitat at the center of wild canada. The polar bears, 2 of them, enjoy a spacious 14,000m2 habitat with 1600m2 of water which finally meets the ingame requirements for the polar bears! This is the first and probably last polar bear habitat in a real zoo build that meets the welfare needs of a polar bear. While not as ambitious as the polar bear habitats found in detroit zoo or the assiniboine park zoo which include an underwater tunnel, the calgary habitat certainly still stands out from many polar bear habitats found in city zoos.
An overview of the polar bear habitat below shows us just how big the habitat is, the 2 bears can be found on the right side of the habitat. The polar bear habitat is placed between the mountain goat, reindeer, muskox and otter habitats finally filling in the upper portion of wild canada nicely.
The main guest area for the habitat is found next to the reindeer habitat where a small plaza features 2 large viewing windows, education signs and introducing guests to the small coastline biome area of wild canada.
A small play area with logs decorates the middle of this plaza while polar bears can be seen behind swimming in the deep pool.
The main viewing window in this plaza is the 16 metre long underwater window. We can see the bear swimming and occasionally underwater in this large pool, this pool is roughly 1200m2 of water fufilling the majority of the bears need for water.
To the right of the underwater viewing window, another viewing window looks into the upper portion of the habitat which features a shelter for the bears. Of course the bears don't actually use the shelter, they like to sleep on the ground in the middle of the habitat instead
Leaving the plaza for the underwater viewing, we follow the path following both the polar bear habitat or reindeer habitat. Most likely guests will view the reindeer habitat more here since it can be hard to spot the bears from this path. The large mesh barriers and path fence don't provide great viewing for guests.
Once guests reach the end of the polar bear habitat, the barriers follow the terrain downwards allowing guests to get a good view across the habitat. This rocky area with some trees is in the tundra biome which works great with the open area on the left side. That forest on the right is an unusal sight for a polar bear habitat but the habitat covers the 3 biomes found in this part of wild canada. Coastline for the deep pool, boreal forest for the middle of the habitat, and tundra for this end.
Guests then travel past the muskox and river otters before finally seeing the polar bears again in the lower portion of wild canada. A great view of the habitat can be seen above where the future wolf habitat will be. Varying terrain, large pools and canadian trees make this a unique habitat.
When guests reach the polar bears again, there is an open viewing area into the habitat. We see the smaller shallow pool and the hilly terrain climbing up to the deep pool. Polar bears do travel around the majority of the habitat with enrichment and water pools at different location, sometimes polar bears are obessed with deep diving but thankfully not this time!
The final part of the polar bear habitat is the staff building, the stained wood and faux rock building holds the main indoor area for the bear, toilets for the guests and another viewing area with some angled glass windows to see the bears getting fed. Since keepers do not like large habitats, they drop food off in front of this window.
Wild Canada - Bugtopia Playground
Directly across from the polar bear building is insect themed playground with a large hollow log structure which kids can enter, climb up the stairs and explore the rest of the playground features like slides, monkey bars, and rope climbing walls. I didn't go all out to recreate ever feature since motivation for the calgary build is steadily dropping so I'm trying to speed along the process of the last habitats before I hit that inevitable brick wall where I just quit the zoo. I didn't manage to record a video of this build as I completely forgot to record the start of the building, but I guarantee future zoo builds will show off building a playground.
Overview of the playground, water divides the playground and the polar bear building aea so guests have to cross a bridge to reach the playground.
Entrance sign to the playground, some custom made reed shapes and the grasslands butterfly sign welcome guests to the insect themed playground.
After crossing the bridge, guests see the large hollow log structure with an attached slide and climbing frame at the back. Some ladybug signs and a wasp? nest is attached to the outside of the log.
There isn't that much detail inside the log structure, stairs allow guests to climb up the structure and either enter the slide or climbing frame once at the top.
The climbing frame is a lively part of the playground, the multi tiered climbing frame is decorated with colored slats, 3d ladybugs and caterpillars, a slide, a climbing wall and a rope wall to climb back down.
The other side of this climbing frame shows the slide and rope wall, there are 3 slides in total across the playground.
The other side of the playground features a smaller wooden frame with a small slide, likely for smaller kids. Some mushrooms and grass signs decorate the sides of this frame. There are also some monkeys bars here aswell.
As lots of progress has rounded out the wild canada area, let's take a look at how complete the zoo is. The bow river, the river that splits the zoo in half has now been built clearly showing off the north section shape. The north zoo is looking around 80 percent complete, just waiting on the final habitats for bears, wolves, moose, cougar, whooping crane and raccoon to be built before finally completing the wild canada loop. The sand marked area is the final area that will house the remaining forest and wetland animals of canada.
Directly across from the polar bear building is insect themed playground with a large hollow log structure which kids can enter, climb up the stairs and explore the rest of the playground features like slides, monkey bars, and rope climbing walls. I didn't go all out to recreate ever feature since motivation for the calgary build is steadily dropping so I'm trying to speed along the process of the last habitats before I hit that inevitable brick wall where I just quit the zoo. I didn't manage to record a video of this build as I completely forgot to record the start of the building, but I guarantee future zoo builds will show off building a playground.
Overview of the playground, water divides the playground and the polar bear building aea so guests have to cross a bridge to reach the playground.
Entrance sign to the playground, some custom made reed shapes and the grasslands butterfly sign welcome guests to the insect themed playground.
After crossing the bridge, guests see the large hollow log structure with an attached slide and climbing frame at the back. Some ladybug signs and a wasp? nest is attached to the outside of the log.
There isn't that much detail inside the log structure, stairs allow guests to climb up the structure and either enter the slide or climbing frame once at the top.
The climbing frame is a lively part of the playground, the multi tiered climbing frame is decorated with colored slats, 3d ladybugs and caterpillars, a slide, a climbing wall and a rope wall to climb back down.
The other side of this climbing frame shows the slide and rope wall, there are 3 slides in total across the playground.
The other side of the playground features a smaller wooden frame with a small slide, likely for smaller kids. Some mushrooms and grass signs decorate the sides of this frame. There are also some monkeys bars here aswell.
As lots of progress has rounded out the wild canada area, let's take a look at how complete the zoo is. The bow river, the river that splits the zoo in half has now been built clearly showing off the north section shape. The north zoo is looking around 80 percent complete, just waiting on the final habitats for bears, wolves, moose, cougar, whooping crane and raccoon to be built before finally completing the wild canada loop. The sand marked area is the final area that will house the remaining forest and wetland animals of canada.
Wild Canada - Moose Habitat
Actually the first time I've ever built a habitat for moose so i took inspiration from the real habitat at the zoo and added some creativity to the habitat to make it a great habitat for the several moose that live here. In real life, the habitat is a simple woodland habitat with trees, broken logs and some water pools. The moose habitat carries a "flooded forest" theme to replicate the forests beside the bow river in wet season where moose can often be seen .
So I took that flooded forest theme and greatly increased the amount of water and number of moose in the habitat to create this habitat. The habitat spans from the muskox habitat/river otter lodge to just past the bugtopia playground into the lower trail of wild canada.
The moose habitat is clearly seen by the increase of trees compared to the nearby tundra themed habitats, a variety of boreal forest and temperate trees have been used to provide a gradual move to temperate trees as sudden changes in foliage look really bad in zoo recreations. Beech, birch and sycamore maple trees are the main types of trees we can find in this new temperate biome instead of douglas fir trees.
The other side of the habitat, the bugtopia playground is surrounded by the moose habitat.
The first viewpoint of the moose habitat looks like a lake viewpoint with a small island in the middle.
The other side of the upper part of the moose habitat, the water throughout the habitat is shallow so the moose can walk through it.
After passing through the river otter lodge and head downhill, we reach the second viewpoint into the main portion of the moose habitat. 3 water pools can be seen here creating the flooded forest theme. Moose are actually difficult to spot in this portion as they like to blend in with the foliage at the back, only coming closer to drink from one of these pools.
Returning back to the bugtopia playground, the moose habitat now takes up a part of the water here with clear views into the habitat from the bridge.
The habitat fence runs close to the playground so great views of passing moose can be seen from the playground allowing the playground to be a multi purpose area - one is a playground for kids and also a moose viewing area.
On the other side of the playground, we can see the final part of the moose habitat. We can often find the male moose here away from the females.
While there are still 6 habitats to go, we can expect only one more build video on my youtube channel, I have decided to skip both the whooping crane and raccoon habitats as these are pretty simple to build but instead to focus on the predator habitats with the wolves, bears and cougars. Of course, the cranes and raccoons will be shown here in the next update.
Actually the first time I've ever built a habitat for moose so i took inspiration from the real habitat at the zoo and added some creativity to the habitat to make it a great habitat for the several moose that live here. In real life, the habitat is a simple woodland habitat with trees, broken logs and some water pools. The moose habitat carries a "flooded forest" theme to replicate the forests beside the bow river in wet season where moose can often be seen .
So I took that flooded forest theme and greatly increased the amount of water and number of moose in the habitat to create this habitat. The habitat spans from the muskox habitat/river otter lodge to just past the bugtopia playground into the lower trail of wild canada.
The moose habitat is clearly seen by the increase of trees compared to the nearby tundra themed habitats, a variety of boreal forest and temperate trees have been used to provide a gradual move to temperate trees as sudden changes in foliage look really bad in zoo recreations. Beech, birch and sycamore maple trees are the main types of trees we can find in this new temperate biome instead of douglas fir trees.
The other side of the habitat, the bugtopia playground is surrounded by the moose habitat.
The first viewpoint of the moose habitat looks like a lake viewpoint with a small island in the middle.
The other side of the upper part of the moose habitat, the water throughout the habitat is shallow so the moose can walk through it.
After passing through the river otter lodge and head downhill, we reach the second viewpoint into the main portion of the moose habitat. 3 water pools can be seen here creating the flooded forest theme. Moose are actually difficult to spot in this portion as they like to blend in with the foliage at the back, only coming closer to drink from one of these pools.
Returning back to the bugtopia playground, the moose habitat now takes up a part of the water here with clear views into the habitat from the bridge.
The habitat fence runs close to the playground so great views of passing moose can be seen from the playground allowing the playground to be a multi purpose area - one is a playground for kids and also a moose viewing area.
On the other side of the playground, we can see the final part of the moose habitat. We can often find the male moose here away from the females.
While there are still 6 habitats to go, we can expect only one more build video on my youtube channel, I have decided to skip both the whooping crane and raccoon habitats as these are pretty simple to build but instead to focus on the predator habitats with the wolves, bears and cougars. Of course, the cranes and raccoons will be shown here in the next update.
This is like official public Canadian promotion. Does the Canadian foreign ministry play Planet Zoo?
Wild Canada - Wolves, Grizzly bears, Whooping Cranes, and black bears
Ok so busy time for this thread today, I am going to write up 3 posts as major progress has been completed with many pictures to share!
So to start off, wild canada is now complete with the addition of 6 new habitats - grey wolf, grizzly bear, american black bear, cougar, whooping crane, and raccoon. The connects the moose/bugtopia playground parts of the lower wild canada path to the main zoo path which links back to the main entrance. As always let's look at a bird eye view of the progress:
The above picture shows the lower wild canada area fully completed with lots of trees hiding all the path connections to the habitats. Basically we start with the polar bear building in the bottom left, on the right side of the path we come across the 4 predator habitats - grey wolf, grizzly bear, black bear, and cougar. On the left we find only 2 habitats - whooping crane and raccoon.
Let's head back to the polar bear building and start the tour, just across from the building we first arrive at the grey wolf/timber wolf habitat. A open viewing area with an angled barrier allows great views into the forest themed habitat that features 5 wolves.
Guests will notice the large tunnel into the wolf den, this is a working shelter for the wolves and apart from the very large entrance (got to love the hitboxes!), it fits in quite well with the rocks forming a natural shelter entrance. To encourage the wolves to visit the den often for guests to see, a water tap is also featured inside along with bedding.
Moving on from the wolf habitat, we reach a much larger bear habitat. This habitat is for the grizzly bears and offers a look into the treeline style habitats that the bears live in. The closest part of the habitat on the guests side features a sparse woodland then further moves into a barren rocky hillside. The bears also have a den here but more of a rocky entrance to match the surrounding terrain. We also get a look at the style of viewing shelters that are featured in every predator habitat.
Heading to the other side of the path, a secondary smaller path loops past the whooping crane habitat. Similar to the moose habitat, a long wetland style habitat features 3 cranes who are often found wading through the water.
Returning to the main path, we reach the black bear habitat. American black bears have a much more detailed habitat with the den and forest theming making a much more attractive habitat than the grizzly bear habitat.
For those wondering what guests actually see outside these viewing areas, the main paths here take guests through a typical canadian forest trail. The seperate paths for viewing greatly helps immersion as animals can be seen at seperate locations away from the main path.
Ok so busy time for this thread today, I am going to write up 3 posts as major progress has been completed with many pictures to share!
So to start off, wild canada is now complete with the addition of 6 new habitats - grey wolf, grizzly bear, american black bear, cougar, whooping crane, and raccoon. The connects the moose/bugtopia playground parts of the lower wild canada path to the main zoo path which links back to the main entrance. As always let's look at a bird eye view of the progress:
The above picture shows the lower wild canada area fully completed with lots of trees hiding all the path connections to the habitats. Basically we start with the polar bear building in the bottom left, on the right side of the path we come across the 4 predator habitats - grey wolf, grizzly bear, black bear, and cougar. On the left we find only 2 habitats - whooping crane and raccoon.
Let's head back to the polar bear building and start the tour, just across from the building we first arrive at the grey wolf/timber wolf habitat. A open viewing area with an angled barrier allows great views into the forest themed habitat that features 5 wolves.
Guests will notice the large tunnel into the wolf den, this is a working shelter for the wolves and apart from the very large entrance (got to love the hitboxes!), it fits in quite well with the rocks forming a natural shelter entrance. To encourage the wolves to visit the den often for guests to see, a water tap is also featured inside along with bedding.
Moving on from the wolf habitat, we reach a much larger bear habitat. This habitat is for the grizzly bears and offers a look into the treeline style habitats that the bears live in. The closest part of the habitat on the guests side features a sparse woodland then further moves into a barren rocky hillside. The bears also have a den here but more of a rocky entrance to match the surrounding terrain. We also get a look at the style of viewing shelters that are featured in every predator habitat.
Heading to the other side of the path, a secondary smaller path loops past the whooping crane habitat. Similar to the moose habitat, a long wetland style habitat features 3 cranes who are often found wading through the water.
Returning to the main path, we reach the black bear habitat. American black bears have a much more detailed habitat with the den and forest theming making a much more attractive habitat than the grizzly bear habitat.
For those wondering what guests actually see outside these viewing areas, the main paths here take guests through a typical canadian forest trail. The seperate paths for viewing greatly helps immersion as animals can be seen at seperate locations away from the main path.