Hey there:
I was excited to see Planet Zoo coming to console after watching videos of people playing this when it was only for PC. As I continue to play the game, there are some animals in which the interspecies bonuses make sense while the others that don't benefit from an interspecies bonus. The two that immediately come to mind are the African savannah elephant, gemsbok, and nyala. I like to create accurate exhibits and mix species that would naturally occur in the wild. But zoos will be zoos and will mix species that aren't ordinarily seen together.
Granted, in real life (and at least here in the United States), certain zoos are starting to incorporate African savannah elephants with other hoofstock; examples I have seen in person are Fresno Chaffee Zoo has their small herd mixed with slender-horned antelope and Zoo Tampa has theirs mixed with impala. I know that Dallas Zoo was the first to mix their elephants with guineafowls, greater kudus, Hartmann's mountain zebras, and reticulated giraffes. In the wild, elephants will cohabitate with the many herbivores throughout their range. Why not incorporate this in the game? I'm looking at a 2017 AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Mixed Species Manual as a point of reference and also cross-referencing animals already in the game.
For the African savannah elephant, they can benefit from sharing the habitat with the: African buffalo (occurs in the wild), blue wildebeest (occurs in the wild), common ostrich (occurs in the wild), gemsbok (occurs in the wild), Nile lechwe (AZA success AND in the wild), nyala (occurs in the wild), plains zebra (AZA success AND in the wild), reticulated giraffe (AZA success AND in the wild), sable antelope (occurs in the wild), springbok (occurs in the wild), and Thomson's gazelle (AZA success AND in the wild).
For the gemsbok, I would like to see them have interspecies bonuses with the: African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, common ostrich, plains zebra, southern white rhinoceros, and springbok. According to the 2017 manual, gemsbok have successfully cohabitated with the African buffalo, bongo, dama gazelle, European fallow deer, Nile lechwe, nyala, reticulated giraffe, sable antelope, scimitar-horned oryx, Somali wild ass, and Thomson's gazelle.
For the nyala, I would like to see them have interspecies bonuses with the: African buffalo, African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, common ostrich, plains zebra, sable antelope, and southern white rhinoceros. According to the 2017 manual, nyalas have successfully cohabitated with the addax, bongo, dromedary camel, gemsbok, Nile lechwe, okapi, red river hog, reticulated giraffe, scimitar-horned oryx, springbok, and Thomson's gazelle.
This may be very pedantic of me but I think it would be cool (and accurate) that for certain species that have distinct subspecies, there could be a drop-down tab to select which subspecies you want in the zoo and it'll have the skin (and if possible even the change the size slightly) to match said subspecies. For example, the plains zebra, at least in the U.S. does have two subspecies that show up in zoos: the Grant's (E. q. boehmi) and the Burchell's or Damaraland (E. q. burchellii). The subspecies most common in American zoos and the default subspecies in the game is the Grant's zebra.
Another example would be the common ostrich. Since the Somali ostrich is considered its own species (primarily because of feeding habits and habitat), the same can be done with the common ostrich. But in this case, depending on the subspecies of common ostrich you choose, you can get more conservation credits. The South African (S. c. australis) subspecies is the default subspecies in the game; you can get more conservation credits for selecting the North African (S. c. camelus) and a moderate amount with the Masai (S. c. massaicus), with the South African receiving the lowest amount of conservation credits. I know that the European zoos favor displaying and raising the North African subspecies since it is listed as a "Critically Endangered" subspecies.
A note on the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes): you could use the common ostrich model but it would have to be rigged for it to be a browser instead of a forager like the common ostrich. The Somali ostrich is also called the "blue-necked" ostrich. The Somali ostrich has a conservation status as "Vulnerable". I can see the Somali ostrich receive interspecies enrichment from the: African buffalo, African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, dromedary camel, plains zebra, reticulated giraffe, Somali wild ass, southern white rhinoceros, and Thomson's gazelle.
The game currently needs to update several species scientific names: the "bongo" needs to be specified to the being the eastern bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) since this is the subspecies that zoos focus on displaying and raising. Since genetic studies have shown that giraffes have four distinct species, the scientific name for the reticulated giraffe needs to be updated to just Giraffa reticulata. The "dama gazelle" in the game is modeled after addra (N. d. ruficollis), the true dama is only bred in one zoo in the Middle East while the addra and the mhorr (N. d. mhorr) are the two subspecies under human cares in zoos in both America and Europe. Again, different skins can be used but because these species is already an "Critically Endangered" species, all subspecies would be awarded the same amount of conservation credits.
I will either create a new post about what I'd like to see in a Planet Zoo 2 (include which of these base game animals should be removed entirely from the next base game) or respond to a post about that same conversation.
What do you think?
P.S.: I didn't add the black rhinoceros, the common hippopotamus, or the southern white rhinoceros to be mixed in with African savannah elephants since all three species are generally antagonistic in the wild. There have been reports of African savannah elephants "violating" or even outright killing rhinos (in those cases, they were untutored teenagers in musth that didn't have the guidance and mentorship of an older male). Plus, I haven't see any zoo or safari park attempted, let alone succeed, in mixing these species together. While visually they look like they share the same space, Fresno Chaffee Zoo do have barriers to separate their African savannah elephants from the other habitat which houses their blue wildebeests, elands, giraffes, impalas, kudus, and southern white rhinos. While black rhinos have successfully mixed with other hoofstock, that was only at the San Diego Safari Park where they have a very large, mixed-species habitat. Black rhinos have been known to kill smaller hoofstock and they've unsuccessfully been housed with ostriches. The only animals black rhinos have successfully mixed with other species without any problems are large waterbirds, primarily pelicans. So whenever Frontier include pelicans in the game, like the great white or the pink-backed, it would be accurate and fun to incorporate either species as giving interspecies enrichment to the black rhinos.
I was excited to see Planet Zoo coming to console after watching videos of people playing this when it was only for PC. As I continue to play the game, there are some animals in which the interspecies bonuses make sense while the others that don't benefit from an interspecies bonus. The two that immediately come to mind are the African savannah elephant, gemsbok, and nyala. I like to create accurate exhibits and mix species that would naturally occur in the wild. But zoos will be zoos and will mix species that aren't ordinarily seen together.
Granted, in real life (and at least here in the United States), certain zoos are starting to incorporate African savannah elephants with other hoofstock; examples I have seen in person are Fresno Chaffee Zoo has their small herd mixed with slender-horned antelope and Zoo Tampa has theirs mixed with impala. I know that Dallas Zoo was the first to mix their elephants with guineafowls, greater kudus, Hartmann's mountain zebras, and reticulated giraffes. In the wild, elephants will cohabitate with the many herbivores throughout their range. Why not incorporate this in the game? I'm looking at a 2017 AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Mixed Species Manual as a point of reference and also cross-referencing animals already in the game.
For the African savannah elephant, they can benefit from sharing the habitat with the: African buffalo (occurs in the wild), blue wildebeest (occurs in the wild), common ostrich (occurs in the wild), gemsbok (occurs in the wild), Nile lechwe (AZA success AND in the wild), nyala (occurs in the wild), plains zebra (AZA success AND in the wild), reticulated giraffe (AZA success AND in the wild), sable antelope (occurs in the wild), springbok (occurs in the wild), and Thomson's gazelle (AZA success AND in the wild).
For the gemsbok, I would like to see them have interspecies bonuses with the: African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, common ostrich, plains zebra, southern white rhinoceros, and springbok. According to the 2017 manual, gemsbok have successfully cohabitated with the African buffalo, bongo, dama gazelle, European fallow deer, Nile lechwe, nyala, reticulated giraffe, sable antelope, scimitar-horned oryx, Somali wild ass, and Thomson's gazelle.
For the nyala, I would like to see them have interspecies bonuses with the: African buffalo, African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, common ostrich, plains zebra, sable antelope, and southern white rhinoceros. According to the 2017 manual, nyalas have successfully cohabitated with the addax, bongo, dromedary camel, gemsbok, Nile lechwe, okapi, red river hog, reticulated giraffe, scimitar-horned oryx, springbok, and Thomson's gazelle.
This may be very pedantic of me but I think it would be cool (and accurate) that for certain species that have distinct subspecies, there could be a drop-down tab to select which subspecies you want in the zoo and it'll have the skin (and if possible even the change the size slightly) to match said subspecies. For example, the plains zebra, at least in the U.S. does have two subspecies that show up in zoos: the Grant's (E. q. boehmi) and the Burchell's or Damaraland (E. q. burchellii). The subspecies most common in American zoos and the default subspecies in the game is the Grant's zebra.
Another example would be the common ostrich. Since the Somali ostrich is considered its own species (primarily because of feeding habits and habitat), the same can be done with the common ostrich. But in this case, depending on the subspecies of common ostrich you choose, you can get more conservation credits. The South African (S. c. australis) subspecies is the default subspecies in the game; you can get more conservation credits for selecting the North African (S. c. camelus) and a moderate amount with the Masai (S. c. massaicus), with the South African receiving the lowest amount of conservation credits. I know that the European zoos favor displaying and raising the North African subspecies since it is listed as a "Critically Endangered" subspecies.
A note on the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes): you could use the common ostrich model but it would have to be rigged for it to be a browser instead of a forager like the common ostrich. The Somali ostrich is also called the "blue-necked" ostrich. The Somali ostrich has a conservation status as "Vulnerable". I can see the Somali ostrich receive interspecies enrichment from the: African buffalo, African savannah elephant, blue wildebeest, dromedary camel, plains zebra, reticulated giraffe, Somali wild ass, southern white rhinoceros, and Thomson's gazelle.
The game currently needs to update several species scientific names: the "bongo" needs to be specified to the being the eastern bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) since this is the subspecies that zoos focus on displaying and raising. Since genetic studies have shown that giraffes have four distinct species, the scientific name for the reticulated giraffe needs to be updated to just Giraffa reticulata. The "dama gazelle" in the game is modeled after addra (N. d. ruficollis), the true dama is only bred in one zoo in the Middle East while the addra and the mhorr (N. d. mhorr) are the two subspecies under human cares in zoos in both America and Europe. Again, different skins can be used but because these species is already an "Critically Endangered" species, all subspecies would be awarded the same amount of conservation credits.
I will either create a new post about what I'd like to see in a Planet Zoo 2 (include which of these base game animals should be removed entirely from the next base game) or respond to a post about that same conversation.
What do you think?
P.S.: I didn't add the black rhinoceros, the common hippopotamus, or the southern white rhinoceros to be mixed in with African savannah elephants since all three species are generally antagonistic in the wild. There have been reports of African savannah elephants "violating" or even outright killing rhinos (in those cases, they were untutored teenagers in musth that didn't have the guidance and mentorship of an older male). Plus, I haven't see any zoo or safari park attempted, let alone succeed, in mixing these species together. While visually they look like they share the same space, Fresno Chaffee Zoo do have barriers to separate their African savannah elephants from the other habitat which houses their blue wildebeests, elands, giraffes, impalas, kudus, and southern white rhinos. While black rhinos have successfully mixed with other hoofstock, that was only at the San Diego Safari Park where they have a very large, mixed-species habitat. Black rhinos have been known to kill smaller hoofstock and they've unsuccessfully been housed with ostriches. The only animals black rhinos have successfully mixed with other species without any problems are large waterbirds, primarily pelicans. So whenever Frontier include pelicans in the game, like the great white or the pink-backed, it would be accurate and fun to incorporate either species as giving interspecies enrichment to the black rhinos.
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