I think this could be cool but really it is only needed for a few species and should probably be limited to three at most. Also I didn't include domestics because I'd be here all day, maybe another time. Here is my ideal list:
African Buffalo: Cape and Congo (Cape is the most iconic and what we have now but Congo looks so different and gives us a large African rainforest ungulate which would be used quite differently).
Tiger: Siberian, Sumatran, Malayan (Siberian we have now, obviously with its fluffiness its iconic. I went with two more, Malayan to replace the Bengal since they look mostly the same and is actually kept in zoos outside its range, the Sumatran is common and has a distinct smaller appearance so I thought It'd be worth including).
Ostrich: North African and South African (The South African is more typical but the North African subspecies with the red neck is becoming more important in zoos for conservation purposes, this would be a pretty easy one to include and give a good message while having an obvious difference in appearance).
Brown Bear: Eurasian, Grizzly, Syrian (We already have the Grizzly and obviously it works great for North America, Eurasian is a must for Europe of course, Syrian has a unique colouration and throws a bone to the Middle East... Goodbye Himalayan, nobody will miss you).
Plains Zebra: Grant's, Burchell's, Chapman's (All these have differences in their stripe patterns and are from differing parts of the continent, it would be a simple texture swap but players would be able to contrast and compare easily so I think this could be a fun one).
Red Panda: Chinese and Nepalese (Quite a striking difference in fur colour, especially the face. This one is even debated to be on the species level so might not count).
Grey Wolf: Arctic, Eurasian, Mackenzie Valley (One more typical looking subspecies for Eurasia and North America (Mackenzie Valley also has some really nice black morphs) and the Arctic feels too iconic to not include... Sorry Mexican Wolf fans, maybe a Coyote would suffice?)
Lion: Southeast African, Asiatic, Barbary (Giving lions three only felt fair if I was to do it to tigers, here we have the more typical African lion from the southeast of the continent as well as the Extinct in the Wild (allegedly, some say it doesn't exist at all) Barbary which has a very large distinct mane and finally the Asiatic to round it out).
Leopard: Amur, Persian, Sri Lankan (Yea no African, they aren't kept in zoos, included these three because they all represent different biomes and are decently common - Amur for cold snowy regions, Persian for more arid mountains, and Sri Lankan is tropical).
Takin: Sichuan, Mishmi, Golden (Sichuan is what we have now, Mishmi is much browner while Golden is self-explanatory. All look unique and might even be seperate species according to some. Many people have a strong preference with the Takin in particular so makes sense to include all three (Yes I know there is a fourth but nobody cares)).
Also just make the Asian Black Bear generic, I don't really think there is justification for keeping the Formosan and adding a second subspecies when we already have other small black bears in Asia. Same with the chimp, the Western is the most common but considering the others are also around in some capacity, probably best to just make it generic. Also giraffes are a mess so decided not to include them but if Frontier wants to go with the outdated one species taxonomy then yea they should have subspecies options too.
