My favorite and most wanted pack after a desert pack is an temperate pack. Up until the conservation pack i had a near perfect line up of 8, but now that the amur is in a slot opend up and i cant decide how to fill it.
But first, my Main reasons for wanting a woodlands pack:
- Rn, Europe and North America are very close to a satisfying point, where i would be okay with not recieving any more animals for them. I want this pack to cover all 4 missing major key species (from the biased view of an European and data from the EAZA) that would be needed that i would be okay with no more animals for these continents, atleast from their temperate areas.
- Oceania is extremly underrepresented, so species from the temperate Tasmania are very welcome
- Besides one, all of these are very common animals, especally in smaller european zoos
So with that said, the current line up of 6 us:
Solid line up isnt it?
For the exhibit animal i dont care about the stag beetle would be cool.
But now for the 7. Habitat Animal.
Rn we got a mix of 3 Europe, 3 Asia, 2 North America, 2 Oceania, which is pretty good.
The only hole id like to fill is South America, but the only animal from temperate south america that actually appears in zoo collections is the pudu. Which is a deer, but we allready have a deer.
So unless somebody else finds a temperate south american animal thats present in zoos, they are out from the count.
Africas main temperate area are the atlas mountains, with 3 of the animals being present there, so id say they are good aswell.
The other priority would be non mammals, which in this case pretty much only refers to birds.
Also id like the last animal to not be europe/eurasia exclusive, as 4 animals from one regions feel like a regional pack with extras which isnt optimal.
To get started, some of the strongest candidates:
Tasmanian Wombat and Echidna:
Both have a small presence in zoos and Oceania really needs that representation. The question here would mainly be if we really want to double down on this being a europe, tasmania + racoon pack
American black bear:
This pack is missing a large carnivore and the semi arboreal american black bear is both unique and requested enough to fill that slot. 3, 3, 3, 2 for continents is a nice, even split , but arguing for something more uniqud then the ABB is more then understandable. Still a nice inclusion to round out the pack and fill zhe amur leopards niche
North American Porcupine:
Cute aboreal chubby rodents with a good zoo presence with over 53 EAZA holdings and propaply quite a few more in North america.
It somewhat threads the same niche as the racoon so its propaply one over the other, but i also wouldnt mind both as they are very different outside of both being round aboreal north american animals.
Skunks:
Skunks are cute, but we allready got 3 small carnivores in the pack, where it cant match the unique traits of any of them (Mr world wide, arboreal, marsupial).
Still would love to get them one day.
And now its bird time:
Turkey:
Charismatic ground bird with huge cultural importance. Both the wild and domestic versions are equally good picks.
Also imagine listening to them in game and their funny sounds.
Wester Capercaille:
The largest groose, spread across Eurasia. Very unique from all the birds and extension animals we have in game so far, filling a similar niche as the turkey.
White Stork:
Very common in zoos and important to european culture.
They would also double as an african wetlands animal, which would be nice for the less temperate enthusiasts in the community.
Pheasents:
Frontier where are the pheasents?
Most notably are the common pheasent for its large range and the golden pheasent for being the 15. Most common animal in the EAZA and an asia only range.
Grey Partridge:
A small ground bird, but still a good bit larger then quails. Their range spreads across Europe and Western Asia, aswell as invasive in the Great Plains of north america.
They have a Healthy zoo presence with over 80 EAZA holding and are quite unique, as they are least concern as a species but fighting with local extinction across large parts of their range.
Id love more small animals and this prariedog sized bird delivers while also being quite the surprise pick.
But what do you guys think?
What 7. Animal would you choose and why?
Would it be one of my suggestions or something completly different? Cant wait to hear and hopefully learn something about what we all value for the animal selection in the dlcs
But first, my Main reasons for wanting a woodlands pack:
- Rn, Europe and North America are very close to a satisfying point, where i would be okay with not recieving any more animals for them. I want this pack to cover all 4 missing major key species (from the biased view of an European and data from the EAZA) that would be needed that i would be okay with no more animals for these continents, atleast from their temperate areas.
- Oceania is extremly underrepresented, so species from the temperate Tasmania are very welcome
- Besides one, all of these are very common animals, especally in smaller european zoos
So with that said, the current line up of 6 us:
- Red Fox (NA, Eurasia, North Africa, completing the 3 "main" Fox species, over 180 EAZA holdings)
- Wild Boar (Eurasia, North Africa, largest and very visually distinct suid, over 410 EAZA holdings)
- Red Deer (Eurasia, North Africa, large "normal" Deer with high status and importance in european culture, over 490 EAZA holdings)
- Racoon (North America, Arboreal Charismatic Smaller Animal, 543 EAZA holdings)
- Bennets Wallaby (Oceania, most common Marsupial in captivity, over 570 EAZA holdings)
- Tasmanian Devil (Oceania, largest carnivorus marsupial aka small carnivore, 9 EAZA holdings)
Solid line up isnt it?
For the exhibit animal i dont care about the stag beetle would be cool.
But now for the 7. Habitat Animal.
Rn we got a mix of 3 Europe, 3 Asia, 2 North America, 2 Oceania, which is pretty good.
The only hole id like to fill is South America, but the only animal from temperate south america that actually appears in zoo collections is the pudu. Which is a deer, but we allready have a deer.
So unless somebody else finds a temperate south american animal thats present in zoos, they are out from the count.
Africas main temperate area are the atlas mountains, with 3 of the animals being present there, so id say they are good aswell.
The other priority would be non mammals, which in this case pretty much only refers to birds.
Also id like the last animal to not be europe/eurasia exclusive, as 4 animals from one regions feel like a regional pack with extras which isnt optimal.
To get started, some of the strongest candidates:
Tasmanian Wombat and Echidna:
Both have a small presence in zoos and Oceania really needs that representation. The question here would mainly be if we really want to double down on this being a europe, tasmania + racoon pack
American black bear:
This pack is missing a large carnivore and the semi arboreal american black bear is both unique and requested enough to fill that slot. 3, 3, 3, 2 for continents is a nice, even split , but arguing for something more uniqud then the ABB is more then understandable. Still a nice inclusion to round out the pack and fill zhe amur leopards niche
North American Porcupine:
Cute aboreal chubby rodents with a good zoo presence with over 53 EAZA holdings and propaply quite a few more in North america.
It somewhat threads the same niche as the racoon so its propaply one over the other, but i also wouldnt mind both as they are very different outside of both being round aboreal north american animals.
Skunks:
Skunks are cute, but we allready got 3 small carnivores in the pack, where it cant match the unique traits of any of them (Mr world wide, arboreal, marsupial).
Still would love to get them one day.
And now its bird time:
Turkey:
Charismatic ground bird with huge cultural importance. Both the wild and domestic versions are equally good picks.
Also imagine listening to them in game and their funny sounds.
Wester Capercaille:
The largest groose, spread across Eurasia. Very unique from all the birds and extension animals we have in game so far, filling a similar niche as the turkey.
White Stork:
Very common in zoos and important to european culture.
They would also double as an african wetlands animal, which would be nice for the less temperate enthusiasts in the community.
Pheasents:
Frontier where are the pheasents?
Most notably are the common pheasent for its large range and the golden pheasent for being the 15. Most common animal in the EAZA and an asia only range.
Grey Partridge:
A small ground bird, but still a good bit larger then quails. Their range spreads across Europe and Western Asia, aswell as invasive in the Great Plains of north america.
They have a Healthy zoo presence with over 80 EAZA holding and are quite unique, as they are least concern as a species but fighting with local extinction across large parts of their range.
Id love more small animals and this prariedog sized bird delivers while also being quite the surprise pick.
But what do you guys think?
What 7. Animal would you choose and why?
Would it be one of my suggestions or something completly different? Cant wait to hear and hopefully learn something about what we all value for the animal selection in the dlcs