Hot takes for planet zoo

[Moonfox]

I don't care if an animal is "realistic" for a zoo game. This is a game, we can have saolas and leopard seals and saigas if we want to!

I prefer to get animals that aren't typically in real life zoos in my region - it's more fun to play with animals I never get to see in real life.

I'm happy for them to add cetaceans. Planet Zoo lets us build habitats with exceptionally high welfare standards that wouldn't be possible in real life.

I don't give a flying fish about non-mammalian aquatics.

 

[SuzieSky]

This game doesn't have too many ungulates or carnivores, it have to many antelopes and big cats.

I couldn't care less about a pelican.

Rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected mammals groups, not primates, with a third place being afrotheria.

I would be way more interested on an African exhibit animal over an habitat one.

I want more crocodiles.

• Cats are so popular and common irl that I don't question it. Antelope are common in real-world zoos, but they've added several unrequested ones recently.
• I didn't think too much of them until I learned that the great white could also be used in mixed wetlands habitats. Flying birds, ducks, and a few mixed wetland species are my main focus for 'fixing' birds right now.
• This takes three: I have questions.
  • Domestic rabbits are uncommon in zoos I've attended. I don't think I've ever seen a wild lagomorph in a zoo. I'd take one mainly for the modders, but I could live without rabbits in PZ. Are they common for you?
  • Most rodents seem like exhibit animals to me. I'm not violently opposed to exhibit rodents, but I don't miss them too much. For habitat candidates, I've seen maras, agoutis, and arboreal porcupines frequently. The less popular chinchillas and springhares interest me, and I know the marmot is a somewhat popular contender for Europe's critter(s). The maras are highly requested, agoutis are underrated, and arboreal porcupines received less attention because nearly everyone was rooting for the crested. We got capybara, beavers, prairie dogs, and crested porcupines in DLCs. While they could use more attention, I don't see how rodents have been neglected. Is there something else I'm missing?
  • As far as I know, hyraxes are the only contender. Is there some other requested, famous, or common-in-zoos animal that would fit in a habitat? (i.e. tortoise-sized or prairie dog-sized with a social group to make up for it) What are you looking for in this clade that makes it more neglected than monkeys?
• Chameleons would be nice, but I still want a few habitat animals from Africa
• I personally don't need any more, but the Nile croc is super popular. I would also kind of like a Chinese alligator, false gharial, and perhaps a Cuban croc. Mods might be a good option for even more.

 

[Marvinb]

As far as I know, hyraxes are the only contender. Is there some other requested, famous, or common-in-zoos animal that would fit in a habitat? (i.e. tortoise-sized or prairie dog-sized with a social group to make up for it) What are you looking for in this clade that makes it more neglected than monkeys?

The black and rofous sengi is the only other one that comes close to being a viable habitat option. They are roughly meerkat size, but they are solitary animals so i them being a viable option is probably quite a stretch.

So realisticly the hyrax is really the only viable option for afrotheria at the moment

 

[Marvinb]

But i think bats do take the cake as the most underrepresented mammal group. 2 out of ~1400 species is hard to beat

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

• Domestic rabbits are uncommon in zoos I've attended. I don't think I've ever seen a wild lagomorph in a zoo. I'd take one mainly for the modders, but I could live without rabbits in PZ. Are they common for you?

Rabbits aren't particularlly common here in Brazil, but my wanting for them and reasoning to put them here is because it's a whole clade of very famous and versatile animals in zoo context that have received 0 members trough the game run, hence why i think they are tied as 1# most neglected animals alongside rodents

• Most rodents seem like exhibit animals to me. I'm not violently opposed to exhibit rodents, but I don't miss them too much. For habitat candidates, I've seen maras, agoutis, and arboreal porcupines frequently. The less popular chinchillas and springhares interest me, and I know the marmot is a somewhat popular contender for Europe's critter(s). The maras are highly requested, agoutis are underrated, and arboreal porcupines received less attention because nearly everyone was rooting for the crested. We got capybara, beavers, prairie dogs, and crested porcupines in DLCs. While they could use more attention, I don't see how rodents have been neglected. Is there something else I'm missing?

As i said earlier, rodents were absent on the base game and only made it way on 3 dlcs, while being a vast group with marmots, arboreal porcupines, both ground and arboreal squirrels, marmots, agoutis, chinchilas, guinea pigs and maras being all absent from the game

• What are you looking for in this clade that makes it more neglected than monkeys?

Nothing, because what i meant in my original comment is that rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected groups, followed by primates and then Afrotheria, i simply worded it badly.

And yes, i'm think on Hyraxes and big Sengis when i say afrotheria.

But i think bats do take the cake as the most underrepresented mammal group. 2 out of ~1400 species is hard to beat

I actually agree, i have been waiting for the vampire bat and the golden crowned flying fox for quite a while, and i really think we could get more.

 

[Marvinb]

I actually agree, i have been waiting for the vampire bat and the golden crowned flying fox for quite a while, and i really think we could get more.

In theory i wouldnt mind having one or two more, but in practice the bats are moving so fast and so small that you couldnt tell the difference between the majority of them anyways. So getting one of the really big asian flying foxes is pretty much the only one im interested in, since its basicly twice the size of the egyptian and spectacled. Vampire bat would be cool to get something really different than a flying fox, but they are absolutely tiny and i feel they would get absolutely lost in the WE, besides having them as walkthrough is maybe not the best idea

But tbh i think the egyptian fruit bat already was the single best bat they could have chosen, its the most common and most versatile as it works both for nocturnal and tropical houses

 

[SanRazo]

Rabbits aren't particularlly common here in Brazil, but my wanting for them and reasoning to put them here is because it's a whole clade of very famous and versatile animals in zoo context that have received 0 members trough the game run, hence why i think they are tied as 1# most neglected animals alongside rodents

As i said earlier, rodents were absent on the base game and only made it way on 3 dlcs, while being a vast group with marmots, arboreal porcupines, both ground and arboreal squirrels, marmots, agoutis, chinchilas, guinea pigs and maras being all absent from the game

Nothing, because what i meant in my original comment is that rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected groups, followed by primates and then Afrotheria, i simply worded it badly.

And yes, i'm think on Hyraxes and big Sengis when i say afrotheria.


I actually agree, i have been waiting for the vampire bat and the golden crowned flying fox for quite a while, and i really think we could get more.

In theory i wouldnt mind having one or two more, but in practice the bats are moving so fast and so small that you couldnt tell the difference between the majority of them anyways. So getting one of the really big asian flying foxes is pretty much the only one im interested in, since its basicly twice the size of the egyptian and spectacled. Vampire bat would be cool to get something really different than a flying fox, but they are absolutely tiny and i feel they would get absolutely lost in the WE, besides having them as walkthrough is maybe not the best idea

But tbh i think the egyptian fruit bat already was the single best bat they could have chosen, its the most common and most versatile as it works both for nocturnal and tropical houses

I feel like smaller bats like a vampire would’ve been cool for a smaller non walkthrough exhibit they could’ve added

 

[Utahraptor Arcanus]

I feel like smaller bats like a vampire would’ve been cool for a smaller non walkthrough exhibit they could’ve added

you mean... the regular exhibit?

 

[Mjmannella]

I feel like smaller bats like a vampire would’ve been cool for a smaller non walkthrough exhibit they could’ve added

I think small bats would be perfectly fine in the current walkthrough exhibit. It can hold butterflies, why not vampire bats?

 

[Marvinb]

I think small bats would be perfectly fine in the current walkthrough exhibit. It can hold butterflies, why not vampire bats?

probably because a walkthrough enclosure for parasites is kinda funky

 

[Mjmannella]

Common vampire bats prefer targeting ungulates, and the other 2 species primarily go after birds. I think our guests will be fine with vampire bats flying around in a walkthrough exhibit.

 

[Marvinb]

Common vampire bats prefer targeting ungulates, and the other 2 species primarily go after birds. I think our guests will be fine with vampire bats flying around in a walkthrough exhibit.

Yeah true, but wild vampire bats occasionally bite humans, so i think captive ones would absolutely try to feed on the visitors, especially in an contained are and as its the only "live prey" they ever have available.
Like wolves also almost never go after humans, yet i doubt anyone would want to go into their enclosure. Extreme example but still

 

[SanRazo]

you mean... the regular exhibit?

Slightly bigger

 

[SuzieSky]

Rabbits aren't particularlly common here in Brazil, but my wanting for them and reasoning to put them here is because it's a whole clade of very famous and versatile animals in zoo context that have received 0 members trough the game run, hence why i think they are tied as 1# most neglected animals alongside rodents

As i said earlier, rodents were absent on the base game and only made it way on 3 dlcs, while being a vast group with marmots, arboreal porcupines, both ground and arboreal squirrels, marmots, agoutis, chinchilas, guinea pigs and maras being all absent from the game

Nothing, because what i meant in my original comment is that rodents and lagomorphs were the most neglected groups, followed by primates and then Afrotheria, i simply worded it badly.

And yes, i'm think on Hyraxes and big Sengis when i say afrotheria.


I actually agree, i have been waiting for the vampire bat and the golden crowned flying fox for quite a while, and i really think we could get more.

The base game lacked small mammals in general, but I thought the initial lineup of afrotheria was fine. We got an elephant for each continent and even the aardvark as one of the few small mammals in the base game. There has been great demand for small mammals since launch, including marsupials, rodents, carnivorans, and a few others. I think Frontier has done a fantastic job delivering the most requested of the small mammals and bringing that niche to a fairly passable state. Like many people, I'm still hoping for a coati and a tree kangaroo. I think rodents have more to offer beyond the mara, but I don't need a whole lot more from the small mammal lineup. I mostly want/need a few from South America and Oceania.

As for the bats, I would have liked to get multiple species together in Twilight. In addition to the two we got, I would have liked a large flying fox, Honduran white bats, and a vampire bat. However, I am ok with the present bat lineup. If they're going to add another WE flying thing, I'm really hoping for birds.

All of these clades have much to offer for interesting animals irl, but when I think about what is common in zoos I've attended and what would work well in PZ, I don't need nearly so much, personally.

 

[Marvinb]

Tbh despite it obviously getting miles better than it was at first, our small animal roster is still kinda lackluster imo. And atleast to me those are the ones that are really make a zoo believable as you always see these squeeze in somewhere.

 

[caninesrock]

Yeah true, but wild vampire bats occasionally bite humans, so i think captive ones would absolutely try to feed on the visitors, especially in an contained are and as its the only "live prey" they ever have available.
Like wolves also almost never go after humans, yet i doubt anyone would want to go into their enclosure. Extreme example but still

Lions or something might be a better example. There's actually many wolf and wolfdog rescues that allow visitors to pay for a tour that includes going in the enclosure with some of their friendlier animals, even some with wolfdogs that are 95% wolf. I''ve never got to go in with a pure wolf anywhere yet sadly, but I have been in enclosures with super high content wolfdogs.

As for the Vampire bats, I don't know much about them honestly but if there's a species that only goes after birds and not mammals, then that wouldn't be an issue for it biting people since humans are mammals.

 

[FlameWizard492]

1. I feel like I need the American black bear and coyote exclusively because they’re staples of my home state.
2. I don’t think that anyone talks about egg-laying mechanics enough.
3. I was not excited about the dik-dik, and it still feels a little underwhelming.
4. I feel like there could’ve been better choices than the red crowned crane in the wetlands pack.
5. I would’ve preferred the harbor seal over the gray seal.

 

[SanRazo]

1. I feel like I need the American black bear and coyote exclusively because they’re staples of my home state.
2. I don’t think that anyone talks about egg-laying mechanics enough.
3. I was not excited about the dik-dik, and it still feels a little underwhelming.
4. I feel like there could’ve been better choices than the red crowned crane in the wetlands pack.
5. I would’ve preferred the harbor seal over the gray seal.

I disagree with your last three takes but HARD agree with the egg laying take! Goodness how we’ve all collectively accepted the way it is. In the sequel if they slow down time like PC2 egg laying is a must IMO. It’ll add a really cool management aspect for certain species. Maybe you could choose to let them keep their eggs, but you have to make an acceptable nesting spot in the enclosure, or you take the eggs and incubate them yourself backstage. It’ll be amazing for management modes

 

[synthetase]

I think rodents have more to offer beyond the mara,

Agreed! I'd love to see: Cloud Rat, Squirrel(s), Eurasian species of Ground Squirrel, Agouti, African Giant Pouched Rat, etc...

 

[NachoB]

1. I feel like I need the American black bear and coyote exclusively because they’re staples of my home state.
2. I don’t think that anyone talks about egg-laying mechanics enough.
3. I was not excited about the dik-dik, and it still feels a little underwhelming.
4. I feel like there could’ve been better choices than the red crowned crane in the wetlands pack.
5. I would’ve preferred the harbor seal over the gray seal.

I wasn't excited about the dik dik either but it has become a favorite of mine. They are probably the best animal in that pack (and the highest quality one).

I agree about the red crowned crane (like, duck, duh, but also pelican or spoonbill) but i'm really glad we got them. They were the stand out of the pack for me and it really excited me when they reveal it.

Idk i love the seal but honestly any species that was general seal looking would have been fine by me.