Base game
Grizzly bear -> Eurasian brown bear
Himalayan brown bear -> Spectacled bear
West African lion -> African lion
Timber wolf -> Grey wolf
Black wildebeest -> Blue wildebeest
Bengal tiger -> Sumatran tiger
Siberian tiger -> Asian golden cat
Bactrian camel -> Dromedary camel
Indian rhinoceros -> Black rhinoceros
Indian elephant -> Amur leopard
Mandrill -> Olive baboon
Gemsbok -> Arabian oryx
African wild dog -> Black-backed jackal
Formosan black bear -> North American black bear
Bonobo -> Squirrel monkey
Chinese pangolin -> Nine-banded armadillo
Nyala -> Greater kudu
American bison -> Wisent
Orangutan -> Red deer
I replaced some popular animals on purpose because I think they would have made great DLC animals, like the Grizzly bear. I replaced them with species that are less iconic but more conservationally important and/or more common in captivity and/or represent regions currently not or badly represented in game. I also rectified some species designations, such as the lion and wolf.
Deluxe
Thomson gazelle -> Indian elephant
- African leopard
- Siberian tiger
- American bison
I think the Deluxe should have more animals to be worth the price, and the animals should have an extra edge to make people want to buy it. The Komodo dragon and pygmy hippo are great choices, the Thomson gazelle is meh so I replaced it with the Indian elephant, which I left out of the base roster on purpose. I added the popular Siberian tiger and African leopard and American bison. This way the Deluxe gives 2nd options for an elephant, leopard, tiger, hippo, bison, and the largest land reptile that really speaks to the imagination. I think these 5 animals make the Deluxe worth buying on its own.
Arctic
Arctic wolf -> Arctic fox
+ Musk ox
Added a 5th animal so this pack also has 5 animals just like the other scenery packs, and it is the widely requested musk ox. The nonsense arctic wolf is replaced by the arctic fox, because we already have the grey wolf in game, which encompasses the arctic wolf subspecies.
South America
Red eyed tree frog -> Emerald tree boa
Llama -> Guanaco
Instead of another frog we'd get a dazzling snake. The domestic llama is of course replaced by the wild guanaco.
Australia
Dingo -> Tasmanian devil
Cassowary -> Emu
I love dingoes and cassowaries, but the emu is the quintessential Australian bird and the devil is a more unique predator pick. Plus we'd already get a wild dog in the SEA pack (dhole).
Aquatic
Giant otter -> Asian small clawed otter
King penguin -> African penguin
I love the seal, so it stays. The otter and penguin are replaced by the ASCO and African penguin though, which will open up slots in future packs.
South East Asia
Proboscis monkey -> Orangutan
This is where the orangutan comes in, the obvious headliner for such a pack.
Africa
African penguin -> Grey-crowned crane
Fennec fox -> Serval
- Colobus monkey
- Red river hog
- African wild dog
The African wild dog returns in this pack. The penguin is replaced with the grey-crowned crane. The fennec fox is replaced by the serval. I also made this an animal pack, because we already had an Africa theme in game, and added the red river hog and an old-world monkey. Lots of big hitters in this pack.
North America
Arctic fox -> Grizzly bear
And that's it, perfect as is.
Europe
Fallow deer -> Wild boar
Because the base roster already has the iconic red deer, the fallow deer is now replaced by the wild boar. If Europe were an animal pack I'd have kept the fallow, but I like the building pieces in this pack far too much to turn it into an animal pack.
Wetlands
Spectacled caiman -> Mute swan
Asian small clawed otter -> Australian pelican
Wild water buffalo -> Père David's deer
Red crowned crane -> Roseate spoonbill
The ASCO already got in. We didn't need another croc. I personally did not like the crane, and felt there were better bird options. In fact, I put three birds in this pack because let's face it, this is the perfect pack for more bird species. So enter a swan, pelican, and spoonbill, to get water birds from 3 continents.
Conservation
Amur leopard -> Northern hairy-nosed wombat
The leopard is already in the base roster, so I replaced it with the critically endangered wombat species.
Twilight
Common wombat -> Wolverine
Replaced the wombat because it came in the pack before. The wolverine is an animal with a scary reputation and lives in North America and Europe, so perfect fit with the camping / Halloween theme.
