Indian Animals

[StarshineCat]

As the Japan thread says, Asia is too large and diverse a continent. How about a subcontinent to choose from? We already have Indian Elephants (aka the best elephants), gharal, hyenas, rhinos and tigers. But india is a wonderful place with many different enviroments and exciting animals therein!
What Indian animals would you like to see?

I'll Start.
1. Indian Panthers

(additional picture its just Big http://cdn2.walkthroughindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/black-panther-in-India.jpg )
Pros. They are the best. Bagheera is one.Theyre iconic and extremely beautiful.
Cons. Jaguars are kind of similar but still.
Are they in Zoos? Yes.

2. Blackbuck/Indian Antelope

Pros. Look at those horns. Just look at them. Also the faces. They're delightful.
cons. None?
Are they in Zoos? Google says yes. There's even a video of an albino one from a zoo.

3. Indian Dhole

Pros. Dog.
Cons. None
Are they in Zoos? yes, picture above is credited by wikipedia as being from budapest zoo.

4. Lion-tailed Macaque

Pros. The game needs more monkeys. Look at them. Ridiculous and amazing creatures.
Cons. Might rule out the Rhesus but, we can have both?
Are they in Zoos? Yes.

5.Wild Asian Buffalo

Pros. Big Cow. Afterall, is India India without a big cow? Look at those Horns. Mighty.
Cons. I'd imagine they need alot of room? But so do Bison so no worries. Having them would probably rule out having Gaur? And Guar are also big cows with good horns.
Are they in Zoos? I have no idea. But they should be. The Horns. Look at the Horns.

6. Sloth Bear

Pros. Fluff Bear.
Cons. Literally none. The claws, the face, the bear, the fluff. They're perfect.
Are they in Zoos? Yes.

Who else do you think needs to be on an India list?

 

[ElectricMonk]

1. Indian Panthers

Cons.: Not a species (melanistic leopard)

 

[markun]

I think blackbuck and water buffalo are suggestions as Asian ungulates are a definite gap in the game. I’d also suggest chital or axis deer.

 

[NZFanatic]

1. Indian Panthers

Cons.: Not a species (melanistic leopard)

I think he's using the word panther/leopard interchangeably. In some lexicons this does occur. I don't think he's specifically referring to the melanistic mutation in this case.

For me, my four picks for Indian animals would be;
- Lion-tailed macaque. There's definitely no such thing as too many monkeys in this game, the more the better. As far as 'iconically Indian' goes I think the grey langur is probably a better choice, but the lion-tailed macaque is critically endangered and has captive populations.
- Asiatic lion. Probably not a popular choice since people in general seem not to want more 'clone' animals in the game, but it's an animal I've always been a fan of, and the fact that it's the last relic population of an animal that once ranged from Europe to east Asia makes it particularly interesting.
- Blackbuck. Definitely an animal worth including, as there are captive populations and as markun says the game is lacking in Asian ungulates. Blackbuck would also be a great species to mix with the Indian rhinoceros or Indian elephant (in terms of giving them an enrichment bonus).
- Sloth bear. Although they are reasonably similar to the already in-game Formosan bear, I think, like the sun bear, they are unique enough to warrant inclusion. Their behaviour is also very different to other Asian black bears, and they would require more climbing area, too. I'm a big fan of animals that can climb.

Other possible inclusions;
- the aforementioned grey langur. An iconic Indian species with a close relationship to humans in India.
- Nilgai. The the other iconic Indian ungulate after the rhinoceros and blackbuck.
- Indian star tortoise. Definitely on the smaller end of the scale for habitat animals, but too big for an exhibit.

Also, for exhibit animals;
- King cobra (obviously). This one was hinted at prior to launch, and I think there was a lot of disappointment that it was missed.
- or the Indian cobra. Either way, a cobra would be great.
- Indian chameleon. I'm surprised we don't already have a chameleon in-game. My hunch tells me we'll be getting one in an Africa DLC at some point, or in a general exhibit animals DLC, depending on what DLC looks like in the future, but it's worth mentioning here as well.

 

[BirdsAreCool]

Indian leopards are cool, but for me I would rather have an Amur leopard. Also, for me an Asiatic lion would be far too similar to the lion already ingame, African and Asian lions are practically indistinguishable from each other. Instead, I would love to see a fishing cat! I don't know if they're kept in zoos or not, but they are very cool!

sloth bears would be amazing, and so would lion-tailed macaques. I would also like to see blackbucks, but I think I would prefer nilgai to water buffalo. I don't think there's really anything else alive today that looks like them, they would be a really unique addition

 

[NZFanatic]

Indian leopards are cool, but for me I would rather have an Amur leopard. Also, for me an Asiatic lion would be far too similar to the lion already ingame, African and Asian lions are practically indistinguishable from each other. Instead, I would love to see a fishing cat! I don't know if they're kept in zoos or not, but they are very cool!

I too would prefer the Amur leopard to any of the other subspecies. In terms of the lion, they gave us both the Himalayan brown and grizzly bears, both the Siberian and Bengal tigers (which recent taxonomical science tells us aren't even a separate subspecies), and both Canis lupus and Canis lupus arctos (which are exactly the same species). The Asiatic lion is the most endangered of the lion subpopulations, and actually does exist in zoos (unlike the 'West African lion', which AFAIK isn't in captivity anywhere - most zoos claim to hold the Southern African lion). In terms of how it looks, there is actually a lot of variation between the populations; the African lions tend to be bigger and stockier, with far bushier manes, while the Asiatic subpopulation tends to be scrawnier and the males have scragglier manes. In terms of colouration, the Asiatic lions also tend not to be as richly 'golden' in colour, appearing more washed-out and darker.

It's all about opinion, of course, but I wouldn't want it written off for arbitrary reasons.

Fishing cats are great and I would love to see them in-game, too. They are kept in captivity all over the world. Of course, at this point, any kind of small cat would be a great addition.

 

[BirdsAreCool]

both Canis lupus and Canis lupus arctos (which are exactly the same species)

I don't mind this so much, because while they are very similar the Arctic wolf is distinct enough for me, seeing as it is a completely different colour

In terms of how it looks, there is actually a lot of variation between the populations

not enough for them to be particularly distinct from each other, I would argue. all of the variations you mentioned are pretty minor, and would be far too similar imo to the African lion already in game. I wouldn't mind seeing it as perhaps an extra, but I don't think many people would be happy if it was one of the main selling points

I really wish we got bigger dlcs with more animals and stuff in them (like with zt2), so that there was space to include a couple of animals like Asiatic lions along with plenty of completely new ones

 

[NZFanatic]

I don't mind this so much, because while they are very similar the Arctic wolf is distinct enough for me, seeing as it is a completely different colour
not enough for them to be particularly distinct from each other, I would argue. all of the variations you mentioned are pretty minor, and would be far too similar imo to the African lion already in game. I wouldn't mind seeing it as perhaps an extra, but I don't think many people would be happy if it was one of the main selling points

As I said, it's all about opinion. The Arctic wolf is, to me, a worse inclusion than the Asiatic lion would be, mostly because of the taxonomical issues it presents. Its inclusion basically shed light on a massive inconsistency with how Frontier understands taxonomy. We already had the Arctic wolf - the timber wolf is the exact same animal. It's not a case of whether or not it looks different in terms of the wolves, it is literally the same animal.

I really wish we got bigger dlcs with more animals and stuff in them (like with zt2), so that there was space to include a couple of animals like Asiatic lions along with plenty of completely new ones

Zoo Tycoon didn't have DLC, it had expansion packs. That model of content isn't really viable anymore, as the gaming industry moves at too quick a pace for developers to keep up with demand. We might see larger DLC later on, for more niche content (such as birds, where four animals wouldn't be enough to cover even a fraction of the possibilities, or if we got a pack that was purely for exhibit animals or something), but in terms of big habitat animals, it seems like 'four animals per pack' is going to be the way things are at least for the forseeable future.

In saying that, it's doubtful we'll even get an 'India Pack' at all. We might see another Indian animal show up in whatever the 'Asia Pack' turns out to be (I'd hedge my bets on the blackbuck) but based on previous patterns we can only really expect around 2-3 years of continued support for Planet Zoo in terms of new content, which amounts to an average of one DLC per quarter (easter, summer, autumn, christmas). What we can't assume is that all DLC will be the same, of course; Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution (both Frontier games) show us that there's no set pattern to how DLC is handled with Frontier; with both we have themed packs and smaller dinosaur/ride packs, so we could see something similar for Zoo.

That's all tangential, of course, and off-topic, and like everyone else I'm only guessing. The next DLC is likely due out in July/August, i.e. the northern hemisphere summer, and I think most people are expecting to see Australia as the theme. Australia has a lot of reptiles and invertebrates, so it's possible they'll take the opportunity to shake up the model.

 

[BirdsAreCool]

We already had the Arctic wolf - the timber wolf is the exact same animal. It's not a case of whether or not it looks different in terms of the wolves, it is literally the same animal.

but we didn't already have the Arctic wolf, we had a generic grey wolf. while they are the same species the Arctic wolf is a relatively distinct population not just genetically but also in colouration. this easily noticable difference makes the Arctic wolf at least an interesting variation to have, although much like an Asiatic lion it would preferably have been an extra along with 4 completely new animals. it's also a reasonably popular animal, unlike the Himalayan brown bear which I don't think most players had even heard of lol

you mentioned that you think the Asiatic lion would be a better addition than the Arctic wolf, however the Asiatic lion is neither easily distinguishable in appearance from other lion populations, nor is it genetically distinct enough to be considered it's own subspecies. much like Siberian and Bengal tigers, the Asiatic lion was clumped into a broader subspecies (Panthera leo leo) in the same revision of feline taxonomy. you are of course entitled to your opinion, but I don't really see how your argument of taxonomy makes Asiatic lions a better option than Arctic wolves

I'm not going to argue with your mini essay about expansions and dlcs, as you said it's off topic, although I would like to point out that my main point when I mentioned zt2 and expansions was that an animal such as the Asiatic lion, which is incredibly similar to an already-existing animal, would work better in a full-fledged expansion with 20 odd animals like zt2 rather than the small 4-animal dlcs we've recieved for planet zoo so far. the Arctic wolf would also have worked better in a larger dlc, but at least it looks somewhat different from the grey wolf

of course, as you said, this is all down to opinion, and I really don't have any interest in arguing further with you. I am most likely not going to change my mind, and so you are wasting your time typing such lengthy responses to my comments (much like I have done with this reply lmao). I think it's fair to say you also won't change your mind, so we should probably just agree to disagree

 

[StarshineCat]

Asiatic Lions would be brilliant. I just figured everyone would go, lions too much like lions so skipped them.
We can have Amur, Fishing cats, and Clouded leopards as well. Like monkeys big cats are a thing there's no such as too much.
Nilgai would be brilliant.
There's alot of really cool and unique deer/antelopes in India as well, but I think Blackbuck win because of the horns.

I didnt think about exhibits, those are great suggests.

1. Indian Panthers

Cons.: Not a species (melanistic leopard)

the picture.. has both colourations in it..
They're all panthers.

 

[NZFanatic]

but we didn't already have the Arctic wolf, we had a generic grey wolf. while they are the same species the Arctic wolf is a relatively distinct population not just genetically but also in colouration. this easily noticable difference makes the Arctic wolf at least an interesting variation to have, although much like an Asiatic lion it would preferably have been an extra along with 4 completely new animals. it's also a reasonably popular animal, unlike the Himalayan brown bear which I don't think most players had even heard of lol

"Colouration" or "appearance" aren't really important. The addition of the Arctic wolf highlighted that Frontier underestimated how informed their player base would be.

I think it's fair to say you also won't change your mind, so we should probably just agree to disagree

I'm not trying to change your mind or argue. I'm just making sure my point is understood. I don't mind one bit if you still disagree with me, I just want to make sure you see where I'm coming from. I certainly see where you are coming from, but we have different perspectives. To me, the Arctic wolf being white (which isn't even entirely accurate) and flufflier isn't really any more unique than the Asiatic lion having a more washed out colouration and a scragglier mane. I see them as equally different from what we already have in-game.