Koala vs Kangaroo walk-though habitat

Skylalaa

S
The Australian DLC allows Koalas and Kangaroos to enrich each other in the same habitat, which is nice. Though the Koala can have a walk-through habitat but the Kangaroo can't, so it's disappointing to be forced to separate them if you want a walk-though habitat which limits your creativity and options as a player. The walk-through habitat is a great mechanic and it's fun to use in-game, yet it is suitable for just a few animals which brings part of the fun. Given its limited use, it is a shame to not include it for the Kangaroo and get more use out of that feature.

It is also an odd choice to not include the Kangaroo for 'realistic' reasons. I live in Australia and in basically every zoo we have Koalas and Kangaroos. I have been to many of the large zoos in Austalia including the world-class Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Kangaroos in walk-through habitats are completely normal - And yes, I am talking about Red Kangaroos. It is normal to see Red Kangaroos, including males, in walk-though habitats.

Having said that, I cannot recall a single time ever seeing a walk-though Koala habitat. Koala encounters were normal, this included a Zoo Keeper being one-on-one or within a group of people to be with the Koala. But never can I remember seeing a habitat that you could walk-though freely with a Koala. They could exist? Even so, Kangaroo walk-through is definitely a more common thing in Zoos, completely realistic to include, gives players more creative freedom, makes Kangaroos more interesting to play with, allows the player to use two cool features of the game (Species enrichment and Walk-throughs) and all the coding you need is already there to use.
I can't think of a single good reason to not include Kangaroos as walk-through habitat animals. Please change your mind on this :)

Roo Valley in Cincinnati Zoo just opened recently and includes Red Kangaroos. Learn more about it here:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwtHRz-oF8&t=389s
Note the "pile of dirt" enrichment item for the Kangaroo. This would make a great enrichment item in the game. All animals use this type of enrichment and can be modified to be dirt, sand, snow, mulch.

Koalas can also be a dangerous animal sometimes. Watch an aggressive Koala attack a zookeeper (also a Quokka sharing its habitat) here:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hr-XKdE6Ik

Also note the chopped trees the Koala sits on inside the habitat. It would make a nice enrichment item for the Koala.
 
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ralphthestick

ralphthestick
You're not forced to separate them - as long as the kangaroos can't get to the path, they can share a habitat and still have guests walking through (you can do the same thing with capuchins and tapirs, for example). Most simply, if you have a raised path, you can have climbing structures up to the path area which only the koalas can access, leaving the kangaroos on ground level, away from the paths. Both animals share the same habitat, but because only the 'safe' animals can enter the path area, guests are happy to walk through.
 

KieranKD

KieranKD
Honestly, there's a mod that makes kangaroo a walk thru animal (animal overhaul by purewinter). It's sad that they weren't that to begin with and they really should have been instead of the koala; several other walk through animals simply don't make sense with people being able to go into the rather dangerous lemur walkthrough who, like other primates, become notoriously aggressive as pets and with 100+ people moving through their enclosures daily, it's a lot more like circus/pet life than zoo. Lemurs can be incredibly dangerous animals and it's always striked me as odd that they could be walk throughs.

Same with being able to walk through the japanese macaque's enclosure. Why primates? Or the incredibly shy (irl) Okapi, or tortoises who in real life do NOT care about humans stressing out at even the mere sight? Walk through animals for the most part are just.... weird. They don't make sense from a real world perspective why some incredibly dangerous animals can be enterable, while other actual walkthrough animals (roos) can't. It's just a weird system overall that has several, several flaws

I've owned tortoises/turtles for 15 years I can assure you they are as dumb as bricks and love humans because they associate them with food. and ESPECIALLY the giant tortioses simply shouldn't be afraid of humans; they have no natural predators as adults and most adults have been in captivity 30+ years. It just wouldn't happen. They wouldn't be easy to startle like the smaller tortoises and turtles and even the sulcata tortoise who actually does have some predators doesn't startle easy like the smaller tortoises/turtles.
 
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NZFanatic

NZFanatic
KieranKD said:
Lemurs can be incredibly dangerous animals and it's always striked me as odd that they could be walk throughs.
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Right now, if I wanted to, I could drive down to one of the two zoos in my area, pay 60 bucks, and go in with the lemurs.

Lemur walkthroughs are not unusual.

Frontier has been inconsistent with what animals can and can't be included in walkthrough habitats, however. Giant anteaters? That's just plain bonkers. They're dangerous as all hell, extremely territorial, and they attack violently when they feel threatened. Kangaroos? I'm iffy about the reds, but it's certainly safer than giant anteaters. Koalas are typically not put in walkthroughs for, as I understand it, conservation reasons. Yet we can do so in-game.

Antelope, such as the pronghorn and springbok, could probably be in walkthrough habitats, but I'm very doubtful as to whether it would be worth it - they probably wouldn't come near the path, and need so much space to roam that you might as well not do a walkthrough for them.

Okapi are a hard no. Not only are they endangered and therefore require special conditions in zoos, they are also famously shy animals. I don't think they're listed as being a 'Yes' for walkthroughs in the game, but IIRC they don't count as escaped either.
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
NZFanatic said:
Antelope, such as the pronghorn and springbok, could probably be in walkthrough habitats, but I'm very doubtful as to whether it would be worth it - they probably wouldn't come near the path, and need so much space to roam that you might as well not do a walkthrough for them.
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Pronghorns aren't Antelopes😉
Also I've did some Research once and it turned out that they can be very territorial. I really wouldn't recommend to let People go in there.

Don't know how it is with Antelopes and Gazelles in Real Life. I think maybe it could work with Gazelles but I think it's less likely that it also works with big Antelopes
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
Urufu1997 said:
Pronghorns aren't Antelopes😉
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I am aware, but their common name is "pronghorn antelope" so it literally makes no difference.

Don't know how it is with Antelopes and Gazelles in Real Life. I think maybe it could work with Gazelles but I think it's less likely that it also works with big Antelopes
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As stated above, my theory is that any antelope would be in such a large habitat as to render a walkthrough essentially pointless. That, or they simply wouldn't go near where people are walking, whether due to timidness, shyness, or disinterest. The best grazing isn't likely to be around a well-trodden path, after all.
 

Borgscan

B
Skylalaa said:
Having said that, I cannot recall a single time ever seeing a walk-though Koala habitat. Koala encounters were normal, this included a Zoo Keeper being one-on-one or within a group of people to be with the Koala. But never can I remember seeing a habitat that you could walk-though freely with a Koala. They could exist? Even so, Kangaroo walk-through is definitely a more common thing in Zoos, completely realistic to include, gives players more creative freedom, makes Kangaroos more interesting to play with, allows the player to use two cool features of the game (Species enrichment and Walk-throughs) and all the coding you need is already there to use.
I can't think of a single good reason to not include Kangaroos as walk-through habitat animals. Please change your mind on this :)
Click to expand...

Australia Zoo in Queensland has a walk-through koala habitat. Given the fact that koalas can be very dangerous, I believe there is always a keeper present and from memory it was only possible to get up close and interact with the koala that the keep was with at that time because the others had a barrier around them, but technically the guests are in the penned habitat. Saying that, the koalas don't go on the ground where the guests are moving, there is simply no need for the koalas to do so, so the walk-through is different to that depicted in PZ.

Also in Queensland is Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and while they don't have a walk-through for koalas, they do have exhibits that are open but the branches the koalas sit in a too far in for a guest to reach. You can have a look at these with Google streetview.

I completely agree with you that the kangaroos should have a walk through. Kangaroos in PZ also move around a lot more than they do in real zoos.

On the subject of the Australian DLC, another flaw I noticed is that in the zoopedia for the dingo, it says three years for sexually maturity. That's incorrect, it's two years for the majority of females and only one year for males. Perhaps setting it to three was to give game balance?
 

Ryanthusar

R
Borgscan said:
On the subject of the Australian DLC, another flaw I noticed is that in the zoopedia for the dingo, it says three years for sexually maturity. That's incorrect, it's two years for the majority of females and only one year for males. Perhaps setting it to three was to give game balance?
Click to expand...

Its the same with wolves, they reach sexual maturity in the game at 4 years, but out in the wild such is 2 to 3 years. So likely done for game balance.
 
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