Llamas, Reindeer and walkthrough species in general.

Edaphosaurus

Edaphosaurus
Copied over from my post on Steam:

Ok, so I'm actually fairly satisfied with the DLC. I like the new species, and the monkeys are especially great for use in small parks. However, the one thing that disappoints me is that the llamas are not walkthrough species. I was already a bit confused when the original game cast okapis (notoriously timid), thompson's gazelles (fairly aggressive), springbok (which can jump 2 metres in the air) and pronghorn (the second fastest mamal) all as walkthrough species, while the domestic bactrian camel was not. Now I suppose this makes some sense, camels can be pretty aggressive blighters and the antelope are pretty small. However, since then it seems like many of the good picks for walkthrough species have been missed. Reindeer, a regularly domesticated species, are not unknown in petting zoos. Llamas however I think represent the biggest missed opportunity however, as a fully domesticated species which are practically compulsory in children's zoos!

So getting to the point, I would like to petition Frontier to simply switch the llamas to being walkthrough species which guests can enter the enclosures of. Maybe also reindeer and camels if I'm really lucky!
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
I think Bactrian Camels are way too aggressive for People to just walk in. But I agree with the Llamas and maybe the Reindeer. I was so excited and built a Farm themed Llama-Enclosure just to find out after Release that Guests can't walk into the Enclosure (they can, but they turn around and walk slowly out of the Enclosure)
I wish the Advertisement in my Zoo for the Petting Zoo that will soon be opened, wouldn'tve been wrong
 

Moonfox

Moonfox
Llamas can be a bit aggressive (even if they're way less aggressive than alpacas), and they're bigger than people realise. I think Frontier decided no walkthrough option to try and take them away from the perception of being a farm animal, but it would make sense to have llamas away from the public. I've worked at zoos that have them, but they weren't accessible to the public.
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
Moonfox said:
Llamas can be a bit aggressive (even if they're way less aggressive than alpacas), and they're bigger than people realise.
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You've got that wrong. Alpaca are far more docile, but neither is especially aggressive.

I think Frontier decided no walkthrough option to try and take them away from the perception of being a farm animal, but it would make sense to have llamas away from the public. I've worked at zoos that have them, but they weren't accessible to the public.
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They are farm animals; there's literally no other way to look at them. There's no such thing as a wild llama. Given that they've now changed it in 1.2.4, I think it's pretty clear that it was just an oversight on Frontier's part. One of the zoos I worked at let people hand-feed the llama in the barnyard, and another took them out on walks around the zoo grounds specfically to interact with guests; they only ever spit if they are getting annoyed with people, but since they're a domesticated species it takes a lot to make them annoyed (as with all herbivores, breeding season can shorten the temper of the males, but in general they're calm as anything).
 

Atiggerx33

A
Urufu1997 said:
I think Bactrian Camels are way too aggressive for People to just walk in. But I agree with the Llamas and maybe the Reindeer. I was so excited and built a Farm themed Llama-Enclosure just to find out after Release that Guests can't walk into the Enclosure (they can, but they turn around and walk slowly out of the Enclosure)
I wish the Advertisement in my Zoo for the Petting Zoo that will soon be opened, wouldn'tve been wrong
Click to expand...

I would completely agree if they were the wild type camels! But the Zoopedia specifically says that the ones in your zoo are of the domesticated branch. If they were wild types they should be listed as 'Critically Endangered'. The domestic branch has lived in close contact with humans for riding and other purposes (I think camel milk is a thing people drink) for hundreds of years. They theoretically should be about as dangerous as horses, which yes, can be dangerous, but provided they're handled and trained properly since birth are generally viewed as quite friendly (clumsy at times and not realizing their strength, but not vicious). I'd be much more scared to go into an enclosure with a Springbok or Gazelle than I would a domestic camel breed even though those gazelles are a lot smaller.

I want to add that my zoo even has a camel rides area with Bactrian Camels, where little kids sit on them (with parents) and keepers walk them on a leadline. I actually was iffy on it as an idea but they have 20+ camels and only 3 or 4 are "on duty" at a given time. So they aren't standing there all day every day waiting for strangers to ride them, most of the time they're in their paddock just being camels, and then they work for a couple hours at a time before they're switched out with another camel and then they have the next day off.
 
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Firestar97

Firestar97
AnikaNele said:
I had the same issue with the dall sheep. Every petting zoo I have been to has sheep and goats in it.
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But normally the Sheep there are domesticated Sheep. They aren't as afraid of Humans as wild Species. They would be most likely way too stressed and I think they would also be more likely to attack if there are too many People around them. I would really like some Petting Zoo Animals in the Game. As someone mentioned, it would be a great way to introduce some endangered Breeds of domesticated Animals
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
AnikaNele said:
I had the same issue with the dall sheep. Every petting zoo I have been to has sheep and goats in it.
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The dall sheep is a wild animal. It would be unsafe to have them in a petting zoo; male wild sheep can be very territorial, after all.

Edit: To clarify, I also disagree with the notion of walking through pronghorn or antelope habitats. I don't know of any zoos off the top of my head that allow this. There are many that do have walkthroughs for tortoises, small primates, and the aforementioned kangaroos/emus, and certainly some species of deer, but I've never heard of it being done with antelope. In any case there are some features of Planet Zoo that have missed the mark in terms of realism, or maybe in some cases they know something I don't, so I don't tend to dwell on it much.
 
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Jennavieve

J
I'm pretty surprised that they didn't make Llamas walk-through friendly either, they definitely should be. They also allow people to enter with Lemurs which are known for being aggressive too and I've never seen a real zoo with walk-through Lemurs... I'm not sure what kind of logic they've been following to decide which animals allow guests to enter.
 
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Firestar97

Firestar97
Jennavieve said:
I'm pretty surprised that they didn't make Llamas walk-through friendly either, they definitely should be. They also allow people to enter with Lemurs which are known for being aggressive too and I've never heard of a real zoo with walk-through Lemurs... I'm not sure what kind of logic they've been following to decide which animals allow guests to enter.
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I thought they changed it and now People can enter Llama Enclosures
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
Jennavieve said:
I'm pretty surprised that they didn't make Llamas walk-through friendly either, they definitely should be. They also allow people to enter with Lemurs which are known for being aggressive too and I've never seen a real zoo with walk-through Lemurs... I'm not sure what kind of logic they've been following to decide which animals allow guests to enter.
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Blair Drummond Safari Park in Sterling, Scotland has a walkthrough lemur habitat. It's pretty neat. Two of the zoos I've worked at also had special lemur encounters where a small group could enter the habitat with a keeper and feed the lemurs out of pottles of fruit (one does it with ring-tailed lemurs, the other did it with black-and-white ruffed lemurs, however sadly their population of ruffed lemurs has now aged out).
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
Just noticed this thread and figured I would go through the current list of animals in walkthrough enclosures and give my thoughts:

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that exist in real life
Lemurs – Certainly here in the UK, it is unusual to find a zoo that doesn’t have a walkthrough enclosure for various species of lemur; the French enclosure pictured below has four different species

Capuchin monkey – At least one French zoo has a capuchin walkthrough, although to the best of my knowledge it only contains females, as the males are too territorial and aggressive to put among visitors

Japanese macaque – At least one Japanese macaque walkthrough does exist at a zoo in the Czech Republic; in Europe at least the Barbary macaque is also kept very commonly in walkthroughs with few problems

Llama – They do exist, but I cannot find photos of them and they are surprisingly rare – at least one UK zoo removed llamas from their farm paddock when it was converted to a walkthrough

Peafowl – Nothing really needs to be said about this one

Greater flamingo – Again, flamingo walkthroughs seem quite common in zoos and don’t seem to present much of an issue

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that do not exist, but should be possible
Aardvark – I’m not aware of an aardvark walkthrough, but there probably wouldn’t be any safety issues with it; the only problem with such an exhibit in real life would be that aardvarks absolutely reek

Chinese pangolin – Again, probably no human safety issues – the reason why pangolins don’t live in walkthrough enclosures is likely a combination of scarcity of the species in captivity and that it would probably get stolen for the black market immediately

Small antelopes – While I do not know of any walkthroughs for Thomson’s gazelle, springbok or pronghorn, there are walkthroughs for similar antelopes such as the blackbuck pictured below so I could imagine it potentially working

Giant tortoise – While giant tortoises are sometimes kept in large indoor walkthrough areas, they are more often kept in areas within these displays separate from the public; however, I see no real reason why they cannot be in a proper walkthrough enclosure

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that would not work in real life
Giant anteater – Giant anteaters have killed zookeepers in real life; a walkthrough with them would be a disaster waiting to happen

Okapi – As mentioned before, okapi are high-strung animals and would do extremely poorly in a walkthrough enclosure

Species in Planet Zoo that could be kept in walkthroughs which are currently not
Red panda – Both Knoxville Zoo in America and the Chengdu Panda Base in China (the one pictured below) have walkthrough enclosures housing red pandas that appear to work well

Nyala – While nyala themselves are not kept in walkthrough enclosures to the best of my knowledge, the picture here shows a walkthrough for sitatunga, a very similar antelope species, at the Mesker Park Zoo in America

Dall’s sheep – In Europe, wild caprids are actually not unusual in walkthrough enclosures – the enclosure in this picture for example is home to five different species of caprid (Alpine ibex, chamois, mouflon, Cretan wild goat and Barbary sheep) as well as roe deer

On the subject of camels and reindeer
Bactrian camel – While the camels in Planet Zoo are domestic animals, they have big teeth and powerful legs which they will not hesitate to use; I know of no real walkthrough enclosure for camels and if they did exist I wouldn’t enter one if I was paid to

Reindeer – While domestic reindeer are fairly docile, the ones included in the game are supposed to be wild reindeer – these are much more aggressive and both sexes have antlers which makes them far less suitable than other deer species for walkthroughs

Perhaps as a compromise for the camels, it could be possible to give them very low barrier requirements – the picture below is from a zoo in the Netherlands, with just a small ditch and rope fence containing them

Some very odd walkthroughs
Bison – This wildlife park in the Netherlands has a walkthrough enclosure for European bison and (not in the picture) Przewalski’s horses; that being said I probably wouldn’t recommend this one for inclusion into the game

Crocodile – This walkthrough with Morelet's crocodiles exists in a zoo in Mexico; I would struggle to recommend a walkthrough enclosure for any crocodile, either in Planet Zoo or real life
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
Cynogale bennettii said:
Just noticed this thread and figured I would go through the current list of animals in walkthrough enclosures and give my thoughts:

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that exist in real life
Lemurs – Certainly here in the UK, it is unusual to find a zoo that doesn’t have a walkthrough enclosure for various species of lemur; the French enclosure pictured below has four different species

Capuchin monkey – At least one French zoo has a capuchin walkthrough, although to the best of my knowledge it only contains females, as the males are too territorial and aggressive to put among visitors

Japanese macaque – At least one Japanese macaque walkthrough does exist at a zoo in the Czech Republic; in Europe at least the Barbary macaque is also kept very commonly in walkthroughs with few problems

Llama – They do exist, but I cannot find photos of them and they are surprisingly rare – at least one UK zoo removed llamas from their farm paddock when it was converted to a walkthrough

Peafowl – Nothing really needs to be said about this one

Greater flamingo – Again, flamingo walkthroughs seem quite common in zoos and don’t seem to present much of an issue

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that do not exist, but should be possible
Aardvark – I’m not aware of an aardvark walkthrough, but there probably wouldn’t be any safety issues with it; the only problem with such an exhibit in real life would be that aardvarks absolutely reek

Chinese pangolin – Again, probably no human safety issues – the reason why pangolins don’t live in walkthrough enclosures is likely a combination of scarcity of the species in captivity and that it would probably get stolen for the black market immediately

Small antelopes – While I do not know of any walkthroughs for Thomson’s gazelle, springbok or pronghorn, there are walkthroughs for similar antelopes such as the blackbuck pictured below so I could imagine it potentially working

Giant tortoise – While giant tortoises are sometimes kept in large indoor walkthrough areas, they are more often kept in areas within these displays separate from the public; however, I see no real reason why they cannot be in a proper walkthrough enclosure

Walkthroughs in Planet Zoo that would not work in real life
Giant anteater – Giant anteaters have killed zookeepers in real life; a walkthrough with them would be a disaster waiting to happen

Okapi – As mentioned before, okapi are high-strung animals and would do extremely poorly in a walkthrough enclosure

Species in Planet Zoo that could be kept in walkthroughs which are currently not
Red panda – Both Knoxville Zoo in America and the Chengdu Panda Base in China (the one pictured below) have walkthrough enclosures housing red pandas that appear to work well

Nyala – While nyala themselves are not kept in walkthrough enclosures to the best of my knowledge, the picture here shows a walkthrough for sitatunga, a very similar antelope species, at the Mesker Park Zoo in America

Dall’s sheep – In Europe, wild caprids are actually not unusual in walkthrough enclosures – the enclosure in this picture for example is home to five different species of caprid (Alpine ibex, chamois, mouflon, Cretan wild goat and Barbary sheep) as well as roe deer

On the subject of camels and reindeer
Bactrian camel – While the camels in Planet Zoo are domestic animals, they have big teeth and powerful legs which they will not hesitate to use; I know of no real walkthrough enclosure for camels and if they did exist I wouldn’t enter one if I was paid to

Reindeer – While domestic reindeer are fairly docile, the ones included in the game are supposed to be wild reindeer – these are much more aggressive and both sexes have antlers which makes them far less suitable than other deer species for walkthroughs

Perhaps as a compromise for the camels, it could be possible to give them very low barrier requirements – the picture below is from a zoo in the Netherlands, with just a small ditch and rope fence containing them

Some very odd walkthroughs
Bison – This wildlife park in the Netherlands has a walkthrough enclosure for European bison and (not in the picture) Przewalski’s horses; that being said I probably wouldn’t recommend this one for inclusion into the game

Crocodile – This walkthrough with Morelet's crocodiles exists in a zoo in Mexico; I would struggle to recommend a walkthrough enclosure for any crocodile, either in Planet Zoo or real life
Click to expand...
These Enclosures are absolutely beautiful. But some of them really seem to be way too dangerous (especially the one with the Wisents and the one with the Camels)
It is possible to let Guests to go into the Enclosure with both Species of Tortoise that are in the Game.
I don't even know how they came up with the Walk through Enclosures for Giant Anteaters. They just need to look at these Claws and think about what could happen if they were scared or annoyed by the People in their Enclosure (they are also closely related to Giant Ground Sloths which also are known to not have been a very safe Animal to be around)
 
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