You think the fact that a pack is around the corner will stop me from making my own?
You fool.
Today i want to present you the monkeyhouse pack, similar to the hippohouses, monkey houses are a zoo staple, and are especally often seen in older zoos- I dont feel like we need more scenery for this, as the classic and plaster pieces should cover most of the things we need for these old monkey houses, eventhough new climbing stuff would always be nice to have.
So lets begin with a more unusual pick, the night monkey, more specificly the Grey-handed-night monkey or the bolivian nightmonkey, as these two subspecies are held most commonly.
I would personally choose the bolivian, because of their bright orange throats, but thats a matter of personal taste. But the reason they are in this pack isnt, as being the only true nocturnal monkeys, that also look quite visually unique, they would bring the flexibility of being a great nighthouse attraction. Another cool thing about them is, that while they are strictly monogamous, staying faithful to their partner till death, they dont mind living in larger groups, often cuddled up together as one floofy mess with a ton of eyes. Just really adorable.
But they arnt the only monkey from south america that joins us today, as the cotton top tamarin might tell you. These little critters with funny hair are amongst the most common monkeys in zoos, while being critically endangerd in the wild. The reason for that is, that they were sadly catched in the masses to be experimented on in the quest to cure some diseases. That left the wild population in such a bad shape, that they have ranked amongst the 25 mor endandgerd monkey species for a while. But besides these facts, i also have a nicer one, that made me choose them above other tamarins for this spot, this being their very unique look. Their shaggy fur, funny looking hair, that even gave them their german name in reference to the funny hair of a composer, the white, black and rust red colorsheme, lets face it, these monkeys just look really unique and like nothing else we have in the game, making it a joy to have them added at some point.
For some more color variation, we move out of southamerica to africa, meeting the mantled guereza. These black and white monkeys not only look like a pompous mideveal noble man, they were also longed for by these people,letting their fur make their way to europe and asia even in ancient times. Luckily though, somehow the Guerezas are still thriving today, and so is their Zoo population. It was a rough choice between them, a guenon or maybe even something like a galago for africa, but looking at the two monkeys we already have, this middle sized monkey with its long tail was just a great fit.
And now welcome to the first surprise on our list, as we head back to southamerica to welcome the flatmate of both the night monkeys and the tamarin, the big hairy armadillo!
Did you know, that its common practice in zoos to put small grounddwelling creatures into the tanks/habitats of mostly arboreal or flying species? And one of the most common picks are armadillos, as they cant get up to the monkeys, while the monkeys are to weak to hurt it. I have seen this combination in zoos multiple times and absolutly adore the cute little armadillos, so ironically i chose the biggest of the hairy armadillos for this spot, in parts cause they are still gosh darn adorable and common in zoos, as well as the fact, that i belive the larger the animal, the more likly it is for frontier to actually be able to animate the thing, so while i would have love to see the southern three banded armadillo, i dont know if frontier or anyone really would be able to do them justice.
Moving from southamerica to asia, i learned, that langur species are kept very rarly in the EAZA. A sad fact, but one that was sitll decently common was the East Javan langur.
Luckily for us, thats not the only thing that makes them desirable for us though. Most obvious would be the fact, that these animals range from black to orange in the color of their fur. This has in fact nothing to do with gender dimorphism, but is a normal color morph, thats just a bit rarer then the black one. They would also add our second leaf eating monkey to the game, a rather uncommon trait for most monkeys commonly found in zoos. I favored these monkeys above my other choice, the rhesus monkey, as i felt like that one was to similar to the macaque, while we have nothing like a langur yet in the game, so why not pick the most common one?
Joining them from south east asia, will be the prevost squirrel. These colorful critters would be a whole new challange for the climbing system, buzzing around at high speed across logs and ropes. They live pretty much every where in Indonesia and would make a great addition to the Animals from the SEA pack, while also adding not only a rodent, but an aboreal one to our zoos.
They would thrive not only in the mentioned monkey houses, but also in tropical houses, small mammal houses or just a random cage somewhere in your zoo. One special thing i would love for them, is to have them free roaming in a tropical house, maybe something like a walkthrough away from dangerous animals that could prey on them. And if we would get birds in the future, they would feel right at home with them in bird houses too. A true champion of a filler animal.
And lastly, my favourite Animal of the pack, the slow lori. As our third member of the southeast asia squad, they live among pretty much all of it, bordering even to India. It only felt right to cap of this list with a strepsirrhine primate (Jesus you guys, can you make up some proper names for taxonomic groups? The german "half monkey" is not only more describtive, i could even pronounce it), as they are the link between the true primates and all other animals. But now for some special trait about the loris. Being nocturnal and somewhat sizeable, they would work amazing as the main attraction in an nocturnal house. With their big eyes and fluffy fur they not only look cute, but also attract people to them, beliving WRONGLY that they would be great pets or have magical properties. But something that could truly be seen magical is, that of all the mammals these fluffy guys are some of the only one with a venomous bite. Crazy right? This must be our first venomous habitat animal and im sure that that fact would make for some cool groupings.
Anyways yeah, thats it! Hope you liked it. I didnt bother with an animal, because i have literally never seen one in a monkey house, but im sure theres something cool to fit in for that slot.
When making this list i had 2 prioritys, 1. everything should be very distinct from what we have in game right now, and 2. I dont want to only feature monkeys, as that would make for a boring pack.
A split of 4,5 and 2,5 seemed right to me though. I also really like how this pack also doubles as a nocturnal pack light, with 3 nocturnal animals, with one even being able to dig. Just imagine a night house with a habitat where you can look up to see night monkeys and look down to see armadillos digging around. I would absolutly love that.
But now i ask you guys, what do you think? Is this a good mix of monke? Would you prefer pure monke, or would you have liked to see even more non primates?
And no matter what, what animals would you have chosen that i didnt?
I know for sure, the green guenon, rhesus macaque, hulman and hamadryas baboon just barly didnt make the cut, as i felt like they were either to similar to animals in game, not that visually appealing (im sorry green guenon, i do really want you in the game some day, because you should be there, but you guys are just so boring) or just didnt really fit the theme that propped up of mostly smaller to midsize animals, something we are desperatly lacking in the game.
You fool.
Today i want to present you the monkeyhouse pack, similar to the hippohouses, monkey houses are a zoo staple, and are especally often seen in older zoos- I dont feel like we need more scenery for this, as the classic and plaster pieces should cover most of the things we need for these old monkey houses, eventhough new climbing stuff would always be nice to have.
So lets begin with a more unusual pick, the night monkey, more specificly the Grey-handed-night monkey or the bolivian nightmonkey, as these two subspecies are held most commonly.
I would personally choose the bolivian, because of their bright orange throats, but thats a matter of personal taste. But the reason they are in this pack isnt, as being the only true nocturnal monkeys, that also look quite visually unique, they would bring the flexibility of being a great nighthouse attraction. Another cool thing about them is, that while they are strictly monogamous, staying faithful to their partner till death, they dont mind living in larger groups, often cuddled up together as one floofy mess with a ton of eyes. Just really adorable.
But they arnt the only monkey from south america that joins us today, as the cotton top tamarin might tell you. These little critters with funny hair are amongst the most common monkeys in zoos, while being critically endangerd in the wild. The reason for that is, that they were sadly catched in the masses to be experimented on in the quest to cure some diseases. That left the wild population in such a bad shape, that they have ranked amongst the 25 mor endandgerd monkey species for a while. But besides these facts, i also have a nicer one, that made me choose them above other tamarins for this spot, this being their very unique look. Their shaggy fur, funny looking hair, that even gave them their german name in reference to the funny hair of a composer, the white, black and rust red colorsheme, lets face it, these monkeys just look really unique and like nothing else we have in the game, making it a joy to have them added at some point.
For some more color variation, we move out of southamerica to africa, meeting the mantled guereza. These black and white monkeys not only look like a pompous mideveal noble man, they were also longed for by these people,letting their fur make their way to europe and asia even in ancient times. Luckily though, somehow the Guerezas are still thriving today, and so is their Zoo population. It was a rough choice between them, a guenon or maybe even something like a galago for africa, but looking at the two monkeys we already have, this middle sized monkey with its long tail was just a great fit.
And now welcome to the first surprise on our list, as we head back to southamerica to welcome the flatmate of both the night monkeys and the tamarin, the big hairy armadillo!
Did you know, that its common practice in zoos to put small grounddwelling creatures into the tanks/habitats of mostly arboreal or flying species? And one of the most common picks are armadillos, as they cant get up to the monkeys, while the monkeys are to weak to hurt it. I have seen this combination in zoos multiple times and absolutly adore the cute little armadillos, so ironically i chose the biggest of the hairy armadillos for this spot, in parts cause they are still gosh darn adorable and common in zoos, as well as the fact, that i belive the larger the animal, the more likly it is for frontier to actually be able to animate the thing, so while i would have love to see the southern three banded armadillo, i dont know if frontier or anyone really would be able to do them justice.
Moving from southamerica to asia, i learned, that langur species are kept very rarly in the EAZA. A sad fact, but one that was sitll decently common was the East Javan langur.
Luckily for us, thats not the only thing that makes them desirable for us though. Most obvious would be the fact, that these animals range from black to orange in the color of their fur. This has in fact nothing to do with gender dimorphism, but is a normal color morph, thats just a bit rarer then the black one. They would also add our second leaf eating monkey to the game, a rather uncommon trait for most monkeys commonly found in zoos. I favored these monkeys above my other choice, the rhesus monkey, as i felt like that one was to similar to the macaque, while we have nothing like a langur yet in the game, so why not pick the most common one?
Joining them from south east asia, will be the prevost squirrel. These colorful critters would be a whole new challange for the climbing system, buzzing around at high speed across logs and ropes. They live pretty much every where in Indonesia and would make a great addition to the Animals from the SEA pack, while also adding not only a rodent, but an aboreal one to our zoos.
They would thrive not only in the mentioned monkey houses, but also in tropical houses, small mammal houses or just a random cage somewhere in your zoo. One special thing i would love for them, is to have them free roaming in a tropical house, maybe something like a walkthrough away from dangerous animals that could prey on them. And if we would get birds in the future, they would feel right at home with them in bird houses too. A true champion of a filler animal.
And lastly, my favourite Animal of the pack, the slow lori. As our third member of the southeast asia squad, they live among pretty much all of it, bordering even to India. It only felt right to cap of this list with a strepsirrhine primate (Jesus you guys, can you make up some proper names for taxonomic groups? The german "half monkey" is not only more describtive, i could even pronounce it), as they are the link between the true primates and all other animals. But now for some special trait about the loris. Being nocturnal and somewhat sizeable, they would work amazing as the main attraction in an nocturnal house. With their big eyes and fluffy fur they not only look cute, but also attract people to them, beliving WRONGLY that they would be great pets or have magical properties. But something that could truly be seen magical is, that of all the mammals these fluffy guys are some of the only one with a venomous bite. Crazy right? This must be our first venomous habitat animal and im sure that that fact would make for some cool groupings.
Anyways yeah, thats it! Hope you liked it. I didnt bother with an animal, because i have literally never seen one in a monkey house, but im sure theres something cool to fit in for that slot.
When making this list i had 2 prioritys, 1. everything should be very distinct from what we have in game right now, and 2. I dont want to only feature monkeys, as that would make for a boring pack.
A split of 4,5 and 2,5 seemed right to me though. I also really like how this pack also doubles as a nocturnal pack light, with 3 nocturnal animals, with one even being able to dig. Just imagine a night house with a habitat where you can look up to see night monkeys and look down to see armadillos digging around. I would absolutly love that.
But now i ask you guys, what do you think? Is this a good mix of monke? Would you prefer pure monke, or would you have liked to see even more non primates?
And no matter what, what animals would you have chosen that i didnt?
I know for sure, the green guenon, rhesus macaque, hulman and hamadryas baboon just barly didnt make the cut, as i felt like they were either to similar to animals in game, not that visually appealing (im sorry green guenon, i do really want you in the game some day, because you should be there, but you guys are just so boring) or just didnt really fit the theme that propped up of mostly smaller to midsize animals, something we are desperatly lacking in the game.
