My predicted DLC concepts in chronological order for 2022

[Bearcat9948]

Why would you riot for something like that? There has only being one bird added to the game since the base game was release, that is after two plus years of dlc content. There is greater ratio of bird species in most zoos compared to mammals, yet the game currently has an inverted ration. It would only make sense that when we do finally receive an aviary pack the PZ team depart from the traditional packs we have been receiving. If this pack was to be release even closer to the official support ending then it would make even more sense for us to receive a bigger back, as the possibilities of receiving birds in future packs would be greatly reduced.

Birds have too many individual groups within their ranks that even if just a single individual species is added to the game, it would be a nightmare keeping it at eight species. For example if you got a macaw, you might not get any parrots, if you received an eagle there might not be any owls, etc. I'm not only thinking about birds that would require additional mechanics to those already found in game, but a long list of birds that are very important to the game and behave just like any habitat animals. Birds like pelicans, secretary birds, ducks, egrets, storks, ibis, spoonbills, pheasants, quails and the list goes on.

There currently is no precedent to know what Frontier is thinking when it comes to this, because the only remotely similar situation took place in December 2020 (aquatic pack) what most people do not understand is that while they could have added a large number of species to that pack (the same as any other pack) this was not a full aquarium expansion not even close, it was just a few random semi aquatic species being added to the game. Most zoos might only have a few of those too.

There have been 3 bird species added to the game since the base launch:

• Southern cassowary
• King penguin
• African/Cape penguin

 

[AmyEvans]

There have been 3 bird species added to the game since the base launch:

• Southern cassowary
• King penguin
• African/Cape penguin

You are correct, I somehow always forget the penguins poor guys. It is still a very poor lineup in comparison to zoos in real life.

 

[jcp011c]

Why would you riot for something like that? There has only being one bird added to the game since the base game was release, that is after two plus years of dlc content. There is greater ratio of bird species in most zoos compared to mammals, yet the game currently has an inverted ration. It would only make sense that when we do finally receive an aviary pack the PZ team depart from the traditional packs we have been receiving. If this pack was to be release even closer to the official support ending then it would make even more sense for us to receive a bigger back, as the possibilities of receiving birds in future packs would be greatly reduced.

Birds have too many individual groups within their ranks that even if just a single individual species is added to the game, it would be a nightmare keeping it at eight species. For example if you got a macaw, you might not get any parrots, if you received an eagle there might not be any owls, etc. I'm not only thinking about birds that would require additional mechanics to those already found in game, but a long list of birds that are very important to the game and behave just like any habitat animals. Birds like pelicans, secretary birds, ducks, egrets, storks, ibis, spoonbills, pheasants, quails and the list goes on.

There currently is no precedent to know what Frontier is thinking when it comes to this, because the only remotely similar situation took place in December 2020 (aquatic pack) what most people do not understand is that while they could have added a large number of species to that pack (the same as any other pack) this was not a full aquarium expansion not even close, it was just a few random semi aquatic species being added to the game. Most zoos might only have a few of those too.

I agree with so much of this. We really need as many birds as possible within 1 or 2 packs. None of this 5 or even 8. It's an entire class that has barely been touched on, yet takes up so much of a roster in real world zoos. Though I should point out, we've gotten 3 birds in DLC (it's easy to forget penguins are birds) and none of them are capable of flying, even if a flying mechanic does eventually come to the game. So in that respect, we're not further along that class than we are from the base game with.

Edit - ha, Bearcat9948 ninja'd me lol.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

Source for different atteactiveness in animal species: Wolfgang Salzert "Making zoos attractive". It's a book I can recommend and it also explains what species are more attractive to the average zoo visitors and why. A lot of it also comes down to interaction.
By the way, it also says what makes birds more interesting to visitors: Walk in aviaries. Because it increases interaction, that is usually very low with most birds.

And regarding pelican vs flamingo: I specifically said "semantic". Have the nerve to stay at one of those exhibits for 30 minutes and you will be surprised how many zoo visitors exclaim "Pelican!" at a Flamingo habitat and vice versa. It gets worse when it comes down to species that are less popular in picture books.
Most will revognize a macaw, only a few can name an Ibis or a Toucan.

While I think I agree with your sentiment, I feel like your examples are missing the mark a bit and I’m curious whether it’s a cultural/regional thing (pelicans aren’t all that common in US zoos, particularly in the south) but I still can’t picture anyone mixing up pelicans and flamingos. Similarly, while I agree that most people wouldn’t be able to recognize an ibis by name when shown one, I feel like the majority of people would definitely be able to recognize a toucan. I was actually at a show featuring live birds this past week and when one of the demonstrators asked what a toucan was, the audience answered correctly in unison.

And I say this as someone who regularly does spend 20-30 minutes at single exhibits and internally laughing at all of the people just making stuff up about what they’re looking at (heard a Malayan tapir called an elephant, a hippo, an anteater, and a bear all within maybe 10 or 15 minutes recently; heard a binturong called a weasel, a cat, and a leopard even more recently than that) so I know this is absolutely a phenomenon. I guess I’m just more so curious about how different our perceptions of other people’s perceptions seem to be.

 

[AmyEvans]

Source for different atteactiveness in animal species: Wolfgang Salzert "Making zoos attractive". It's a book I can recommend and it also explains what species are more attractive to the average zoo visitors and why. A lot of it also comes down to interaction.
By the way, it also says what makes birds more interesting to visitors: Walk in aviaries. Because it increases interaction, that is usually very low with most birds.

And regarding pelican vs flamingo: I specifically said "semantic". Have the nerve to stay at one of those exhibits for 30 minutes and you will be surprised how many zoo visitors exclaim "Pelican!" at a Flamingo habitat and vice versa. It gets worse when it comes down to species that are less popular in picture books.
Most will revognize a macaw, only a few can name an Ibis or a Toucan.

Yeah not sure where you are from and what the deal might be there, but in the US and most countries I have never encountered anyone confusing a pelican with a flamingo. I have worked at a zoo for close to 15 years now and sure you have all kinds of visitors, I'm sure that there is a soul out there that will confuse a pelican with a flamingo or a macaw with a toucan, but these are the same individuals who will call a rhino a hippo or an okapi a giraffe, etc. Ignorance can be found everywhere.

In my experience birds are a big hit with visitors, in the zoo that I work at, often you will find large groups of visitors trying to spot the California Condor or spending considerable time looking for the small colorful birds of the Asian Aviary. We did a survey in 2019 about the visitor's favorite animals, we received maybe around 10k responses and there were several birds that made top 10. Our second most popular animals (second to our Orangutans) were the Pelicans, because they often got up close to visitors and most people were shocked to see how big they are in real life.

Also in modern zoos, a lot of the appeal has to do with the habitat and the way animals are displayed, a lion is always going to be a lion, but if you have a world class lion exhibit that allows you to view the big cats up close and personal then that makes all the difference in the world. The same goes to birds or any other animals.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

While I think I agree with your sentiment, I feel like your examples are missing the mark a bit and I’m curious whether it’s a cultural/regional thing (pelicans aren’t all that common in US zoos, particularly in the south) but I still can’t picture anyone mixing up pelicans and flamingos. Similarly, while I agree that most people wouldn’t be able to recognize an ibis by name when shown one, I feel like the majority of people would definitely be able to recognize a toucan. I was actually at a show featuring live birds this past week and when one of the demonstrators asked what a toucan was, the audience answered correctly in unison.

And I say this as someone who regularly does spend 20-30 minutes at single exhibits and internally laughing at all of the people just making stuff up about what they’re looking at (heard a Malayan tapir called an elephant, a hippo, an anteater, and a bear all within maybe 10 or 15 minutes recently; heard a binturong called a weasel, a cat, and a leopard even more recently than that) so I know this is absolutely a phenomenon. I guess I’m just more so curious about how different our perceptions of other people’s perceptions seem to be.

I doubt it's a regional thing, but well, maybe we have the less educated kindergarden teachers
I see real Pelicans regularly in zoos, but I don't know if that's just by chance and the rest of my country is empty of Pelicans.

Also in modern zoos, a lot of the appeal has to do with the habitat and the way animals are displayed, a lion is always going to be a lion, but if you have a world class lion exhibit that allows you to view the big cats up close and personal then that makes all the difference in the world. The same goes to birds or any other animals.

I am pretty sure I said that somewhere myself. And I never saw really groups of people standing at a bird habitat, besides groups of senior people, who seem generally more interested in birds. Of course there are birds that are more popular than others. Smaller aviaries with smaller birds are usually more interesting than the typical eagle, as long as it isn't a bald eagle etc.
The only time where I see real enthusiasm in zoo visitors with birds is
a. if they feel like they have a chance that they can feed a bird and it will land on their arm. or
b. a free flying show.
and to get the loop back to the game: Nothing of that will ever happen in PZ.

 

[NZFanatic]

and to get the loop back to the game: Nothing of that will ever happen in PZ.

Free-flying shows are a possibility, I think. They're pretty common with zoos that have large bird collections; all they'd need is a show stage facility that an educator can be attached to, and we already have the seating which could be linked to it. Then we just need to assign a bird from the animal list, perhaps a parrot or bird of prey, and have a standard set of looped animations for the show itself like the educators already have.

E.g. the bird flies from the educator's arm in a wide loop a few times, or is maybe capable of landing on the seating somewhere.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Free-flying shows are a possibility, I think. They're pretty common with zoos that have large bird collections; all they'd need is a show stage facility that an educator can be attached to, and we already have the seating which could be linked to it. Then we just need to assign a bird from the animal list, perhaps a parrot or bird of prey, and have a standard set of looped animations for the show itself like the educators already have.

E.g. the bird flies from the educator's arm in a wide loop a few times, or is maybe capable of landing on the seating somewhere.

Technically possibly, probably. But I don't see why they would add shows for birds when they didn't for the California Sea Lion, which is maybe one of the most popular show animals in zoos, even if some zoos only shrink it down to commented feeding and medical training. And in all honesty, if shows are made similar to the animal talks in terms of variety and effort, I'd rather live without them and have them work on something else instead.

I definately don't see a bird flying from arm to arm, though. Maybe some kind of item. But the scale of the visitors vs. the animals are often so off and the visitors hughly stylized (which doesn't bother me normally), that it would look weird if a bald eagle lands ON them.

 

[AmyEvans]

I doubt it's a regional thing, but well, maybe we have the less educated kindergarden teachers
I see real Pelicans regularly in zoos, but I don't know if that's just by chance and the rest of my country is empty of Pelicans.



I am pretty sure I said that somewhere myself. And I never saw really groups of people standing at a bird habitat, besides groups of senior people, who seem generally more interested in birds. Of course there are birds that are more popular than others. Smaller aviaries with smaller birds are usually more interesting than the typical eagle, as long as it isn't a bald eagle etc.
The only time where I see real enthusiasm in zoo visitors with birds is
a. if they feel like they have a chance that they can feed a bird and it will land on their arm. or
b. a free flying show.
and to get the loop back to the game: Nothing of that will ever happen in PZ.

Some interesting points, to follow up on visitor's interest, besides the habitat design and level of interaction with visitors, certain key species will definitely get those extra pairs of eyes of all age brackets. A Bald Eagle would be popular with North American crowds, however most individuals have a pretty good understanding about this species and what they look like, so even if the habitat is impressive, they might not be too keen to stand around for large periods of time observing them. On the opposite hand, show the same individuals an exhibit with a majestic Harpy Eagle and you will have a hard time making it thru the crowd, as it has happened to me several times. The exotic appeal of such a large animal that he public is vastly uninformed about will definitely captivate their attention.

Talking about Eagles, one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had as a zoo visitor was traveling to the Jurong Bird Park and being able to encounter a Philippine Eagle, they call them monkey eating eagles, and OH MY, it is a memory I will never leave behind.

Not my picture, but I felt a reference was needed


On your second point about bird feeding and live shows not ever happening, I would not be so sure. I remember that the Zoo Tycoon game that Frontier most recently worked on had some really nice zookeeper interactions, obviously somewhat limited by the technology of these times, but definitely something that could be successfully implemented in PZ. My opinion is that when a bird's pack is released the already available feature of keeper talks and visitor stands will be expanded on, but who knows maybe we get one additional surprise as well.

 

[coatifan]

While I think I agree with your sentiment, I feel like your examples are missing the mark a bit and I’m curious whether it’s a cultural/regional thing (pelicans aren’t all that common in US zoos, particularly in the south)

I dunno, I'll preface this by saying I have VERY limited experience with various zoos, but of the two I've seen (huge sample size, I know) pelicans were well-represented. It helps that New Orleans has native pelicans of multiple species, though. I'm curious if they're more common in zoos that are near the coast/exhibits themed around the coast? Who knows.

 

[herrickrcw]

I love your list, I hope it will come true