The vegetation system is also quite meh, as animals don't really care much if the tree that is giving them shade is from a specific continent. Local zoo has had its cassowary living in the shade of an oak for close to 2 decades now, and guy is happy without the Australian rainforest vegetation.
I do believe that zoo sims should place more emphasis on stuff like shelter, shade, and enrichment for animal welfare, while leaving the biome recreation something that benefits GUEST reaction. Say, proper plants would give guests education bonus, rather than animals complaining about geobotany.
The territory formation of the JWE games is also more on point, because animals being aware of the entire terrain composition of the habitat they are in is quite weird. Have the animal look for what it has around it, and wether it has enough of it, rather than whether the proportion is right.