Planet zoo hippos, underwater viewing exhibits and how fish play a role.

[mjcarrier]

Hippopotamus exhibits.​

We now know that the hippopotamus exhibit form the Planet Zoo pictures has an underwater viewing area.

Here is all the pictures of the hippo exhibit that shows the underwater viewing area.

What do real life hippo exibits look like. Well here are some pictures.

Now what you notice in the second picture are fish. Why are they important for hippo exhibits. Well there is a symbiotic relationship. The fish eat the hippo dung, the algae that grows on the rockwork, walls, windows, and the dead skin cells off of the hippos. So the fish get feed and the hippos have a clean exhibit and skin.

So with this in mind, wouldn't is be cool if Planet Zoo had fish swimming around in the water and being used to keep the water clean.

Also notice how the hippos are moving. Are they swimming? No they walk in the water and can do this very fast. For more information watch this video.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=310&v=X-YRJCSZRJU


For more information on how a hippopotamus exhibit and animals are cared for what this YouTube video form the Cincinnati Zoo.

Source: https://youtu.be/o2D7lvSgiuk

 

[BaconTheDragon]

They did this in Zoo Tycoon 2! It makes sense to see them in our water enclosures due to the reasons you note here. But they have confirmed the management aspect of keeping your water clean. So almost seems like a cheat code to through some fish in there and call it a day . I still like the idea of fish bringing a certain natural aesthetic to our water enclosures though! Would be very cool!

 

[HeatherG]

So with this in mind, wouldn't is be cool if Planet Zoo had fish swimming around in the water and being used to keep the water clean

That would be very cool! I'm definitely thumbs up for that.

 

[BillMulderTH]

I'm very excited !

 

[VetGirl330]

I am glad someone finally pointed out that hippos walk along the bottom of underwater areas, not swim on the surface. After all the hype Frontier has made about researching their animals, and having the "most realistic" animals ever, I find there screenshot of the hippo swimming on the surface in the middle of the tank disturbing. Not only is this poor behavioral modeling for hippos, but it makes me doubt their claims n all accounts. Hopefully this is an example of something else that will be corrected prior to release.