Platypus are not less dangerous than badgers

[BSCaulin]

And yet: you're allowed to walk through the platypus (which is 1) unbelievably shy and 2) has excruciatingly painful venom - modern pain meds don't work! you have to sever the nerve to stop the pain!) exhibit, but not the badger exhibit?

Please reconsider.

here are some sources for further reading:

Platypus envenomation--a painful learning experience - PubMed

Male platypus venom remains largely unstudied. It produces savage local pain and marked local swelling, but no apparent tissue ischaemia. No antivenom is available; in its absence the only effective analgesia appears to be regional nerve blockade, when the envenomation site and available skills...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Wide world of venom - the platypus

An egg-laying, lactating, nipple-less, toothless, stomach-less, venomous mammal? This creature has evoked wonder and disbelief in many of those who have encountered it, and with its unusual combination of reptilian and mammalian traits, it is easy to see why! This week in the wide world of...

biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au

(and, further more - I am an aussie with a BSc in Biology - wildlife and conservation.)

 

[NZFanatic]

Giant anteaters regularly kill people, including zookeepers, so I'm not too worried about the platypus. Using them in a walkthrough is optional, after all, so if you're concerned about realism just don't build a walkthrough habitat for them.

 

[GGG2021]

Giant anteaters regularly kill people, including zookeepers, so I'm not too worried about the platypus. Using them in a walkthrough is optional, after all, so if you're concerned about realism just don't build a walkthrough habitat for them.

Really? I had no idea - they just look like those big slender strange dogs - not sure what they are called - you have just blown my conceptions out of the water!

 

[NZFanatic]

Really? I had no idea - they just look like those big slender strange dogs - not sure what they are called - you have just blown my conceptions out of the water!

They're ferociously territorial and the way they defend themselves is by rearing back on their hind legs and lashing out with those gigantic claws. One swipe and your insides are outside.

I don't know what Frontier thinks when they decide on walkthrough compatibility - I mean, at the launch of the SA Pack the anteater was walkthrough right away, but the llama wasn't. One has several recorded cases of zookeepercide, and the other is a literal farm animal. What's the logic? I don't know. Similarly, the red kangaroo and fallow deer weren't walkthrough right away, despite dozens of real-world examples. Yet the okapi can be a walkthrough animal, despite being famously shy, and the Chinese pangolin, a critically endangered species.

 

[coatifan]

And yet: you're allowed to walk through the platypus (which is 1) unbelievably shy and 2) has excruciatingly painful venom - modern pain meds don't work! you have to sever the nerve to stop the pain!) exhibit, but not the badger exhibit?

Please reconsider.

here are some sources for further reading:

Platypus envenomation--a painful learning experience - PubMed

Male platypus venom remains largely unstudied. It produces savage local pain and marked local swelling, but no apparent tissue ischaemia. No antivenom is available; in its absence the only effective analgesia appears to be regional nerve blockade, when the envenomation site and available skills...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Wide world of venom - the platypus

An egg-laying, lactating, nipple-less, toothless, stomach-less, venomous mammal? This creature has evoked wonder and disbelief in many of those who have encountered it, and with its unusual combination of reptilian and mammalian traits, it is easy to see why! This week in the wide world of...

biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au

(and, further more - I am an aussie with a BSc in Biology - wildlife and conservation.)

Yeah, I have no idea what the logic is here. Even ignoring the multitude of species that are too shy or too rare to be realistic picks (pangolin, okapi, and yeah, the platypus), this is probably the most dangerous walkthrough animal yet, maybe moreso than the anteater. I doubt they'll remove its walkabout functionality, but it's just a baffling decision. And if a highly venomous animal is an appropriate walkthrough, what isn't? Bears, giant otters, ostriches -- do we let in any dangerous animal that's even a bit cute? I wish they used real zoos as a rule of thumb, only including species that have real walkthroughs.

 

[jcp011c]

Some of the walk through choices are strange, but I agree the anteaters and the platypus are the most questionable. Though any animal has the potential to harm a person and vice versa as well. Not in game really but in real life, and there's actually potential for this being a negative learning tool. We hear about people climbing into the habitats in real life every so often, it's not a far stretch for some non AZA- or non EAZA zoos (small operation with focus on profit and almost nothing one education) to try and mirror this in real life. Or for someone to rationalize that these are animals that pose no danger to people.

As for the game, as others mentioned I'm simply not going to do create a walk through exhibit for animals I feel are odd choices for walk through, with the exception of the small clawed otter. I know otters can be fairly vicious in real life but because I know that, I'm not going to be under the impression that they can be played with in real life as well. In game, they're just too cute to pass up the opportunity for guests to get up as close as possible to them.

 

[Firestar97]

Yet the okapi can be a walkthrough animal, despite being famously shy, and the Chinese pangolin, a critically endangered species.

It's probably mainly like that so Guests won't run away from relatively harmless Animals. But I agree regarding the Anteater. What did they think about that one. Just look at the Claws. It's basically a Miniature Ground Sloth and those were extremely dangerous. Just because it is a Insectivore doesn't mean it's not territorial and dangerous

And if a highly venomous animal is an appropriate walkthrough, what isn't? Bears, giant otters, ostriches -- do we let in any dangerous animal that's even a bit cute?

Oh yeah, I'm going to create a walk through Ostrich Farm and if Customers want to buy some Meat, they'll have to defeat a Ostrich in a Fight. The Kids will also enjoy petting those gentle Giants. Of course there's one Rule. Guests need to sign a Contract before entering, so we won't need to pay if someone loses a Finger or ends up with broken Bones or even worse. Nothing's better than a Ostrich Burger after you fought for your Life and probably had more Fear than in your whole previous Life

 

[NZFanatic]

ostriches

Well, emus frequently feature in real-life walkthroughs, so I don't know, maybe ostriches would be okay at least.

 

[Dodoraptor]

With the platypus, what annoys me more than them being a walkthrough is them being a confident walkthrough.
This means that not only you can have them as a walkthrough, but you can do so with less problem than with many animals that should be confident but aren't.

A platypus works as a better walkthrough in the game than fallow deer, African penguins and even lemurs...

I'll argue that the tolerance of humans some animals have is too low and should be increased, but with the platypus, it should be lowered to shy.

 

[Mjmannella]

With the platypus, what annoys me more than them being a walkthrough is them being a confident walkthrough.
This means that not only you can have them as a walkthrough, but you can do so with less problem than with many animals that should be confident but aren't.

A platypus works as a better walkthrough in the game than fallow deer, African penguins and even lemurs...

I'll argue that the tolerance of humans some animals have is too low and should be increased, but with the platypus, it should be lowered to shy.

This is something I didn't realize. I 100% agree that platypuses should have a shy confidence level. It's much more reflective on their natural reaction to humans.

 

[Cocolori]

As I'm not a passionate about realism type I can only agree that it seems odd BUT I wanted to say that if I were more creative I'd choose the title of this thread for a song name or a book title or something... out of context it is just so good. One of those where the calculations about how flexible english is and how often a sentence that has never existed before in the history of the world is created come to mind.... Maybe I'll put it on a t-shirt!

 

[iloveyourzoos]

I've been wondering recently if some of the objections might be tempered if we think of this feature less as "just let everyone walk through freely" (which is admittedly what the game allows), and more as "realism players might want to use kerbs, ribbons, placement at the far side of their zoo, dedicated attendants (keepers/caretakers/vets), and other factors to recreate a very special, guided guest perk.".

Not sure how much this would help in these particular cases, since I'm not a zoologist myself. But I have noticed how much more forgiving we are as a community when we are able to think of something as an advanced feature for advanced players to use, as opposed to when we judge it based upon the general public.

I also read that the platypus venom is only produced by the males. So perhaps a walk through habitat for female platypus would be more possible?