I was surprised that the serval (Leptailurus serval) did not make it into any of your packages. It is the wild route of the famous breed of the Savanah Cat (Domesticated Off Shoot). The Serval is one of the most beautiful of the small felines in the wilds of the sub-Saharan region (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serval). It could be a small added update to various existing DLC. I hope you will give some consideration to this addition as it seems an oversight given the popularity of the Serval and Savanah Cat (domestic line). Thanks for your consideration.
Serval [Cats] (Leptailurus serval)
- Thread starter TygerEyes
- Start date
Yes it's a travesty that the serval never made it into the game. You can blame the community for that, I think - "no more cats, the serval looks too much like the cheetah," and so on and so forth. Of course this is the same community that clamoured for the African leopard - an animal that is extremely rare in captivity, looks as much like a cheetah as the serval, and would be a second leopard.
Wellington Zoo here in New Zealand had, for a time, both servals and caracals in adjacent habitats. They were super cool to compare. I always wanted to recreate it in game.
Wellington Zoo here in New Zealand had, for a time, both servals and caracals in adjacent habitats. They were super cool to compare. I always wanted to recreate it in game.
This makes it sound as if the people who didn't want the serval because we had too many cats were the ones who were desperate for the African leopard, which was obviously not the case. The fact we even got the African leopard, alongside yet another cat in the same update, shows that Frontier has not been listening to the particular corner of the community that thought we had enough cats, so I don't think the "blame the cat haters" argument has much of a leg to stand on.
I'm not naming names but I've literally seen the same person say "no" to the serval and "yes" to the African leopard (though to be fair, it might have been on Reddit).
In any case I absolutely think we can blame the cat haters for specifically not getting a serval. Especially after the caracal came out.
That person would clearly not be someone who dislikes the serval just because it's a cat though, given they're requesting another cat that is literally the same species as one we already had. Nor are they concerned with it looking too similar to animals we already have for the same reason. So taking this example and going "people who disliked the serval for being another spotty cat then turned around and begged Frontier to add African leopards" is just disingenuous.
Why though? The only pack the serval would even have fit into after the caracal was added was the Zookeepers Animal Pack, and while the serval was higher on the metawishlist than the Pallas cat, the Pallas was not that much lower (15th place to 20th place respectively) and Frontier likely chose it as the pack's cat representative due to how marketable it was - I mean, they literally chose it as the headliner animal, which wouldn't have been the case if it was just a replacement for the serval to avoid backlash from a few nerds on a forum. Similarly, the African leopard was always more unpopular on this forum than the serval (you can see it on the metawishlist, where it is down at 29th place, and whenever it was brought up it always got significantly more opposition than the serval), but in the eyes of the general public it is an extremely basic and iconic animal, so it has much wider appeal to a broader audience. The serval wasn't added to the game because it just wasn't a priority for Frontier in terms of what they thought would appeal to the most players.
I also want to make it clear that I'm saying all this as someone who considers the serval to be the only cat I'd still be excited for - it was on my 25 essential species wishlist, and I think it's literally the most commonly kept non-primate exotic mammal in Australian zoos that is still missing from the game. I just think the idea that Frontier didn't add it solely because a few people on a forum said that they didn't want another leggy African cat is jumping to conclusions because you're frustrated with some people's past opinions.
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I like Servals but I do absulutely think we have too many cats in game. Getting 2 more in the last batch was an overkill in my opinion, one of them could have easily be a bird. Ideally we would get Serval instead of the Caracal, but what is done is done. Lots of great animals did not make it to the game, the Serval is not special in this regard.
"Solely" is a bit of a hyperbole. No doubt there were other reasons.
In any case it's not like this thread is going to make it happen. It's just a shame that the serval is only now becoming the marketable cat - it's becoming rather popular in meme culture (along with the caracal), whereas the Pallas' cat has done it's dash. If only the situations were reversed. Anyway, I'm only salty because the serval was undoubtedly a better choice for me than the Pallas' cat, which I'm unlikely to ever really use, and literally any animal would have been better than the African leopard, including several that would have been just as easy, if not easier, for Frontier to make. And no, I'm not talking about birds - as nice as an additional pheasant would have been (also sour we never got the Himalayan monal), a lot of the popular bird choices would have been considerably more work (pelican) or wouldn't actually fit anywhere in the game (aviary birds like the secretarybird - yes, it was fine in Zoo Tycoon 2, but I've never once seen a real-life secretarybird zoo habitat that wasn't enclosed in an aviary, unlike flamingos, cranes, and waterfowl).
Fingers crossed for Planet Zoo 2. Frontier really should look at Oceanian zoos as a baseline for exotic species - taking out our natives, Australia and New Zealand typically house the bare minimum. Looking at our zoos would provide a perfect framework for the cornerstone species (again, ignoring the natives - I don't want to upset our European an American members by suggesting wallabies are more important than wolves or wisents).
Personally I think the African leopard was my most enjoyed cat addition since the lynx. I don't care for servals since we already have caracals (while not the same genus are both similarly-sized African grassland cats) which have more to make them stand out on their own IMO.
I think the serval will be in a sequel. If PZ1 truly does in all likelihood finish with 195 animals it’s feasible a sequel would have anywhere from 60-100 on top of that. Now that the African leopard is officially part of the game it doesn’t bug me too much. It was fairly requested and looks great. Free on top of that as it isn’t an animal I’d want to pay for. I really don’t even mind the HBB all I ask is if frontier puts it in the sequel please give it the proper remaster look. Much more enjoyable imo. I do however think the cat roster could use some minor revamps though. First replace the Bengal tiger with the Sumatran. Bengal is my favorite and in the wild have become very impressive but outside of Indian zoos I highly doubt any real ones exist. Next I hate to say it but replace the African leopard with an Arabian, Indian, Javan, or Sri Lanka. Even those are rare in captivity. Third please give us a proper African lion no stylized version. I do worry about getting the same lion in game as it’s already postered in on all artwork. As for added cats I think a asiatic lion is necessary for people that want to add more options to their zoos. The serval, black footed cat, and a small SA cat would do wonders. As far as the overall cat roster currently I think for the most part they should bring them all back with the exceptions of the Bengal and African leopard. Of course a PK style subspecies form of choices would be a great addition to have.
The serval is probably the only cat left that I'd actually be excited about tbh, mainly due to its role in Australasian zoos (and it is pretty common in some smaller budget NA ones too), and - I won't lie - purely because I like it. That's it. They're my favorite cats. I just think they're silly.
I'm not gonna pretend its some phenomenal addition for the overall roster when there are so, so many groups that have only scraped the surface and should take priority over a 15th cat (I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I wouldn't take it over nearly any bird or most monkeys for example). I could understand why others would be upset with it because no matter how much I like cats, this group has been utterly spoiled. At the end of a game's life like right now, I don't think I'd want it myself. Certainly, not in a final pack/update like Zookeeper's, but then again, I wanted the Pallas's cat and especially the African leopard there even less (and some of the other animals there for that matter, looking at you markhor).
If it was in a sequel with plenty of years left though, hell yeah.
I'm not gonna pretend its some phenomenal addition for the overall roster when there are so, so many groups that have only scraped the surface and should take priority over a 15th cat (I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I wouldn't take it over nearly any bird or most monkeys for example). I could understand why others would be upset with it because no matter how much I like cats, this group has been utterly spoiled. At the end of a game's life like right now, I don't think I'd want it myself. Certainly, not in a final pack/update like Zookeeper's, but then again, I wanted the Pallas's cat and especially the African leopard there even less (and some of the other animals there for that matter, looking at you markhor).
If it was in a sequel with plenty of years left though, hell yeah.
I had a special encounter with a few servals during my time in South Africa. My family and I went to a cat preserve and got to meet the various cats of South Africa (with the exception of lions and leopards). The owner took us into the servral habitat, they were funny, some growled at us from their tree as we fed them, after that got to bottle feed an orphan kitten.
I certainly would like to recreate that experience. I know the game likes to follow natural habitat rules, I’ve seen more then 2 ocelots in a habitat, I can imagine clouded leopards, Pallas and sands have been kept in habitats with more then 2.
I certainly would like to recreate that experience. I know the game likes to follow natural habitat rules, I’ve seen more then 2 ocelots in a habitat, I can imagine clouded leopards, Pallas and sands have been kept in habitats with more then 2.
Yeah i think the reason why we never got the serval is because every pack where it would have fit already has a cat thats (imo) a better addition
Grasslands had the caracal which does more or less the same thing as the serval just with wider biome diversity and additional range into the middle east and even india.
Arid had the sand cat which not only is a way more natural fit for the theme but also the first actual small sized cat, so something more unique to the roster.
And lastly zookeeper had the pallas which was alot more request in recent times and the pack was already critizied for having so many african species, so doing yet another would probably not be the best idea
Grasslands had the caracal which does more or less the same thing as the serval just with wider biome diversity and additional range into the middle east and even india.
Arid had the sand cat which not only is a way more natural fit for the theme but also the first actual small sized cat, so something more unique to the roster.
And lastly zookeeper had the pallas which was alot more request in recent times and the pack was already critizied for having so many african species, so doing yet another would probably not be the best idea
Yea serval is my most wanted cat and to me at least feels like an odd omission, they are the small zoo cat in my mind and the numbers don't lie either, just check how many holders they have on zootierliste. They have such a unique appearance and the jumping animations would be really fun, such a perfect small filler addition for Africa. Before the Zookeepers pack in my mind the five most odd omissions for Africa to me were the spurred tortoise, serval, baboon, Aoudad, and Pelican: All feel like really iconic zoo animals that definitely deserve a spot.
The serval is the perfect example of a fine addition to me.
It wouldnt reinvent the wheel, as it literally would be the 15. Cat, 6. cat from africa and just another critter for the african savannah, but at the same time besides that its super common, very cute and very marketable.
Its a perfectly sensible addition to the game, but im also not missing it as it faces heavy overlap both on a taxonomic and a general gameplay niche level, especally regarding the fact that its from most likly the games best represented area.
Calling it needed is just as much a stretch as calling it a bad addition, it really just floats around inbetween, with personal preferance as the only thing moving it to either end of the spectrum
It wouldnt reinvent the wheel, as it literally would be the 15. Cat, 6. cat from africa and just another critter for the african savannah, but at the same time besides that its super common, very cute and very marketable.
Its a perfectly sensible addition to the game, but im also not missing it as it faces heavy overlap both on a taxonomic and a general gameplay niche level, especally regarding the fact that its from most likly the games best represented area.
Calling it needed is just as much a stretch as calling it a bad addition, it really just floats around inbetween, with personal preferance as the only thing moving it to either end of the spectrum
I love Servals, they're pretty amazing 
Honestly I wish they were the anniversary animal this year instead of the leopard
Honestly I wish they were the anniversary animal this year instead of the leopard
I love servals, I definitely think they should be added. It would be cool to see them in an animal ambassador pack / addition to the game (along with binturongs, caracals, etc.), similar to how educators already can hold the exhibit animals while talking to guests.
Yeah, I agree. I think this is the problem with wishlists—they pay too much attention to small minorities like us. You get very specific animals that most people don’t even know, while some of the most popular ones get ignored because a small minority says, "No more cats." The same happens with dogs—some of the most beloved and popular species in the world—but we haven’t gotten any in ages, even though they are easy for Frontier to make and are often endangered and in need of conservation.
Servals are one of my favorite species missing. I think they still have a chance to appear in the new DLC’s.
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Very interesting video for those who like servals:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMh7FlqDe9M&ab_channel=NorthumberlandZoo