Should Frontier start including less mammals in upcoming packs, and start giving us more us more of other classes?

[BananaLeech]

I don't understand why everyone says the Tasmanian devil is essential. Yes it's a cool animal that people really want. But if we only got one more animal from Oceania, a tree kangaroo, echidna or Possum would add so much more to the continent.

I know that feeling. There are times I see even Australians themselves skip possum for some reason. However, I can also imagine why people choose the devil over anything else.

1. The majority of the player base aren’t well versed with Oceanian wildlife with the exception of kangaroo, koala, emu, cassowary, platypus, and the Tasmanian devil.
2. The Tasmanian devil does resemble a dog which might boost the number of advocates it already has. People are more likely to prefer new things that resemble things they are familiar with. This is also why I believe that the maned wolf (which resembles foxes and actual wolves, animals people love) was the South American canine the majority of the player base wanted over the bush dog which looks like a fat marten or a ham with legs rather than what people expect from a canine (I am still on team bush dog tho.)
3. Now this one probably needs more evidence but I can imagine a few PZ YouTubers (the majority of which being non Australians who are not too savvy with Australian wildlife) only predict or wish for the same three four species at the time (emu, wombat, tree kangaroo, Tassie devil) I can see the community only being shown these options echoing these animals over anything else.
4. This explanation is mainly for the possum but unless Americans start to refer opossums with the o, (Australian) possums will be overshadowed by opossums in the mainstream media l. The only other solution would be to just referring the (Australian) possums by another name. It won’t do much but at least it would stop possums from being overshadowed by opossums.

 

[Chuditch]

I don't understand why everyone says the Tasmanian devil is essential. Yes it's a cool animal that people really want. But if we only got one more animal from Oceania, a tree kangaroo, echidna or Possum would add so much more to the continent.

Because "essential" is mostly subjective at this point - in regards to my personal wants and the kind of zoos I like to build, the devil is more essential than any other mammal on that list and every other Oceanian species aside from the echidna. I don't see how it adds less than those species from an objective standpoint either - unlike those three, it represents an entirely new order of mammals and the niche of small mammalian carnivore (or small carnivore in general) is still missing from Oceania. It's rarer internationally, but echidnas and possums aren't exactly zoo staples on a global scale either.

 

[NachoB]

I prefer the devil over the possum because i think they are more interesting and unique. I would love echidnas as well though. I think the tree kangaroo would be cool to have as well. I think the three of them have chances of being introduced in future packs.

 

[Fallax]

The Tassie devil is very high up for me, I want it because we don't have ANY carnivorous marsupial and to me this is a major gap in the roster and the Tasmanian devil is by far the most iconic species in this category.

 

[DarthQuell]

The Tassie devil is very high up for me, I want it because we don't have ANY carnivorous marsupial and to me this is a major gap in the roster and the Tasmanian devil is by far the most iconic species in this category.

If only the thylacine was for sure still alive

 

[yoav_r]

If only the thylacine was for sure still alive

It's for sure isn't alive. It has no more chance of living than Bigfoot.

 

[DarthQuell]

It's for sure isn't alive. It has no more chance of living than Bigfoot.

I mean, you're not wrong, but you aren't right either. Tasmania is a large place, with dense forests, areas humans haven't really expanded. Although there hasn't been definitive proof that they are alive, that doesn't necessarily mean anything either.

Take, for example, the Chacoan peccary. An animal described by only fossils. Then, they were discovered alive in 1975 in an area humans aren't.


So, while it's not 100% that they are alive, it's not 100% they're extinct, either

 

[Chuditch]

Take, for example, the Chacoan peccary. An animal described by only fossils. Then, they were discovered alive in 1975 in an area humans aren't.

Yes, but that was the 1970s. Doesn't seem like long ago, but the world has shrunk significantly since then (figuratively speaking of course).

Tasmania indeed has some of the largest remaining expanses of intact temperate wilderness on earth and some parts of it are still quite remote and inaccessible, but I'd note that a lot of this is concentrated in the harsh and wild south-west of the island which was generally avoided by thylacines in historic times. Even if they did inhabit this area, it stands to reason that there'd be some quantifiable evidence of their continued existence by this point besides anecdotal roadside encounters and pademelon rump pics. The likelihood of an animal like that avoiding detection for this long, especially with modern technology like camera traps and eDNA, is so astronomically small that it might as well be considered impossible. It's a tough pill to swallow (I was obsessed with thylacines when I was younger, and still am to a degree), but it's better to accept it and use the thylacine's tragic story as motivation for saving other animals from the same fate rather than wasting money on countless "expeditions" that are doomed to fail.

Wait, we're supposed to be talking about the disproportionate number of mammals in PZ, right? Didn't mean to get this depressing

 

[DarthQuell]

Yes, but that was the 1970s. Doesn't seem like long ago, but the world has shrunk significantly since then (figuratively speaking of course).

Tasmania indeed has some of the largest remaining expanses of intact temperate wilderness on earth and some parts of it are still quite remote and inaccessible, but I'd note that a lot of this is concentrated in the harsh and wild south-west of the island which was generally avoided by thylacines in historic times. Even if they did inhabit this area, it stands to reason that there'd be some quantifiable evidence of their continued existence by this point besides anecdotal roadside encounters and pademelon rump pics. The likelihood of an animal like that avoiding detection for this long, especially with modern technology like camera traps and eDNA, is so astronomically small that it might as well be considered impossible. It's a tough pill to swallow (I was obsessed with thylacines when I was younger, and still am to a degree), but it's better to accept it and use the thylacine's tragic story as motivation for saving other animals from the same fate rather than wasting money on countless "expeditions" that are doomed to fail.

Wait, we're supposed to be talking about the disproportionate number of mammals in PZ, right? Didn't mean to get this depressing

Shhh, don't ruin my dreams...
I understand what you're saying, and I agree. I'm just saying that it's not impossible, either. Likely? No, but not an impossibility, either

 

[yoav_r]

Shhh, don't ruin my dreams...
I understand what you're saying, and I agree. I'm just saying that it's not impossible, either. Likely? No, but not an impossibility, either

Unicorns are not an impossibility as well. But at some point things get so improbable we should just let go.

 

[DarthQuell]

Unicorns are not an impossibility as well. But at some point things get so improbable we should just let go.

I think you're missing the point, though.
I'm not saying I believe they're alive, but I'm not saying they're extinct either. New discoveries and Lazarus species are always being found, every year.

And hey, there's all kinds of crazy animals. Unicorns aren't the weirdest thing out there. I mean, we literally have animals that puke their guts and animals without bones, so a horse with a horn (basically a rhino) is way more probable

 

[The_Riot22]

I don't understand why everyone says the Tasmanian devil is essential. Yes it's a cool animal that people really want. But if we only got one more animal from Oceania, a tree kangaroo, echidna or Possum would add so much more to the continent.

I agree. I added it due to it's popularity here on the Forums

 

[DarthQuell]

I don't understand why everyone says the Tasmanian devil is essential. Yes it's a cool animal that people really want. But if we only got one more animal from Oceania, a tree kangaroo, echidna or Possum would add so much more to the continent.

Probably because it's a great conservation story. These animals suffer from cancer, yet a breeding program was formed to breed out the disease. They're being reintroduced to Australia.
Australia itself has great worldwide rep, especially with the wallaby and emu being added.
Tasmania has practically no rep, except the macropods. New Guinea is represented with the cassowary and croc.

I'd say that the 2 essential habitat animals from Oceania would be the Tassie devil and the kiwi

 

[ThongZooPlayer]

Just overall increase the chance of other animals. I like how Grassland add 5 species of butterflies at a time. So butterflies lover can focus on that pack. Maybe some dedicated packs for some groups of animals?