South American representation needs work

tigris115

tigris115
As animals go, the amount of species from South America, one of the great cradles of biodiversity, is pathetic.

To put my rather cutting statement into retrospective, let's see who in the roster lives there and in North America, a previously underrepresented continent that got a good bit of help.

NA (per ingame continents):
Polar Bear, Timber Wolf, Columbian White-Faced Capuchin, Cougar, Giant Anteater, Jaguar, American Alligator, American Bison, Arctic Wolf, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog, California Sea Lion, Dall Sheep, Grizzly Bear, North American Beaver, Pronghorn, Grey Seal. Adding: North American Raccoon, Red Fox, and Striped Skunk.

SA (per ingame):
Columbian White-Faced Capuchin, Cougar, Giant Anteater, Jaguar, Baird's Tapir (technically they range in only CA), Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman, Galapagos Giant Tortoise, King Penguin, Giant Otter, Llama, Spectacled Caiman, Capybara.

Personally, even sans birds, I can name 20 animals that would make an amazing DLC and round out the diversity of an amazing continent.

As a personal side note, some of my friends on Discord hail from South America and they share these feelings.
 

biggest_dreamer

biggest_dreamer
It's pretty sad how South America and Oceania basically started with nothing in the base game, so that even after they've both gotten a dedicated scenery pack and gotten boosts in two other packs each, they're still super far behind the curve. The in-game list also does a poor job of reflecting species that would actually appear in a "South American section" - llamas are generally going to be reserved for petting zoos/domestic areas, Galapagos tortoises are typically attached to reptile houses or used as a general filler species distinct from regional groupings, and the penguin speaks for itself, really. Not to mention that any North American zoo at least is going to treat the cougar as an explicitly North American thing... I wonder how they're handled in Europe?

So really, as far as I'm concerned, the only species I'd actually use in a South American section are the tapir, capuchin, jaguar, anteater, capybara, giant otter, and the two caimans - although the latter two may also be better suited for a reptile house.

And really, I don't think it'd take that much to give the region a big boost even without birds. Some combination of ocelot, coati, an armadillo, and tamandua for smaller gap-fillers, sloth bear or maned wolf for another big draw, mara or rhea for some mixed exhibit diversity, at least one or two more monkeys to actually allow for some variety in the aspect of the region that is typically best represented in zoos, and if they could figure out something to do with sloths that's the cherry on top. We don't need all of these (although I do think this is roughly the bare minimum for me to consider the region well-rounded) but the fact that South America still has so many common species niches that haven't even been touched is incredibly frustrating, to say the least.
 

tigris115

tigris115
biggest_dreamer said:
It's pretty sad how South America and Oceania basically started with nothing in the base game, so that even after they've both gotten a dedicated scenery pack and gotten boosts in two other packs each, they're still super far behind the curve. The in-game list also does a poor job of reflecting species that would actually appear in a "South American section" - llamas are generally going to be reserved for petting zoos/domestic areas, Galapagos tortoises are typically attached to reptile houses or used as a general filler species distinct from regional groupings, and the penguin speaks for itself, really. Not to mention that any North American zoo at least is going to treat the cougar as an explicitly North American thing... I wonder how they're handled in Europe?

So really, as far as I'm concerned, the only species I'd actually use in a South American section are the tapir, capuchin, jaguar, anteater, capybara, giant otter, and the two caimans - although the latter two may also be better suited for a reptile house.

And really, I don't think it'd take that much to give the region a big boost even without birds. Some combination of ocelot, coati, an armadillo, and tamandua for smaller gap-fillers, sloth bear or maned wolf for another big draw, mara or rhea for some mixed exhibit diversity, at least one or two more monkeys to actually allow for some variety in the aspect of the region that is typically best represented in zoos, and if they could figure out something to do with sloths that's the cherry on top. We don't need all of these (although I do think this is roughly the bare minimum for me to consider the region well-rounded) but the fact that South America still has so many common species niches that haven't even been touched is incredibly frustrating, to say the least.
Click to expand...
Do you mean the spectacled bear?
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
We should really get more South American Animals too. I think we might even have more European Animals than South American ones now despite the Fact that this Continent was mostly ignored in the Beginning (especially if you remove Island Species and domesticated Animals from the South America List). It's such a Shame that we only have one South American Primate despite the Fact that there's so much Diversity. I also want to see more Rodents Birds and many more. I can understand that there aren't many australian Species because most of them aren't common outside of Australia but almost every big Zoo has multiple South American Species and I'm pretty sure most of them also have ones that aren't in the Game yet (Example: Agouti, Patagonian Mara, Spider Monkey, Macaws)
 

nutrit

nutrit
Animals that I miss the most in the game are from South America and Middle East.
If we look at past DLC’s we already had 3 dedicated nearly whole to North America:
  • Arctic
  • NA animal pack
  • Twilight

and one dedicated to South America (where two species are technically are from Middle America)

I have no idea why is that but the are literally tons of animals from South America that the game would benefit from:

1. Maned wolf
2. Any sloth
3. Any armadillo
4. Any Howler monkey
5. Any Spider monkey
6. Golden lion tamarin
7. Coati
8. Kinkajou
9. Mara
10. Rhea
11. Guanaco or Vicuña
12. Spectacled bear
13. Ocelot
14. Peccary
15. Southern pudu
16. At least 3 macaws
17. Toucans
18. Scarlet ibis
19. Manatee
20. Jabiru
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
nutrit said:
and one dedicated to South America (where two species are technically are from Middle America)
Click to expand...
And don't forget the domesticated one which lowers the Amount even more. I absolutely love the Llama but it wouldn'tve been too much Work to make the Quanaco too, considering how similar they are
 

Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
I decided to make a list that ranks South American species according to their commonness in captivity (as per Zootierliste, which covers the EAZA and its partner regions in the Middle East, Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand). I have only listed species kept in more than five different zoos. For comparison, the species in bold on the list are ones we have already got in the game.

Firstly, the habitat mammals:
Llama – 576
South American coati – 448
Patagonian mara – 325
Capybara – 255
Brown capuchin – 182
Lowland tapir – 171
Common squirrel monkey – 170
Coypu – 141
Guanaco – 137
White-faced saki – 118
Azara’s agouti – 116
Bolivian squirrel monkey – 114
Southern three-banded armadillo – 102
Jaguar – 102
Giant anteater – 90
Collared peccary – 85
Vicuna – 81
Large hairy armadillo – 75
Six-banded armadillo – 72
Maned wolf – 68
Kinkajou – 68
South American sea lion – 57
Ocelot – 56
Colombian black spider monkey – 51
Bush dog – 48
Chacoan mara – 40
Red-rumped agouti – 40
Black howler monkey – 37
Southern tamandua – 36
Coppery titi – 34
Geoffroy’s cat – 34
Yellow-breasted capuchin – 33
Tayra – 31
Lowland paca – 30
Jaguarundi – 26
Black-handed spider monkey – 24
Spectacled bear – 24
Central American agouti – 23
Giant otter – 23
Southern pudu – 23
White-faced capuchin – 22
Brazilian porcupine – 22
Margay – 22
Colombian brown spider monkey – 20
Guianan weeper capuchin – 16
Black-rumped agouti – 14
South American fur seal – 14
Red-faced black spider monkey – 13
Bearded capuchin – 12
Venezuelan red howler monkey – 11
West Indian manatee – 11
Woolly monkey – 10
Chacoan peccary – 10
White-lipped peccary – 10
White-tailed deer – 10
Plains viscacha – 7
Guianan bearded saki – 6
Black-horned capuchin – 6
Baird’s tapir – 2

Next, the mammals that may work as either a habitat or walkthrough exhibit species:
Common marmoset – 318
Cottontop tamarin – 276
Common degu – 173
Linnaeus’ two-toed sloth – 133
Emperor tamarin – 131
Pygmy marmoset – 129
Golden-handed tamarin – 121
Goeldi’s monkey – 105
Golden-headed lion tamarin – 99
Geoffroy’s marmoset – 91
Long-tailed chinchilla – 90
Golden lion tamarin – 73
Red-bellied tamarin – 58
Silvery marmoset – 49
Western pygmy marmoset – 38
Pied tamarin – 27
Gray-handed night monkey – 23
Black tufted-ear marmoset – 21
Eastern pygmy marmoset – 17
Bolivian night monkey – 13
Variegated squirrel – 12
Spix’s saddleback tamarin – 7
Red-mantled saddleback tamarin – 5

This list is of birds that I could imagine working as a habitat species:
Greater rhea – 443
White-faced whistling duck – 167
Chilean flamingo – 164
Humboldt penguin – 154
Fulvous whistling duck – 125
Black-crowned night heron – 120
Red-legged seriema – 114
American flamingo – 112
Southern screamer – 86
Black-necked swan – 83
Coscoroba swan – 62
Black-bellied whistling duck – 59
Great curassow – 58
Darwin’s rhea – 54
Northern helmeted curassow – 53
Upland goose – 50
Sunbittern – 44
Grey-winged trumpeter – 44
Wild muscovy duck – 41
Giant wood-rail – 35
Boat-billed heron – 30
Blue-throated piping-guan – 27
Orinoco goose – 26
Ruddy-headed goose – 23
King penguin – 22
Bare-faced curassow – 21
Andean goose – 20
Ashy-headed goose – 20
Elegant crested tinamou – 18
Great white egret – 18
Chaco chachalaca – 13
Yellow-knobbed curassow – 13
Black curassow – 11
Maguari stork – 10
Magellanic steamer duck – 9
Brown pelican – 6
Chilean tinamou – 5
Tataupa tinamou – 5
Comb duck – 5
Red-billed curassow – 5

And finally, reptiles I could imagine working as a habitat species:
Red-footed tortoise – 249
Spectacled caiman – 155
Cuvier’s dwarf caiman – 89
Argentine black-and-white tegu – 85
Yellow-footed tortoise – 71
Northern caiman lizard – 46
Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle – 31
Red tegu – 31
Galapagos giant tortoise – 25
Broad-snouted caiman – 23
Smooth-fronted caiman – 21
Yacare caiman – 19
Gold tegu – 14
Black caiman – 9
Arrau river turtle – 7
 

Antimony96

Antimony96
I'd prefer the Chacoan peccary to the collared peccary. The former is actually a lot more common in AZA zoos and also has a lot more conservation value as a SSP species.

In general yeah, I think SA needs representation more than any other continent, including Oceania. Even two animal packs might not be enough.
 

avietar

avietar
Antimony96 said:
I'd prefer the Chacoan peccary to the collared peccary. The former is actually a lot more common in AZA zoos and also has a lot more conservation value as a SSP species.

In general yeah, I think SA needs representation more than any other continent, including Oceania. Even two animal packs might not be enough.
Click to expand...
The collared has a really wide range of habitats and would help to fill out central and north American deserts as well.
 

Joyxd23

Joyxd23
Cynogale bennettii said:
I decided to make a list that ranks South American species according to their commonness in captivity (as per Zootierliste, which covers the EAZA and its partner regions in the Middle East, Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand). I have only listed species kept in more than five different zoos. For comparison, the species in bold on the list are ones we have already got in the game.

Firstly, the habitat mammals:
Llama – 576
South American coati – 448
Patagonian mara – 325
Capybara – 255
Brown capuchin – 182
Lowland tapir – 171
Common squirrel monkey – 170
Coypu – 141
Guanaco – 137
White-faced saki – 118
Azara’s agouti – 116
Bolivian squirrel monkey – 114
Southern three-banded armadillo – 102
Jaguar – 102
Giant anteater – 90
Collared peccary – 85
Vicuna – 81
Large hairy armadillo – 75
Six-banded armadillo – 72
Maned wolf – 68
Kinkajou – 68
South American sea lion – 57
Ocelot – 56
Colombian black spider monkey – 51
Bush dog – 48
Chacoan mara – 40
Red-rumped agouti – 40
Black howler monkey – 37
Southern tamandua – 36
Coppery titi – 34
Geoffroy’s cat – 34
Yellow-breasted capuchin – 33
Tayra – 31
Lowland paca – 30
Jaguarundi – 26
Black-handed spider monkey – 24
Spectacled bear – 24
Central American agouti – 23
Giant otter – 23
Southern pudu – 23
White-faced capuchin – 22
Brazilian porcupine – 22
Margay – 22
Colombian brown spider monkey – 20
Guianan weeper capuchin – 16
Black-rumped agouti – 14
South American fur seal – 14
Red-faced black spider monkey – 13
Bearded capuchin – 12
Venezuelan red howler monkey – 11
West Indian manatee – 11
Woolly monkey – 10
Chacoan peccary – 10
White-lipped peccary – 10
White-tailed deer – 10
Plains viscacha – 7
Guianan bearded saki – 6
Black-horned capuchin – 6
Baird’s tapir – 2

Next, the mammals that may work as either a habitat or walkthrough exhibit species:
Common marmoset – 318
Cottontop tamarin – 276
Common degu – 173
Linnaeus’ two-toed sloth – 133
Emperor tamarin – 131
Pygmy marmoset – 129
Golden-handed tamarin – 121
Goeldi’s monkey – 105
Golden-headed lion tamarin – 99
Geoffroy’s marmoset – 91
Long-tailed chinchilla – 90
Golden lion tamarin – 73
Red-bellied tamarin – 58
Silvery marmoset – 49
Western pygmy marmoset – 38
Pied tamarin – 27
Gray-handed night monkey – 23
Black tufted-ear marmoset – 21
Eastern pygmy marmoset – 17
Bolivian night monkey – 13
Variegated squirrel – 12
Spix’s saddleback tamarin – 7
Red-mantled saddleback tamarin – 5

This list is of birds that I could imagine working as a habitat species:
Greater rhea – 443
White-faced whistling duck – 167
Chilean flamingo – 164
Humboldt penguin – 154
Fulvous whistling duck – 125
Black-crowned night heron – 120
Red-legged seriema – 114
American flamingo – 112
Southern screamer – 86
Black-necked swan – 83
Coscoroba swan – 62
Black-bellied whistling duck – 59
Great curassow – 58
Darwin’s rhea – 54
Northern helmeted curassow – 53
Upland goose – 50
Sunbittern – 44
Grey-winged trumpeter – 44
Wild muscovy duck – 41
Giant wood-rail – 35
Boat-billed heron – 30
Blue-throated piping-guan – 27
Orinoco goose – 26
Ruddy-headed goose – 23
King penguin – 22
Bare-faced curassow – 21
Andean goose – 20
Ashy-headed goose – 20
Elegant crested tinamou – 18
Great white egret – 18
Chaco chachalaca – 13
Yellow-knobbed curassow – 13
Black curassow – 11
Maguari stork – 10
Magellanic steamer duck – 9
Brown pelican – 6
Chilean tinamou – 5
Tataupa tinamou – 5
Comb duck – 5
Red-billed curassow – 5

And finally, reptiles I could imagine working as a habitat species:
Red-footed tortoise – 249
Spectacled caiman – 155
Cuvier’s dwarf caiman – 89
Argentine black-and-white tegu – 85
Yellow-footed tortoise – 71
Northern caiman lizard – 46
Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle – 31
Red tegu – 31
Galapagos giant tortoise – 25
Broad-snouted caiman – 23
Smooth-fronted caiman – 21
Yacare caiman – 19
Gold tegu – 14
Black caiman – 9
Arrau river turtle – 7
Click to expand...
Interesting analysis about SA animals available in European, Asian and New Zealand zoos, in some cases the results are different from those of the meta-wishlist along the time
 

dinosaurchestra

dinosaurchestra
It would be amazing to see more southern new world species. The content for this part of the world feels lacking and less refined than a lot of other game content, especially compared to the diversity of species (and landforms and people!) that exist there.

Looking at random goat's META Wishlist, maned wolf is Number 2. Two-toed sloths tie for 5th. South American coati rounds out the top ten.
Black howler monkeys and golden lion tamarins are popular asks for new world monkeys. Ocelots are a lovely smaller cat. 9-banded armadillo range in NA, CA and SA in a wide variety of habitats, and are kept in mixed habitats with raccoons for one, and tamarins as well. Kinkajou are also kept with raccoons, and red pandas. there is a lot of potential for mixed-species compatibility that could make for some amazing, immersive ecosystem habitats. And that's just skimming the most popularly requested animals. There's so much great content to pull from for SA, personally I am hoping for a Central and South American-themed summer pack, with several new animals and more plants.

Rainforest-Central-America.jpg



Birds would be icing on the cake. Maybe a hummingbird exhibit similar to the bat enclosure? That would be a dream!
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
Cynogale bennettii said:
and New Zealand
Click to expand...
I can tell you exactly what South/Central American animals are in NZ zoos (and it's barely any from that list 😅 - though I think the problem is that we don't even have five major zoos).
  • Tufted capuchin.
  • Golden lion tamarin.
  • Emperor tamarin.
  • Cotton-top tamarin.
  • Pygmy marmoset.
  • Bolivian squirrel monkey.
  • Geoffroy's spider monkey (Mexican subspecies).
  • Agouti (unspecified - though I suspect it's the red-rumped agouti rather than Azara's).
  • Capybara.
  • Brazilian tapir (Hamilton Zoo only, though I'm not even sure if they still have them).
  • Galapagos giant tortoise (Auckland Zoo only, though Willowbank Wildlife Reserve has talked about getting them so maybe one day).
  • Green iguana.
  • Scarlet Macaw.
  • Blue-and-yellow macaw.
  • Military macaw (AFAIK Wellington Zoo only).
  • Sun conure.
  • Llama.
  • Alpaca.
  • Various tarantula (off the top of my head, Brazilian black, goliath birdeater, Chilean rose, and Mexican redknee).
 
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