Spring 2024 DLC Speculation

To me an oddball would be kiang (Equus kiang) which is my second most favourite wild equine, because we already got the wild donkey and the wild przewalski horse. Kiang is like a mixture of them with an unique ear shape but he has also very close copy called onager (Equus hemionus onager) and this one is endangered compared to kiang which is listed as least concern. However onager is more donkey-ish while kiang have it's more unique ears as I mentioned. Also I feel like not many people even heard about those two species.
So that would be my odd choice surprise from PlanetZoo.
wild-ass-kiang.jpg
 
Just as long as the golden monkey doesn't deny south america a monkey. As much as I want asia to get a cool looking monkey, I don't want south america to be left with a lonely capuchin.
Absolutely, to me it’s if we can get both type of situation.

Granted that’s assuming Frontier sees it that way, as far as we know they might never see an SA monkey as an option. Same with birds, and many other animals.

It’s the same thing with me for the American Flamingo. I can understand the issue of it “taking a spot” so we get a less unique bird. That’s assuming though if Frontier didn’t pick the flamingo they would pick that other bird. Which may not be the case. To Frontier it may be an all or nothing, vs us assuming Frontier weighing options.

I imagine it also has to do with how much time an individual animal takes. We assume with the Arid pack we got too many ungulates, we could have got a baboon or secretary bird. It’s possible Frontier was never planning to do those animals, as they spent so much time on the porcupine. To Frontier, they were never even planning to add those animals to begin with.

So when we assume an animal takes another animals spot, I’m wondering if that is simply not the case.
 
Last edited:
Agouti would be a Nice oddball but i know it will come in the place of the Patagonian mara. I'm sure is one of those one or the other situations. And i prefer the mara. Is way more useful and interesting to me.
To me they're honesty equal. They’re both appealing, the Mara being a larger species can go with a few other animals and be used in petting zoos, while the Agouti can be with so many species it would be one of the most useful species in the game.
What do you guys think would be a good oddball animal to get in the last dlc?
Depends what the pack is, If it’s Latin America then I agree with @jcp011c I think the Brazilian Porcupine would be perfect, if it’s a global pack then my moneys on an ungulate, specifically the Gerenuk.
 
Someone’s else said it, but the golden snub nosed monkey is like the wisent and American black bear. Very important to a specific region of the world so it should be in the game!
Normally I would agree, but with the final pack coming up we can’t afford too many wildcards and wild requests like this (when I say wild I don’t mean it’s crazy to want them, I mean an animal that isn’t that popular and only has 1 reason to want it)
 
What do you guys think would be a good oddball animal to get in the last dlc?
To quote my own post, I’m gonna go with the white faced whistling duck. It may not be an oddball choice for us on the forum, but for the general public it definitely will be. As much as I want a duck especially because I am dying for a NA bird, I think it might be a perfect option. I mean look at the pros and cons:

Pros
  1. Another waterfowl, fills a different niche than the mute swan too
  2. Native to Africa and South America
  3. Can have massive interspecies bonuses: flamingos, capybara, tapir, Pygmy hippos, etc.
  4. It’s a perching duck so exhibits can be potentially more dynamic
  5. Also as a semi aquatic animal it’s another fun thing to build for
  6. It’s adorable
Cons
  1. Could “replace” a more popular bird (I.e. something like the scarlet ibis, or shoebill stork)
  2. There is already one waterfowl species in game, some people might rather have another group representing
IMG_0139.jpeg


For me this bird fills three important niches:
  1. Waterfowl/ duck
  2. African/ Asian bird representation
  3. A good way to diversify a habitat, ESPECIALLY due to potential interspecies bonuses
If I’m being honest it’s perfect
 
To quote my own post, I’m gonna go with the white faced whistling duck. It may not be an oddball choice for us on the forum, but for the general public it definitely will be. As much as I want a duck especially because I am dying for a NA bird, I think it might be a perfect option. I mean look at the pros and cons:

Pros
  1. Another waterfowl, fills a different niche than the mute swan too
  2. Native to Africa and South America
  3. Can have massive interspecies bonuses: flamingos, capybara, tapir, Pygmy hippos, etc.
  4. It’s a perching duck so exhibits can be potentially more dynamic
  5. Also as a semi aquatic animal it’s another fun thing to build for
  6. It’s adorable
Cons
  1. Could “replace” a more popular bird (I.e. something like the scarlet ibis, or shoebill stork)
  2. There is already one waterfowl species in game, some people might rather have another group representing
View attachment 384941

For me this bird fills three important niches:
  1. Waterfowl/ duck
  2. African/ Asian bird representation
  3. A good way to diversify a habitat, ESPECIALLY due to potential interspecies bonuses
If I’m being honest it’s perfect
Definitely my most wanted Waterfowl, almost every African or South American aviary in my zoos needs one of these ducks. Especially with the new mod for this duck, I'll be using it in all my zoos.
 
To quote my own post, I’m gonna go with the white faced whistling duck. It may not be an oddball choice for us on the forum, but for the general public it definitely will be. As much as I want a duck especially because I am dying for a NA bird, I think it might be a perfect option. I mean look at the pros and cons:

Pros
  1. Another waterfowl, fills a different niche than the mute swan too
  2. Native to Africa and South America
  3. Can have massive interspecies bonuses: flamingos, capybara, tapir, Pygmy hippos, etc.
  4. It’s a perching duck so exhibits can be potentially more dynamic
  5. Also as a semi aquatic animal it’s another fun thing to build for
  6. It’s adorable
Cons
  1. Could “replace” a more popular bird (I.e. something like the scarlet ibis, or shoebill stork)
  2. There is already one waterfowl species in game, some people might rather have another group representing
View attachment 384941

For me this bird fills three important niches:
  1. Waterfowl/ duck
  2. African/ Asian bird representation
  3. A good way to diversify a habitat, ESPECIALLY due to potential interspecies bonuses
If I’m being honest it’s perfect
Oh I wholeheartedly agree with your choice! These guys would be perfect. They have a widespread distribution and are exotic enough to be in a stand alone habitat imo. And as you said their unusual distribution makes them a powerhouse for mixed species exhibits.
 
Definitely my most wanted Waterfowl, almost every African or South American aviary in my zoos needs one of these ducks. Especially with the new mod for this duck, I'll be using it in all my zoos.
After making my Tropical Aviary post it’s actually growing on me super fast, tbh I actually prefer it over the secretary bird. That’s just my preference though.
 
Maybe this is a hot take: But there a million other birds I want over the secretary bird...
Gray-Crowned Crane>Secretary Bird
I’m not gonna disagree! The secretary bird gets the benefit one of only two birds of prey I can logistically be in game, the other being the burrowing owl.

I love the secretary bird, especially because it can make for a cool standalone exhibit animal.

Personally when it comes to African birds I would much rather get birds that can work with other species.

  1. White faced whistling duck
  2. Grey crowned crane
  3. Helmeted Guinea fowl
I would be no where near close to mad if we got a secretary bird though!
 
I’m not gonna disagree! The secretary bird gets the benefit one of only two birds of prey I can logistically be in game, the other being the burrowing owl.

I love the secretary bird, especially because it can make for a cool standalone exhibit animal.

Personally when it comes to African birds I would much rather get birds that can work with other species.

  1. White faced whistling duck
  2. Grey crowned crane
  3. Helmeted Guinea fowl
I would be no where near close to mad if we got a secretary bird though!
I could see the roadrunner and caracara aswell
 
I could see the roadrunner and caracara aswell
I have yet to hear caracara brought up until now! They are sometimes found in SA and are pretty fascinating. I remember when I was in undergrad going to a grad student's talk about caracaras. It was required to attend a seminar for genetics class... She was defending for her MS or PhD. I don't remember which... But it was a really cool talk because she went to the mysterious Falkland Islands to study a bird I had never heard of until that point. I remember hearing about the birds' personalities.

So yeah I personally would root for the caracara has an oddball.
 
I could see the roadrunner and caracara aswell
Those would be cool too!

I just wonder where the line is drawn for birds that fly too much for Planet Zoo.

Big eagles, condors, and vultures don’t fly or move much but aren’t in game. Most of the birds in game are notoriously flightless too. So I wonder where the secretary bird could work but a bald eagle couldn’t.
 
Back
Top Bottom