Spring dlc Speculation 2023

NachoB · Feb 16, 2023

Oh. Ok.

Well i'm not opening that can of worms again (but my priority is the peccary)

About the mini packs i would love that.

Japan

Tanuki
Japanese serow
Sika deer

Madagascar

Coquerel's Sifaka
Aye-aye
Fossa

New Zealand

NI brown kiwi
Tuatara
Kea (or little blue penguin)

Phillipines

Phillipine tarsier
Palawan peacock pheasant (true want: phillipine eagle)
Visayan spotted deer

New guinea

Tree kangaroo
Victoria crowned pigeon
WE: paradise birds

Java

Slow loris
Javan mouse deer
Javan langur

Sumatra

Sumatran rhinoceros
Sumatran tiger
Asian water monitor

Magnolia · Feb 16, 2023

The amount of these mini packages being island based solidifies my belief that an island pack should be an animal pack rather than scenery

YesIndeed · Feb 16, 2023

yoav_r said:
Not this again

I second that

Pentoleaf · Feb 16, 2023

It sounds like I missed some swine drama...

But back to islands. I would gladly trade the Tasmanian Devil for the Vancouver Island marmot. I just think they're cute. Thoughts?

biggest_dreamer · Feb 16, 2023

I have no strong need for the devil, personally. They'll be fine when we inevitably get them, but hey, the marmot would too.

HunterIsCookie · Feb 16, 2023

yoav_r said:
Just for the fun of it, what would you put in a 3 species mini-pack for these regions?

Or any other secluded region that has lots of interesting and endemic species.

I love a good challenge (I'm adding one exhibit animal tho, cus I feel like it).

Philippines:
1. Palawan Peacock Pheasant
2. Visayan Warty Pig
3. Visayan Spotted Deer
E. Philippine Sailfin Lizard

Japan:
1. Japanese Raccoon Dog
2. Japanese Serow
3. Masked Palm Civet (not exclusive to Japan, but ehh I like this option the most)
E. Japanese Giant Salamander

Ethiopia:
1. Gelada
2. African Wild Donkey
3. Black-Backed Jackal
E. Naked Mole-Rat

Antarctica:
1. Leopard Seal
2. Gentoo Penguin
3. Southern Rockhopper Penguin
E. Antarctic Krill (I don't have any better ideas and honestly it'd be pretty neat I guess)

New Zealand:
1. North Island Brown Kiwi
2. Little Blue Penguin
3. New Zealand Fur Seal
E. Tuatara

Plus I added some of my own

New Guinea:
1. Eastern Long-Beaked Echidna
2. Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo
3. Crocodile Monitor
E. Green Tree Python

Madagascar:
1. Fossa
2. Aye-Aye
3. Radiated Tortoise
E. Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

HunterIsCookie · Feb 16, 2023

Pentoleaf said:
It sounds like I missed some swine drama...

But back to islands. I would gladly trade the Tasmanian Devil for the Vancouver Island marmot. I just think they're cute. Thoughts?

I'd take the marmot in an animal pack, but certainly not in place of the devil. Looking at this specific marmot again, it's my ideal species of them, love their colouration. My Aussie bias for the T-Devil is too strong to be moved, though this rodent's definitely taken the spot of another lemur species on my personal animal pack.

(PS, for those wondering, my ideal pack would be now Tasmanian Devil, North Island Brown Kiwi, Fossa, Quokka, Hawaiian Monk Seal, Little Blue Penguin and Vancouver Island Marmot. Tree-Kangaroo could still happen in a number of other packs imo, as much as I really want it as well)

Veah · Feb 16, 2023

HunterIsCookie said:
E. Antarctic Krill (I don't have any better ideas and honestly it'd be pretty neat I guess)

What about the giant isopod? I don't know if captive krill is on display anywhere (it would be cool), but I've seen giant isopods IRL zoos and they fit perfectly on the current exhibit system: they don't move at all, barely eat, don't need much space, and are really huge. A square 4x4 metres box full of water is great for them.

HunterIsCookie · Feb 16, 2023

Veah said:
What about the giant isopod? I don't know if captive krill is on display anywhere (it would be cool), but I've seen giant isopods IRL zoos and they fit perfectly on the current exhibit system: they don't move at all, barely eat, don't need much space, and are really huge. A square 4x4 metres box full of water is great for them.

I kinda forgot about them, theyd be a great substitute too. Honestly any crustacean would be great in game.

SirTophamHatt · Feb 16, 2023

AntoniOG said:
Ok that was fast.

And this is the issue these days.
People are desperate to talk about the next thing instead of enjoying what we have now.
Consumerism at it's finest.

KönigDerKaffeebohnen · Feb 16, 2023

Pentoleaf said:
It sounds like I missed some swine drama...

But back to islands. I would gladly trade the Tasmanian Devil for the Vancouver Island marmot. I just think they're cute. Thoughts?

I would prefer not to get it in an island pack, as marmots fit perfectly in a mountain pack and the vancover island marmot itself also wouldnt be a priority to me there, as the alpine marmot would give some more easy european representation, so while it would be on theme, imo id would be a logistically bad choice

KönigDerKaffeebohnen · Feb 16, 2023

SirTophamHatt said:
And this is the issue these days.
People are desperate to talk about the next thing instead of enjoying what we have now.
Consumerism at it's finest.

Welcome 3 months late to the fun speculation threat.
Instead of an unnessecary judgemental comment, how about u tell us what pack you would like to see for the future?

TheHippoGirl · Feb 16, 2023

For me, the best mini-pack would be the Sulawesi mini-pack !

Lowland Anoa
Celebes Crested Macaque
Sulawesi Bear Cuscus

I would pay the price of a normal DLC for it. Also, if we get an Islands DLC, I hope at least one of those three will be included. Far better than the kiwi as far as I'm concerned.

KönigDerKaffeebohnen · Feb 16, 2023

TheHippoGirl said:
For me, the best mini-pack would be the Sulawesi mini-pack !

Lowland Anoa

Celebes Crested Macaque

Sulawesi Bear Cuscus

I would pay the price of a normal DLC for it. Also, if we get an Islands DLC, I hope at least one of those three will be included. Far better than the kiwi as far as I'm concerned.

For a full pack, id also add the asian palm civet, which is surprisingly common with 47 holdings across its subspecies.
Theyd add another small climber to the island besides the cuscus and also representing the fact that civets are the only members of carnivora living on sulawesi in the wild.
And as a + they are found in pretty much all of south east asia and even the phillipenes, making them an extremly versatile choice that fits well in the blindspots of our current allready great SEA roster

Chuditch · Feb 16, 2023

KönigDerKaffeebohnen said:
For a full pack, id also add the asian palm civet, which is surprisingly common with 47 holdings across its subspecies.
Theyd add another small climber to the island besides the cuscus and also representing the fact that civets are the only members of carnivora living on sulawesi in the wild.
And as a + they are found in pretty much all of south east asia and even the phillipenes, making them an extremly versatile choice that fits well in the blindspots of our current allready great SEA roster
View attachment 345765
View attachment 345766

I understand the intent of having the Asian palm civet as a sort of stand-in for the Sulawesi palm civet (which is among the rarest civets in captivity and only kept in Indonesia occasionally), but I'd much rather not have an introduced species in a regional pack like this to be honest. Instead, my preferred fourth species would be the maleo, a funky-looking fowl with a funny-sounding call that is well known for its habit of using geothermal heat to incubate its eggs. They're quite rare in zoos outside of Indonesia (4 holdings in the US and 1 in Germany), but the Sulawesi bear cuscus is even rarer (3 European holdings), and I don't mind getting niche zoo species if they're unique enough.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOzpidKWEuI

If not the maleo, my other choice would be the Asian water monitor - like the Asian palm civet it is widespread across south and south-east Asia and has an even larger captive presence (66 EAZA holdings, kept in North America and Asia too), but unlike the civet it is actually a native of Sulawesi. Reticulated python is the obvious choice for an exhibit animal and another common zoo species that is widespread across south-east Asia.

DarthQuell · Feb 16, 2023

SirTophamHatt said:
And this is the issue these days.
People are desperate to talk about the next thing instead of enjoying what we have now.
Consumerism at it's finest.

Hey man, loosen up, have a little fun. Of course we all enjoy what we have, but it's not wrong to talk about what may be coming in the future.

It's kinda like a movie franchise: you watch a movie that ends on a cliffhanger. What're you gonna do? Be satisfied that we have the movie and then forget about it the rest of the day? Or are you gonna be satisfied with the movie and start talking about what the potential sequel will be like?

Moonfox · Feb 16, 2023

I’m hoping for a rainforest pack - it’s an opportunity to represent different continents, with a wide variety of animals, and selfishly because so many of my top wishlist animals could be included:

Coati
Fossa
Manatee
Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo
Cotton Top Tamarin
Shoebill
Colobus monkey
Red River hog
Toucan/Macaw walkthrough exhibit

Could otherwise be an alpine/cold region pack:

Echidna (shoehorned in, but they do live in alpine areas)
Walrus
Leopard seal
Saiga
Takin
Pallas Cat
Tasmanian devil
Wolverine
Walkthrough exhibit: snowy owl

Or we’re way overdue for an Indian pack:

Nilgai
Chital
Grey langur
Blackbuck
Indian leopard
Fishing cat
Sloth bear
Walkthrough exhibit: Indian vulture

Scenery wise, I’d love more generic zoo items as always. New fences, gates, locks, sun shades, food troughs, that sort of thing.

DarthQuell · Feb 16, 2023

What about something called the Treetops animal pack? It can be a pack that boosts our arboreal animals and, if we are to get birds in WEs, that too.

Gray langur
South American coati
Goodfellow's tree kangaroo
Vervet monkey
Hoffman's two-toed sloth
Ocelot
Prehensile-tail porcupine
Budgerigars (WE)

Of course, this is just random animals that popped into my mind. Y'all could probably do better

Pentoleaf · Feb 17, 2023

HunterIsCookie said:
I'd take the marmot in an animal pack, but certainly not in place of the devil. Looking at this specific marmot again, it's my ideal species of them, love their colouration. My Aussie bias for the T-Devil is too strong to be moved, though this rodent's definitely taken the spot of another lemur species

They have wonderful conservation story as well. During the 90s they were one of the rarest mammals on the planet with a population in the mid 30s. Thanks to a plan to make a genetic ark by capturing and captive breeding those individuals the wild population is now in the low hundreds. Still precarious, but hopeful.

biggest_dreamer · Feb 17, 2023

DarthQuell said:
What about something called the Treetops animal pack? It can be a pack that boosts our arboreal animals and, if we are to get birds in WEs, that too.

Gray langur

South American coati

Goodfellow's tree kangaroo

Vervet monkey

Hoffman's two-toed sloth

Ocelot

Prehensile-tail porcupine

Budgerigars (WE)

Of course, this is just random animals that popped into my mind. Y'all could probably do better

A firm +4 to South America would be incredible, and is part of the reason I've considered this theme before. I think two monkeys are non-negotiable for such a pack, but I'd opt for two that look a bit more different at a glance. Maybe swap the vervet for a colobus, or if you really wanted to show SA some love, swap either for a howler, spider, or tamarin? Also, this lineup is pretty heavy both on tropical species and especially on small species. I think the spectacled bear is worth serious consideration.