To me there's two categories. Those animals who's 'type' I thought we'd get but maybe the species is surprising and those animals that are just surprising.
For me going by packs:
Arctic: Dall Sheep - I don't think a North American caprid is surprising but the Dall Sheep is not a species you'd immediately expect to make it in game.
SA: Colombian White-Faced Capuchin - this falls into that first category. A Capuchin isn't surprising, but I'd have bet money we'd get the Black-Capped Capuchin given how popular and iconic it is. So to me this species is left field.
Australia: None, these are all very well known and popular species.
Aquatic:
- King Penguin - I would have expected Emperor Penguin for sure given it's infamy but the King Penguin is the better choice.
- Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman - another where I'm not surprised we got a Caiman, but the spectacled caiman was the obvious choice and would've been the sppecies high on the wishlist if we didnt have a caiman in game.
- Giant Otter - (yeah this pack has quite a few oddballs). I wouldn't have expected the rather obscure Giant Otter as our first otter.
SEA:
- North Sulawesi Babirusa - a pick I wanted but didn't overly expect to make it in the game as theyre not that well known.
I don't include Dholes or Proboscis Monkey because the former was in Zoo Tycoon 2 and probably the most famous Asian canid, the latter is iconic for its nose.
Africa: African Penguin - was a surprise for the Africa pack itself but also a surprise in general. I'd have expected either the Humboldt for being so common or something more 'flashy' like a rockhopper.
North America: Prairie Dog - I think mostly it's size and it's general forgetabbleness given all the choices for NA surprised me when it was included.
Europe: None
Wetlands:
- Nile Lechwe - I don't think anyone was expecting any species of Lechwe, perhaps the most oddball species of all DLCs.
- Wild Water Buffalo: simply for not being the domestic.
Conservation: None
Twilight: None
Grasslands:
- Blue Wildebeest - honestly just didn't expect another Wildebeest if we were getting more African antelope.
Tropical:
- Asian Water Monitor - idk I just kind of thought it was a dull choice for a 4 animal pack, wasn't very requested and had a very highly quality mod from early on in the modding life cycle.
- Lar Gibbon: I really wanted it but I thought the siamang had kind of ended its chances.
Arid:
- Somali Wild Ass - another I really wanted but I didn't think it had much traction in the community.
- Dama Gazelle - another nice addition, just didn't expect any more gazelles.
- Sand Cat - a feline that wasn't really on my radar as potential DLC. Personally think maybe we should've got the Serval in grasslands and the caracal in Arid.
Oceania:
- Little Penguin + Quokka: they don't surprise me as additions in an Oceania pack as options are limited and they're popular. But I wouldn't have guessed we'd get them before knowing we were getting another Oceanian DLC after Australia.
- Kiwi: I wouldn't have expected a kiwi to make it in game a few years ago. But it was a shoe in after the wishlist became a thing so not surprising when it finally did.
3.