Surprising Animal Choices

Y'all, we've had 4 years of PZ content already. 4 years of fantastic updates and DLCs. We've had popular choices, like the California sea lion, and we've had obscure animals, like the Cuvier's dwarf caiman.

Now here's my question for y'all: are there any animals that you would have never thought would ever, EVER, come to the game?

In my case, I'd have to say that the southern cassowary was 1. I never thought that the living terror bird would be officially part of the game. Another inclusion is the dhole; the red dog hardly gets any mention anywhere, and to see these guys come was such an oddball inclusion that I loved it.

What about y'all?
 
First two that comes to my mind would be the dhole and proboscis monkey, not really that popular or well known animals but somehow was prioritised over more popular animals. Bonus points to arrive in the very same pack which I was lead to believe the Southeast Asia pack was just a collection of the weird and wonderful animals from there. Other animals like the wombat and skunk were a 'why though' at the time of release.
 
Another inclusion is the dhole; the red dog hardly gets any mention anywhere, and to see these guys come was such an oddball inclusion that I loved it.
Agreed! I love the dhole but certainly didn't expect it! I almost didn't expect the dingo (feral almost?) or Dall Sheep either. The dall sheep is to me about as niche as they come! Yet, I love sheep and am fascinated by Alaska so I'm glad they're in the game!
One that I feel like I might have helped get in (via my wishlists) but that I never expected at all is the Striped Hyena. That animal reminds me to be happy Frontier listens.
 
Dhole, Quokka for sure. I was even surprised the Binturong was included at its reveal. In a not so great way, the Striped Skunk is one I would have never expected we'd get.

This is not the exact same situation, as I wasn't really surprised we got them, but I was surprised by how much I actually like using them - the Giant Anteater. Never thought it would be one of my favorites, especially my favorite of the pack.
 
  • Dhole, Binturong, Sun Bear, Nile Lechwe: did not know these animals existed, but they're cool
  • Dall Sheep: I live in NA, and I did not know this animal exists. The nearctic realm doesn't have a lot to keep track of, but I did not know this or the stone sheep existed. I don't understand why this was chosen over the Rocky Mountain Goat or the Bighorn Sheep.
  • Himalayan Brown Bear, Formosan Black Bear: I don't know why they added bear subspecies. If the Timber wolf is fine, which I think has more obvious differences, I don't understand why a brown bear and a moon bear would not have been fine.
  • Platypus: I would have thought it would be too much work, but they're really cool.
  • Pronghorn, Proboscis Monkey, Bonobo: They aren't kept in zoos too much, and it seems a little strange to get them before other iconic things for their respective regions. I don't mind them, though, especially if we get other things that are needed (i.e. I like the proboscis monkey a lot more now that we have a gibbon.)
  • Sand cat, Quokka: They were on my radar as great and good, but I honestly thought they were too small. I'm really happy to get them, though.
  • There have been some surprising picks, but I don't usually mind oddballs. I've heard of most of the animals, at least through the wishlist, and I'm open to a lot.
 
Yea, Dhole feels like one that would never have been brought up much otherwise. Dall Sheep, as well, would never have guessed that over the other North American caprines.
 
I don't understand why this was chosen over the Rocky Mountain Goat or the Bighorn Sheep.
Well, they wouldn't have really fit in an Arctic Pack. The real question would probably have been why over the musk ox?

Either way, I quite like the Dall Sheep, it is nice to have a true sheep in the game and definitely is a nice animal for Arctic zones.
 
As a dall sheep stan, two of my local zoos either had dall sheep or currently have dall sheep, and a favorite zoo of mine in a neighboring state also has dall sheep, so I will not tolerate dall sheep slander.
They are not nearly the same level of obscurity as a proboscis monkey or a dhole.
 
Honestly the platypus was a very big surprise i didn't think It could be possible that they would be in the game

some oddballs like the skunk, Dama gazelle, dingo, dall shep and european badger, i never thought they're would be in the game at the begining
 
There were some animals I was not sure would be added due to difficulty or because they are kind of niche. I was really surprised by these:

Koala, Grey Seal, Gibbons - Iconic animals, but at the time I was not sure if Frontier would add them due to their lifestyle or locomotion. In case of the seal, I was betting on sea lions because their locomotionon land seemed easier to do. Glad Frontier was able to pull them both.

Giant Otter, European Badger, Platypus, Somali Wild Donkey - These I hoped for but was pessimistic about their inclusion, so it really positively surprised me to see them being added.
 
I have a couple
  1. Dhole
  2. Proboscis monkey
  3. Nile Lechwe
  4. Gray seal (what surprised me is they picked this over the harbor seal)
  5. Armadillo
  6. Getting two birds in one pack
 
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.









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