The Goose Game

Today i want to talk about some of my favourite underappreciated animals, the goose.
I will try to cover a good number of geese and in the end, i would love to hear what you think about them coming to the game.
So lets get started.

The Greylag Goose, arguably the most culturally important goose, is first on this list.
They live in Europe and central Asia, but also migrate South towards Souther Asua in their breeding Seasons.
Rather surprisingly, these Goose have been quite the well liked animal, being Associated with many different gods in ancient Cultures in their range, most often being linked to a fertility god.
You might also know them as the geese that protected the roman capitol, snitched on Sankt Martin or just as our domestic Goose.

While not very flashy, they would cover multiple niches in planet zoo, being water fowl from allmost all of Eurasia they make Sense both as just waterfowl or even implied wild animals.
Their other main niche would be as a farm animal, as the wild and domestic form often have only very little differences, as they often have been held as "half wild" animals.
Ofcourse their still are flashy breeds, but a grey wild morph and a white domestic one would make this a very versatile Animal.
Download.jpeg-40.jpg


Next up is the Canadian Incarnation of Malice, the Canada Goose.
It stands out with its black neck and head and is especally known for its agressiveness.
They have been introduced in many different European Countries, but also Japan amd New Zealand.
As the most Urban of the Geese, they are the most prominent Goose in parks, gardens and most notable in our case, zoos.
Ofcourse, most of them havent been invited there, but do you really think that its botherd by that?
Afterall, they are quite Famous for vibechecking anybody in their way, no matter the size.
Fun Fact! The agressiveness of Geese is not just a bluff, as they dont really have anything to back up their threats, but also in general the more effective the bigger the target is.
The Reason for that is, that most big animals do not expect such a little thing to be that ballsy, making them extra cautious of it.

For Planet Zoo, they are THE Goose for any Urban pack ever. They are present in both the old and new world abd their prevelance in parks and zoos as wild animals makes them very attractive as wild animals, especally in city builds.
Afterall, is it really a park when its not occupied by a bunch of Canadian Hell Spawn?
Download.jpeg-41.jpg


Joining from all of subsaharan Africa, the Nile Valley and most places the Canada Goose is Invasive in, is the Egyptian Goose.
Besides its beautiful reddish browns, yellows and grays, this goose stands out by being very terrestrial, among the most of all goose species.
This would make them an especally good pick for Planet Zoo, as they would uniquly spend rather little amount of time in the water or the air.
Another potentially very fun thing is their very high agression towards other members of their own species while nesting and raising their chicks, making for a unique gameplay challange if implemented.
Also a goose is one of the last things our African areas are missing, so it would be a double great addition just for the completion aspect.
Download.jpeg-42.jpg


As our first more exotic and not urban Goose, we have the Bar-headed-Goose.
They are the most common Exotic Goose in the EAZA, being the 75. Most common species with 251 holdings, only being Topped by the Domestic Goose.
Their natural habitat are the Steppes of Central Asias and South East Asia and India during Breeding Season.
Theirs just one problem.
Both Areas are seperated by the Himalayah, which would be a problem for anybody but this goose.
Famous for their flight across the Himalayah, they are amongst the highest flying birds and the highest flying Goose.

Their arguments for Planet Zoo are simple.
Besides being simply very common, they also cover 2,5 very exciting Areas in Asia, those being the under represented Central Asia and Himalayah, the second being a great educational grouping eventhoug they "just" migrate across it, and most notable India, which really needs more animals to live in its ponds then Flamingos.
Just imagine a beautiful themed Asian Area with a bunch of ponds with lilys and lotus flowers where these pretty goose swim along. I might be biased, but this is one of my personal favorite visions for what i want to build for an animal not yet in the game and i hooe that one day those wishes become reality.
images.jpeg-19.jpg


Just behind the Bar-Headed Goose on the Top 100 list on Place 76. Is the Barnacle Goose with 247 holdings.
Living in the North Atlantics Coastal Regions along Skandinavia, Greenland and Iceland they are one of the few remaining arctic animals that would be really great to have in the game.
Nisting in high Cliffs far away from the ground is these Geese way to protect themself from two familar faces, the Polar Bear and the Arctic Fox.
The ladder especally has a special connection to the Barnacle Goose, as they are both each others main Prey and Predator. Arctic Foxes often wait around their Cliffs, waiting for the young chicks to start flying lessons, picking of any unlucky enough to fall out of the nest or struggling downwards to the ground.

For Planet Zoo, they would simply expand on our rather small roster if arctic animals, with an additional very clear relatshinship with the arctic Fox.
Download.jpeg-43.jpg



Last but not least concern, we got the Hawaian Goose, also known as Nene.
The introduction of foreign Predators allmost robbed the world of these beautiful brown Goose, named after their soft and gentle Calls
Once being down to just 30 Individuals to a now healthy Near Threatend Status Thanks to the work of zoological institutions world wide.
Today theres a wild population if about 2500 wild Nenes, but much much more living in Zoos around the world.
It also would be our first and propaply only viable habitat animal from hawaii, making it a perfect fit for any islands packs.
Another Benefit would be the fact, that the Nene mostly lives without dependance one a Watersource, being the only goose on the list that for sure wouldnt have any water requirements, making them extra unique.

For Planet Zoo, the Nene would be a Match made in Heaven.
While not that fond of water, its conservation history, how common it is in captivity and being among the obly visble hawaiian habitat animals it would bring alot of very unique elements, both among the goose but also the game in general.
images.jpeg-20.jpg


But what do you guys think? Any goose you would prefer over the others?
Any you would want less then the others?
Any that i havent listed here that you also want to highlight?
I would love to hear your opinions!
 
Last edited:
For me, barnacle goose would be the preferred species as it's very common in my country, as well as the introduced Egyptian and Canada goose, but I'd totally support a nene as it's a nice representation for Hawaii and an endangered species (and it's absolutely beautiful).
 
For me, the ideal goose is definitely the bar-headed.
1656488050288.png


They are pretty easygoing among geese and should be able to work as walkthrough enclosures (my experiences with greylag, Canada and barnacle geese are much less harmonious). Their wide climatic range means they can be displayed with all manner of different species - I have seen mixed enclosures for bar-headed geese with bactrian camels, Malayan tapirs, Indian rhinos, greater flamingos and cranes, as well as other species not in the game including Asian antelopes and deer and turtles. They are visually one of the most attractive geese and would have a lot of versatility in the game. Another thing they have going for them is their long lifespan - at a wetland zoo in the UK, the bar-headed geese are some of the oldest animals there, with birds born in 1990 still being alive in 2018.

While I wouldn't mind another goose species, the bar-headed is the one I want the most - fortunately, they are not as strongly aquatic as some geese and live mostly in grassland habitats, so could fit into a grassland pack.

Another bird, that isn't quite a goose but does have the word in its name, is the spur-winged goose. They are the largest African waterfowl and are, on average, the largest of all the 'geese'. They aren't that common in captivity (only twelve zoos in Europe holding them, according to Zootierliste) but have some unique quirks that make them very interesting. First of all, they are aptly named as they have large spurs growing from their elbow joints that they use when fighting. Unfortunately, they do not discriminate what they use the spurs on so they are not well-suited to mixed displays with other waterfowl.
Secondly, in the wild these geese feed on toxic blister beetles. The poison is sequestered in the flesh of the goose and can prove fatal to people who eat it. Also, unusually for a goose, they do not nest on the ground and will either steal a nest from a tree-dwelling bird like an eagle or, more interesting from the game's perspective, move into an abandoned aardvark burrow.

1656487858678.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The red-breasted goose would be my priority for northern zoos and the Cape Barren for Australia. Nene has a great zoo-related conservation story and would be a great addition to an islands pack for example.

Frankly I wouldn’t mind an animal pack with only geese, another one for swans and another for ducks…
 
Oh, I think geese and their relatives are great and I'd love to have something in-game. 'Geese' as a term is an interesting one, as it's one of those words that's applied in the 'it looks like it' sense and not as a specific taxonomical group! The smallest member of the family and one of my favourites is the cotton pygmy goose... which is a perching duck!

All that being said, the Nene would be my pick if we only get one, for that fantastic conservation success it's had!
 
Geese could bring a lot of life to the game.

Let's just add one to every pack!

Arctic Pack: Snow Goose
South America Pack: Magellan Goose
Australia Pack: Cape Barren Goose
Aquatic Pack: Emperor Goose
SEA animal Pack: Bar-headed Goose (not sure if it's range really fits this location that well)
Africa Pack: African Pygmy Goose
NA animal Pack: Canada Goose
Europe Pack: Red-Breasted Goose
Wetlands animal Pack: Swan Goose
Conservation Pack: Hawaiian Goose
 
Geese could bring a lot of life to the game.

Let's just add one to every pack!

Arctic Pack: Snow Goose
South America Pack: Magellan Goose
Australia Pack: Cape Barren Goose
Aquatic Pack: Emperor Goose
SEA animal Pack: Bar-headed Goose (not sure if it's range really fits this location that well)
Africa Pack: African Pygmy Goose
NA animal Pack: Canada Goose
Europe Pack: Red-Breasted Goose
Wetlands animal Pack: Swan Goose
Conservation Pack: Hawaiian Goose
I like your thinking sir.
A true visionary
 
Oh, I think geese and their relatives are great and I'd love to have something in-game. 'Geese' as a term is an interesting one, as it's one of those words that's applied in the 'it looks like it' sense and not as a specific taxonomical group! The smallest member of the family and one of my favourites is the cotton pygmy goose... which is a perching duck!

All that being said, the Nene would be my pick if we only get one, for that fantastic conservation success it's had!
sPUR WINGED GOOSE
 
The African pygmy goose is actually a duck... not a goose... cute though.
It's as much a goose as anything else we call a goose! The African pygmy goose is a 'perching duck', the Egyptian goose is one of many sheldgeese which means they're more closely related to shelducks than the 'true' geese in the Anser or Branta genuses, which are in turn more closely related to swans than to any of the other geese or ducks!
The taxonomy of a lot of waterfowl is still hotly debated; the exact placement of the pygmy geese isn't decided (they might also be shelducks/sheldgeese).
 
Back
Top Bottom