The problem of the Middle East animals

yoav_r

yoav_r
So, there are 3 regions which are still lacking compared to what's expected. These are South America, Oceania, and the Middle East. Of these, the middle east gets a lot less attention due to it being a part of a continent and not a continent in itself.

So let's talk a bit about the middle east as a bioregion. The middle east has 2 main biomes: temperate forests and deserts. In the temperate areas, it mostly shares its fauna with Europe and asia. In the desert areas it has a mostly unique fauna it shares with north africa, plus some animals from the indian region.

However, the animals mostly associated with the area are the hot climate animals, meaning that most temperate animals occure only in the outskirts of the region.

So let's review what we have in the game.

Middle eastern animals in the game:
1. European badger
2. Sacred scarab beetle
3. Puff adder
4. Egyptian fruit bat

Closely related to ME animals:
5. Fallow deer - looks the same like the ME's persian fallow deer
6. Fire Salamander - the ME's near east fire salamander was consudered a subspecies of the fire salamander until recently

Animals which technically occure in the area, but are problematic inclusions:
7. Greater flamingo - passes through the area
8. Gray wolf - according to the map ingame should include the middle east, but the model has long fur, tolerates only cold tempratures and has no tolerane to middle eastern biomes.
9. Red fox - Same as the wolf
10. Red deer - occures in the outskirts of the region, but again the model and temprature tolerance do not reflect the middle eastern population.


So, if we want "main" animals of the middle east, here's a list of the top candidates I could think of:

1. Dromedary
2. Striped Hyena
3. Wild boar
4. Eurasian otter
5. Caracal
6. Sand cat
7. Striped Hyena
8. Hamadrayas baboon
9. Arabian oryx
10. Onager
11. Arabian sand gazelle
12. Nubian ibex
13. Rock hyrax
14. Indian wolf/arabian wolf
15. Syrian brown bear
16. Indian crested porcupine

So. How likely do you think it is to get any of these animals to finally give the region some representation?

Because I'm afraid we'll keep on getting more popular alternatives from other regions, like the fallow deer, ibex, and salamander.
 
I definitely don't think the Middle East is really begging for more animals like South America or Oceania, but it would be nice to get some more animals from that region. My most wanted ones are the Dromedary Camel, Caracal, and Hamadrayas Baboon, and I think that we're bound to get the Dromedary at some point. It was actually the animal I thought had the best chance of being added for the third anniversary update, before the Red Deer got revealed.
 
AlexSea said:
I definitely don't think the Middle East is really begging for more animals like South America or Oceania, but it would be nice to get some more animals from that region. My most wanted ones are the Dromedary Camel, Caracal, and Hamadrayas Baboon, and I think that we're bound to get the Dromedary at some point. It was actually the animal I thought had the best chance of being added for the third anniversary update, before the Red Deer got revealed.
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I don't think it needs as many animals as SA or Oceania, but it is also the most underrepresented area in the game.

I think 4-6 habitat animals would be enough, but we need these 4-6 animals.
 
yoav_r said:
So, if we want "main" animals of the middle east, here's a list of the top candidates I could think of:

1. Dromedary
2. Striped Hyena
3. Wild boar
4. Eurasian otter
5. Caracal
6. Sand cat
7. Striped Hyena
8. Hamadrayas baboon
9. Arabian oryx
10. Onager
11. Arabian sand gazelle
12. Nubian ibex
13. Rock hyrax
14. Indian wolf/arabian wolf
15. Syrian brown bear
16. Indian crested porcupine

So. How likely do you think it is to get any of these animals to finally give the region some representation?
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1. Dromedary (very likely)
2. Striped Hyena (likely)
3. Wild boar (likely... the biggest omission from europe at this point)
4. Eurasian otter (not likely)
5. Caracal (very likely)
6. Sand cat (likely)
7. Striped Hyena (you put it twice xD)
8. Hamadrayas baboon (very likely)
9. Arabian oryx (likely)
10. Onager (not very likely)
11. Arabian sand gazelle (not likely)
12. Nubian ibex (not likely)
13. Rock hyrax (likely)
14. Indian wolf/arabian wolf (not likely)
15. Syrian brown bear (not likely)
16. Indian crested porcupine (not likely, i think we'll get the african one)
 
NachoB said:
1. Dromedary (very likely)
2. Striped Hyena (likely)
3. Wild boar (likely... the biggest omission from europe at this point)
4. Eurasian otter (not likely)
5. Caracal (very likely)
6. Sand cat (likely)
7. Striped Hyena (you put it twice xD)
8. Hamadrayas baboon (very likely)
9. Arabian oryx (likely)
10. Onager (not very likely)
11. Arabian sand gazelle (not likely)
12. Nubian ibex (not likely)
13. Rock hyrax (likely)
14. Indian wolf/arabian wolf (not likely)
15. Syrian brown bear (not likely)
16. Indian crested porcupine (not likely, i think we'll get the african one)
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If we get all the species you put on the likely category I'd be over the moon. I do think that the Caracal and oryx are unlikely after we've got the lynx and scimitar oryx.
 
yoav_r said:
If we get all the species you put on the likely category I'd be over the moon. I do think that the Caracal and oryx are unlikely after we've got the lynx and scimitar oryx.
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The arabian oryx perhaps, i just think it has a chance as a reskin that doesn't need much work.

But the caracal has a very wide range (Africa, the middle east and India, which is another region with desperate need of more rep), is the most popular small cat from Africa from the metawishlist i think, and a very unique looking one at that (with the cutest kittens that look like actual living pokemons).
 
I don’t think frontier or planet zoo was ever intended to provide x amount of animals per region. That’s not even how real life zoos work. I think some regions will be hit and miss. The animals we do receive is the important thing. There’s some animals I think are beneficial to the game and there’s a lot of animals I think who’s inclusion aren’t necessary to the point I’d say we absolutely need them just because this particular region is lacking. I think if we didn’t receive another European animal it’s not going to be just terrible. Example the wild boar. People want this the peccary and the other very popular opinion being the red River hog. Say we get the red River hog I think that’s good enough not to justify the inclusion of the other two swine species. We don’t even know how much support is planned. Like Nicholas Lionrider said I think it gets to point where you prioritize one specific animal and call it good. There’s three popular bears left I mean the inclusion of all three would be great but in a world of support very well ending someday I think prioritizing one of the three is the most sensible thing to do. As far as Middle East goes a dromedary, Hamadryas baboon, Caracal and possibly the striped hyena is good enough imo. I don’t really see a niche for a sand cat as a example after receiving a Caracal. We got a Eurasian lynx which imo deemed the European wild cat as nothing more as a bonus if we got one but definitely not necessary.
 
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paul78 said:
I don’t really see a niche for a sand cat as a example after receiving a Caracal. We got a Eurasian lynx which imo deemed the European wild cat as nothing more as a bonus if we got one but definitely not necessary.
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Just wanna say that the sand cat is unique in being tiny and desert dwelling. It feels a niche much more similar to the Fennec fox than the Caracal.

This is also the likely reason the fennec and sand cat distributions don't overlap.
 
I see I would be ok with a sand cat over the Caracal if we only got one. I wouldn’t lie the Caracal is my most wanted small cat atp but like you say a sand cat brings a level of uniqueness to the game. The Caracal is a desert lynx basically and with the Eurasian species in game I could back the sand cat and possibly the Pallas cat as I do feel the game needs at least two more small cat species.
 
Honestly, I think that if they ever bring back regional packs, a North Africa Animal Pack could've included several species that lap into the Middle East as well. I know this doesn't cover endemic species, but aside from the Arabian Oryx and Hamadryas Baboon, I don't think there are any endemics of interest tbh (and the baboon is in the Horn of Africa too).

I'll bold species that also fit the Middle East representation.
1. Dromedary Camel
2. Addax
3. African Crested Porcupine
4. Sand Cat - Other choice is the Caracal, but I'd like what is essentially the cat version of the Fennec
5. Northern Bald Ibis
6. African Spurred Tortoise
7. Striped Hyena - Would've gone for a canine, but there are none of interest in North Africa aside from the Fennec tbh, and this guy's popular enough here
E. Egyptian Cobra
 
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