I've been thinking about the potential anniversary animal more recently and I've been trying to view it from the way Frontier does by looking at the similarities between the two we already have: The Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur & the Red Deer. If we look at the similarities we can maybe find some rationale.
List of similarities:
To be honest, there isn't that much...
My first thought was the Red-Footed Tortoise. The main issue here is whether small tortoises should be habitat or exhibit animals? Personally I'd much rather them as habitat but others probably wouldn't. However they do fill all the criteria... They would basically be the current tortoises but downsized and reskinned, they are super common in zoos, not too highly requested, we haven't had any DLC tortoises so it wouldn't clash, we haven't had any anniversary reptiles and finally it would be from South America, giving a nice boost to the region.
A bird would also be a nice option and I think the most sensical would be another flamingo. I know a lot of people are throwing around pheasants but honestly I think they would require some new animations which I don't think Frontier would give for free. Flamingos on the other hand would be literal reskins but could also be a nice boost to the bird roster as well as one to South America. The Chilean Flamingo is the most common of the South American flamingos.
Now for a more out there suggestion... A penguin. Specifically the Humboldt penguin. Now this might seem outlandish, "it would compete with the DLC" I hear you say. First of all, did the red deer compete with the Europe DLC because of the fallow deer? Or even with the reindeer? No, clearly it was ok by Frontier because those DLC were reasonably old at that point so most people who were interested would have bought them already. I think its probably the same with the penguins, plus the Aquatic and Africa DLC have other "must-have" animals in them like the seal and the meerkat! A penguin could help bring back some people who bought the base game and maybe get them to check out the DLC, maybe the red deer did the same. This is probably a long shot though. Anyway, I suggest the Humboldt penguin because it would be a reskin of the African penguin and help to give South America some more representation.
So, probably not the most interesting analysis but considering the data we have from the past two years I think it is decently realistic if a bit boring. If we get rid of my continent or taxonomic rule based on the two past animals we can open it up a bit more... Lowland Tapir, Tufted Capuchin, Demoiselle Crane, African Spurred Tortoise, Leopard Tortoise, even maybe Racoon Dog all spring to mind to me. My gut says no to the Rhea, unfortunately.
Don't expect anything grand for the anniversary animal, I think. The red deer made so much sense the more I've thought about it so I think we got a bit overly enthusiastic about it since it was decently requested and a very familiar species.
List of similarities:
- Both heavily reuse the assets of pre-existing animals (Red Ruffed Lemur, Fallow Deer)
- Both are very common "basic" zoo animals (For example, they both have well over 150 holders according to zootierliste)
- Both were not super requested, the Red Deer had a decently sized fanbase but it certainly wasn't in the top 20
- Both do not clash with any "recent" DLC animals, we had no other lemurs released in 2021 and no other deer released in 2022.
- Both belong to quite different groups, primates and ungulates... This leads me to believe our next anniversary animal will follow suit and most likely not be from one of these groups.
- They come from different regions, Africa and Europe... This leads me to believe our next anniversary animal will follow suit and most likely not be from either of these regions.
To be honest, there isn't that much...
My first thought was the Red-Footed Tortoise. The main issue here is whether small tortoises should be habitat or exhibit animals? Personally I'd much rather them as habitat but others probably wouldn't. However they do fill all the criteria... They would basically be the current tortoises but downsized and reskinned, they are super common in zoos, not too highly requested, we haven't had any DLC tortoises so it wouldn't clash, we haven't had any anniversary reptiles and finally it would be from South America, giving a nice boost to the region.
A bird would also be a nice option and I think the most sensical would be another flamingo. I know a lot of people are throwing around pheasants but honestly I think they would require some new animations which I don't think Frontier would give for free. Flamingos on the other hand would be literal reskins but could also be a nice boost to the bird roster as well as one to South America. The Chilean Flamingo is the most common of the South American flamingos.
Now for a more out there suggestion... A penguin. Specifically the Humboldt penguin. Now this might seem outlandish, "it would compete with the DLC" I hear you say. First of all, did the red deer compete with the Europe DLC because of the fallow deer? Or even with the reindeer? No, clearly it was ok by Frontier because those DLC were reasonably old at that point so most people who were interested would have bought them already. I think its probably the same with the penguins, plus the Aquatic and Africa DLC have other "must-have" animals in them like the seal and the meerkat! A penguin could help bring back some people who bought the base game and maybe get them to check out the DLC, maybe the red deer did the same. This is probably a long shot though. Anyway, I suggest the Humboldt penguin because it would be a reskin of the African penguin and help to give South America some more representation.
So, probably not the most interesting analysis but considering the data we have from the past two years I think it is decently realistic if a bit boring. If we get rid of my continent or taxonomic rule based on the two past animals we can open it up a bit more... Lowland Tapir, Tufted Capuchin, Demoiselle Crane, African Spurred Tortoise, Leopard Tortoise, even maybe Racoon Dog all spring to mind to me. My gut says no to the Rhea, unfortunately.
Don't expect anything grand for the anniversary animal, I think. The red deer made so much sense the more I've thought about it so I think we got a bit overly enthusiastic about it since it was decently requested and a very familiar species.
Well... not yet anyway. I'd also like to see it in the game, definitely a zoo staple monkey and honestly we could do with another macaque.
