Curious on thoughts of mammalian importance, since we're obviously close to winding down with new additions (if we haven't gotten there already). What do you feel are the absolutely essential mammal additions needed? Do you have any at this point? I know we all have animals we'd like to see in the game, but this is purely for what you feel is absolutely essential only. No birds, reptiles or anything that's not a mammal for this thread. We know the game is not representative of what zoos have for those groups.
For carnivorans, I can only think of three that are essential. The
American black bear is the most obvious one and seemingly the easiest to make. The color morphs and biome diversity would make it a solid choice for many players. Having all but one of the bear species would be strange. The
coati is the most difficult, but it is mega popular, especially if you combine the votes for both species. The
serval is the least 'essential' of the three, but it is still very popular and very common in zoos around the world. If we get a coastal pack, I would consider the sea otter and walrus essential to that theme, but the theme itself doesn't strike me as necessary, as cool as it would be. There are other good options to fill packs, but those three seem like the most obviously missing to me.
For ungulates, I actually think we're good. Personally, I see muntjacs as essential because I've seen them so often in zoos, and we have nothing for that niche right now. However, they aren't well-known or popular enough for me to call them 'essential' on the same level as the others. I would personally love at least one of the wapiti and WTD, but they aren't critical to me. Muskox are popular and important enough for Arctic representation to maybe consider essential, but they don't have so much zoo presence.
Primates are a much bigger issue. Small monkeys aren't something I or many people look for initially in zoo games, but if I try to recreate almost any IRL zoo, their absence becomes obvious. Tamarins are the most obviously missing to me, with the
golden lion tamarin as the most popular by far and the cotton-top as the most common in zoos. Both are important icons of conservation for South America, and even more tamarins, like the emperor, would be nice. South America could also use at least one more, probably a
howler or spider monkey, but both and the squirrel monkey, too, would be ideal. Africa is also missing smaller, tailed monkeys. For those, the
guereza is the most popular. From what I understand, the
golden snub-nosed monkey is the most important animal for Chinese players, and they make up a huge chunk of the player base. Ideally, we'd also get 2+ guenons/guenon relatives for realism, a 'classic' langur for taxon rep, the Barbary macaque for Europe, and maybe the gelada and aye-aye for popularity. In a perfect world, all of them would be essential, but primates seem difficult and appear to have limited slots. I bolded the most important ones.
For marsupials/monotremes, I think the
tree kangaroo and
echidna are the last broadly essential picks for many people. The former is adorable and mega-popular. The latter is cute, decently popular, a good taxon pick, and listed in the soundtrack. Having it in the soundtrack but not in the game would be strange. A few more marsupials like the rock wallaby, possum, bilby, and maybe grey kangaroo would be great to build more fleshed-out Australian zoos.
For other mammals, there are a few that seem strong enough to consider essential. The
mara seems pretty important as a regional pick, at least bordering on essential. I would love a tamandua for an arboreal xenarthran. Rabbits are also frequently mentioned.
If I have to rank the bolded ones in terms of most notable exclusions, not necessarily order of preference:
- American Black Bear
- Golden Lion Tamarin
- Coati
- Guereza
- Echidna
- Howler or Spider Monkey
- Tree Kangaroo
- Mara
- Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey
- Serval
- Honorable Mention: Muskox
