Eventhough we only got 2 more European Animals last year, im personally feeling quite satisfied by the european roster. Just like oceania, if we dont get anything more for europe it would be disapointing, but okay.
So now im asking, what european animals do you guys still want and desire and especally why?
First of for my own list, we got one of the last 2 animals i deam truly essential for europe, and thats the wild boar.
Besides being a wildpark power house, the largest suid got alot of things going for it, starting with its large muscular build. While the other two pigs we have in the game are rather slender with the warthog especally being all about being the most agile pig, the wild boar is the tank among the suids, adapted to stand a chance when faced with its dominant predator, the grey wolf or even more importantly other wild boar in male on male confrontations. While the females tend to live in small herds with their offspring, the males usually live alone, which could be quite fun if implemented in the game.
Interestingly why we are talking about them primarly as an european animal, the wild boar is among the mammals with the largest range on the planet, being found on every single continent, naturally occuring in pretty much all of non tundra Eurasia and northern afirca aswell as along the nile. They are believed to have their origin in South East Asia and as they moved to the west have outcompeted other suid species, making them the main reason while most asian non wild boar suids are found on islands. Across that journey, they have split into 16 different subspecies, usually grouped into the Western (underdeveloped mane with the exception of the central european and capathian boar, mostly high skulled and with a thick undercoat), the Indian (no underwool, highly devolped manes and prominent snout bands, overall most "different" looking), Eastern (thick undercoat, no mane, charakteristic white streaks from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw) and lastly the Indonesian (most primitive and closest to the root wild boar, least intelligent, sparse body hair, long mane and red bands). In my humble opinion, the most logical choice would either be featuring the wild boar on a species level modeld after the central european wild boar with a color variation that features the prominent white bands of the eastern subspecies (which arnt completly absent in the central europeans) or to just give us the central european, the most iconic and most common in zoos subspecies of the wild boar. Both are equally viable but id propaply prefer the first due to the added flexibility.
Overall a very cool and interesting animals that could fit many different uses thanks to its massive range, status as one of the most deadly invasive species and the wild ancestor of one of our most common domestics.
Next up, the beech marten. Why the beech marten and not the generally more popular pine marten?
Good question. The pine marten is a bit larger and arguably more visually appealing with its yellow chest instead of the beech martens white.
First of a small numbers game. Across its 3 different subspecies, the beech marten is found in 91 EAZA zoos, while the pine only has 47, so roughly half of the beeches.
But thats not all, in the end we come back to my favorite attribute of any animal, flexibility.
This is the range of the pine marten. Its a good range, we got pretty much all of europe, anatolia and some parts of eastern russia. Nice. But what has the beech marten to offer?
One Word, Asia. While the beech marten is not found in skandinavia, north eastern russia or the UK, it range also covers the north western coast of the middle East and most importantly across the central asian mountain ranges with the most important for the game being its presence in the himalaya.
Another feature the beech marten has is that while it is an excelent climber and swimmer, they are bound to neithter element. In fact these mostly nocturnal predatores tend to hunt on the ground where it scavanges for rats, mice, fallen fruit and other small life forms, mostly only hunting in trees to raid bird nests or ambush sleeping individuals. In regions inhabited by pinemartens, they also tend to have a higher part of fruits and insects in their diet to avoid competition.
Lastly for habitats, these guys are truly adaptable, being the only true marten thats not bound to the forest, in fact prefering opfen terrain most commonly found in either bushy vegitation with a few trees and/or rocky habitats. This combination led to them loving urban settlements, which basicly are a mosaic of trees, stone formations and open spaces. This goes so far that the cathedral of cologne is home to not one but two different beech martens, living on top this massive church mostly on a diet of pidgeons.
The thrid animal of my personal want list is the 25. most common animal in the EAZA, the white stork with 459 Holdings.
Propaply the most culturally ingrained non domestic bird, the white stork has been a sign of fertility, parenthood and the spring for a long time with many storys and legends being formed around them, be it as one of Aesops main cast of animals, frequently entering his Fables under the name of adebar or the legend of them being the ones that bring the babys.
But what would it offer for a zoo game? Quite alot id say.
For one, id be finally another bird and one that could reuse the cranes rigg for ease of introduction. They would provide europe, africa, the middle east, central asia and india with a large bird, which would fill quite the hole for africa especally as it really feels like it needs a large wading bird for wetland areas.
Overall its an iconic, well studied bird with a gigantic range and large migrations, what more do you want?
Theyd fit wonderfully in a spring pack and propaply are among my top 5 animals im hoping to see in the next dlc and overall my other essential pick for not just europe but the game in general as they can provide us with so much while only needing one slot for an existing rigg in the roster. Truly a 10/10 addition.
These would be my 3 most wanted, i might add some more later but for now its your time to shed light on what european species you guys want
So now im asking, what european animals do you guys still want and desire and especally why?
First of for my own list, we got one of the last 2 animals i deam truly essential for europe, and thats the wild boar.
Besides being a wildpark power house, the largest suid got alot of things going for it, starting with its large muscular build. While the other two pigs we have in the game are rather slender with the warthog especally being all about being the most agile pig, the wild boar is the tank among the suids, adapted to stand a chance when faced with its dominant predator, the grey wolf or even more importantly other wild boar in male on male confrontations. While the females tend to live in small herds with their offspring, the males usually live alone, which could be quite fun if implemented in the game.
Interestingly why we are talking about them primarly as an european animal, the wild boar is among the mammals with the largest range on the planet, being found on every single continent, naturally occuring in pretty much all of non tundra Eurasia and northern afirca aswell as along the nile. They are believed to have their origin in South East Asia and as they moved to the west have outcompeted other suid species, making them the main reason while most asian non wild boar suids are found on islands. Across that journey, they have split into 16 different subspecies, usually grouped into the Western (underdeveloped mane with the exception of the central european and capathian boar, mostly high skulled and with a thick undercoat), the Indian (no underwool, highly devolped manes and prominent snout bands, overall most "different" looking), Eastern (thick undercoat, no mane, charakteristic white streaks from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw) and lastly the Indonesian (most primitive and closest to the root wild boar, least intelligent, sparse body hair, long mane and red bands). In my humble opinion, the most logical choice would either be featuring the wild boar on a species level modeld after the central european wild boar with a color variation that features the prominent white bands of the eastern subspecies (which arnt completly absent in the central europeans) or to just give us the central european, the most iconic and most common in zoos subspecies of the wild boar. Both are equally viable but id propaply prefer the first due to the added flexibility.
Overall a very cool and interesting animals that could fit many different uses thanks to its massive range, status as one of the most deadly invasive species and the wild ancestor of one of our most common domestics.
Next up, the beech marten. Why the beech marten and not the generally more popular pine marten?
Good question. The pine marten is a bit larger and arguably more visually appealing with its yellow chest instead of the beech martens white.
First of a small numbers game. Across its 3 different subspecies, the beech marten is found in 91 EAZA zoos, while the pine only has 47, so roughly half of the beeches.
But thats not all, in the end we come back to my favorite attribute of any animal, flexibility.
This is the range of the pine marten. Its a good range, we got pretty much all of europe, anatolia and some parts of eastern russia. Nice. But what has the beech marten to offer?
One Word, Asia. While the beech marten is not found in skandinavia, north eastern russia or the UK, it range also covers the north western coast of the middle East and most importantly across the central asian mountain ranges with the most important for the game being its presence in the himalaya.
Another feature the beech marten has is that while it is an excelent climber and swimmer, they are bound to neithter element. In fact these mostly nocturnal predatores tend to hunt on the ground where it scavanges for rats, mice, fallen fruit and other small life forms, mostly only hunting in trees to raid bird nests or ambush sleeping individuals. In regions inhabited by pinemartens, they also tend to have a higher part of fruits and insects in their diet to avoid competition.
Lastly for habitats, these guys are truly adaptable, being the only true marten thats not bound to the forest, in fact prefering opfen terrain most commonly found in either bushy vegitation with a few trees and/or rocky habitats. This combination led to them loving urban settlements, which basicly are a mosaic of trees, stone formations and open spaces. This goes so far that the cathedral of cologne is home to not one but two different beech martens, living on top this massive church mostly on a diet of pidgeons.
The thrid animal of my personal want list is the 25. most common animal in the EAZA, the white stork with 459 Holdings.
Propaply the most culturally ingrained non domestic bird, the white stork has been a sign of fertility, parenthood and the spring for a long time with many storys and legends being formed around them, be it as one of Aesops main cast of animals, frequently entering his Fables under the name of adebar or the legend of them being the ones that bring the babys.
But what would it offer for a zoo game? Quite alot id say.
For one, id be finally another bird and one that could reuse the cranes rigg for ease of introduction. They would provide europe, africa, the middle east, central asia and india with a large bird, which would fill quite the hole for africa especally as it really feels like it needs a large wading bird for wetland areas.
Overall its an iconic, well studied bird with a gigantic range and large migrations, what more do you want?
Theyd fit wonderfully in a spring pack and propaply are among my top 5 animals im hoping to see in the next dlc and overall my other essential pick for not just europe but the game in general as they can provide us with so much while only needing one slot for an existing rigg in the roster. Truly a 10/10 addition.
These would be my 3 most wanted, i might add some more later but for now its your time to shed light on what european species you guys want
then I guess:
