Which animal niches are still completely empty?

[yoav_r]

So I've been thinking, which real life habitats can't be made using any animal currently in the game?

The only thing I could think of was the Sea lion, and Gibbon but there may be more.

What I mean is, for example, a Proboscis habitat could work for any macaque/langur from SEA, so that niche is "filled", or the african and king penguin together fill the nichrs for all other penguin habitats (polar habitats and temperate habitats).

Edit: Obviously excluding aviaries and aquariums. At this point I filter them out by default.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Some that come to mind would be:

• Small cats, the smallest cat we have right now is the clouded leopard, something way to big for the typical enclosures for lynx, fishing cat, european wild cat, etc
• Small nocturnal house habitats, especally aboreal ones. Of the top of my head, only the aardvark, fennek fox and the binturong are commonly seen in nocturnal houses.
• Aviarys (duh)
• Small animals in general
• petting zoos, they only have the lama till now, while real generally have atleast 5 species
• rodents and hares
• small to mid size carnivores in general (badgers, foxes, minks, otters, polecats, martens, etc)
• pheasants
• pelicans
• ducks, geese, swans and other water fowl
• true free roaming animals (we have the peafowl, but we dont have the mechanics)
• not south american monkeys (mandrills dont count)

I could go on and on, but i think thats enough for now.
Funnily enough, i dont even agree with one of your examples, because sealions and seals basicly live in the same kind of habitats, they are pretty much interchangeable, so unless i havent misunderstood it, nah man, the sealion would not occupy a new niche on its own, but just add to the seal as another piniped

 

[avietar]

Rodents are the first that come to mind.

Hares and rabbits.

Small cats.

Bats.*

And also howler monkeys and gibbons.

These are the most obvious exclusions so far, that feel weird that they haven't been filled yet. Other notable exclusions that feel less weird to me because I expect them to come in a pack or update of sorts, are aviaries and aquariums.
*Bats might come in an aviaries expansion of some sort.

Also, though I'm not sure if this counts, but... Butterfly houses? Every zoo I've ever been to here in the Netherlands has an area with butterflies, tons and tons of butterflies.

 

[turkeyfox]

There are lots of ground based birds that don't require an aviary update, they'd work similar to flamingos and peafowl. Ground hornbills, swans, cranes, guineafowl etc.

 

[FoxyDee]

I would say:

• Gibbons
• Badgers
• Sea lions
• Small cats
• Rodents (capybaras, porcupines, beavers...)
• SLOTHS
• Flying birds obviously
• Fish (at least exhibit aquarium ones)
• Bats

 

[peafowl]

d u c k s

 

[Antimony96]

Missing entirely:
*Rodents (many wouldn't work if PZ wants to avoid exhibit mammals, but the capybara, beaver, and crested porcupine are obvious candidates and the Patagonian mara is a personal favorite.)
*Aviary birds (obviously)
*Bats (same limitations as aviary birds)
*Aquarium fish and other small fully-aquatic animals (the kind that could work in either a smaller aquarium building or alongside semiaquatic habitat animals like hippos and crocodiles, not asking for large sharks or cetaceans)
*Small felids (caracal, lynx, Pallas's cat--the clouded leopard is a very debatable case at best)
*Procyonids (raccoons and relatives--best candidate here would probably be a coati)

Severely underrepresented:
*Flying birds that live primarily on the ground (plenty of good candidates--secretarybird, crowned crane, pelicans, various waterfowl and gamebirds)
*Domestic animals (only the llama and camel--people seem to be less enthused by a petting zoo pack than other things so this should be saved for after a lot of wishlist animals get knocked out)
*Other small carnivores (at least a couple mustelids, plus the fossa and maybe a civet, would be nice)
*Monkeys, particularly the kinds which are actually common in zoos--would like to see squirrel monkey and golden lion tamarin for the New World, and a guenon and a true baboon for the Old World.
*Exhibit reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates in general--ideally I'd like to see as much diversity here as with habitat animals, plus a revamp to the exhibit system in general to have different shapes and sizes (since the scarab beetle and the green iguana obviously do not have equivalent space requirements)
*Deer--only represented by the reindeer/caribou; it would be good to see a European species like the fallow or red deer, the Chinese Pere David's deer, and possibly a South American pudu

 

[jcp011c]

We need a rodent! Well, several, but rodents are conspicuously absent. That's the main one, to me.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

While I don't disagree that we desperately need sea lions, is their "niche" really that distinct from the gray seal? They're obviously physiologically and behaviorally very distinct, but I don't think I've ever seen sea lions that weren't kept with a seal species.

That said, I think proper small cats are the biggest niche by far that's currently totally unrepresented. Rodents would probably be second. And then in the underrepresented camp, it'd be small monkeys, small arboreal mammals in general, small carnivores, deer, non-aviary birds, petting zoo species.

Basically what everyone has already said.

 

[Firestar97]

Other Equidae than just Zebras. I want at least Przewalski's Horse and a domesticated Donkey for Petting Zoos.

Also other Amphibians than just Frogs.

Smaller Tortoises and maybe also the African Spurred Tortoise.

Small arboreal Animals like Squirrels and Martens

Everything else I was thinking of was already mentioned.

Small nocturnal house habitats, especally aboreal ones. Of the top of my head, only the aardvark, fennek fox and the binturong are commonly seen in nocturnal houses

In one of my Zoos, I keep Aardvarks, Pangolins, Giant Burrowing Cockroaches, both Scorpions that are currently in the Game and the Centipede (and I think those are already all Nocturnal House Animals without the South East Asia and Africa Pack). But it would definitely be nice if we could build Nocturnal Houses that aren't so dependent on Exhibit Animals.
I bet lots of People would buy a Nocturnal House DLC. It could include the Aye Aye, Flying Foxes and Vampire Bats (if it's released after a Aviary Pack) and of course at least one more Habitat Animal

Edit: aquatic Invertebrates (Lobsters, Crabs, Octopus.....)

 

[Firestar97]

While I don't disagree that we desperately need sea lions, is their "niche" really that distinct from the gray seal? They're obviously physiologically and behaviorally very distinct, but I don't think I've ever seen sea lions that weren't kept with a seal species.

Probably the Niche for it is that we don't have a Pinniped yet that is suitable for Tropical Temperatures

 

[Ounze]

Funnily enough, i dont even agree with one of your examples, because sealions and seals basicly live in the same kind of habitats, they are pretty much interchangeable, so unless i havent misunderstood it, nah man, the sealion would not occupy a new niche on its own, but just add to the seal as another piniped

Seal Lions would be a new niche. They don't just eat fish, they'll eat fish crustaceans, and even seal pups.

Probably the Niche for it is that we don't have a Pinniped yet that is suitable for Tropical Temperatures

Mediterranean and Hawaiian Monk Seal would be the best bets.

In general, bats (fruit, piscivorous, sanguinous and insectivorous(maybe they can just give us placeable bat boxes for these). More mustelids (both terrestrial, semi aquatic,and aboreal), more pinnipeds (Especially the Baikal Seal (Only fresh water pinniped)), aquaria (At the very least smaller fish, like salmon, sturgeon, small shark (Epaullete sharks come to mind), lamprey, Archer fish, Betta Fish, etc).
More smaller predators, like Raccoons, Coyote, Golden Jackal, civets, Ringtail (Relative of Raccoon), and I would like smaller deer. Like Duiker, and Musk Deer (Genus Moschus).
Rodents are a must alongside an exhibit overall, then we can accommodate Afrotherians like Hyrax (Hyracoidea), and Sengii (Family Macroscelididae), and Manatees.
Sloths and Armadillos, and more insectivores, especially Aardwolf (an insectivorous hyena).
More of the larger lizards, and we need Tuatara. The non-lizard reptile.
As well as salamanders, and caecillians. Alongside Malagasy carnivores, more marsupials, and as many endemics as theyll give us.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

Smaller Tortoises and maybe also the African Spurred Tortoise.

Oh yeah, I always forget just how few tortoises and turtles we have compared to the number you'd expect to see in a zoo. I understand why Frontier wanted to just start off with large tortoises, but I think that it's well established by now how receptive people are to smaller animals. The radiated tortoise in particular would be nice.

 

[Firestar97]

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Those are so cute and they would perfectly fit into my Marine Park because it's on Hawai'i (yes, that's the Name of the big Main Island of Hawaii. Very creative )

Oh yeah, I always forget just how few tortoises and turtles we have compared to the number you'd expect to see in a zoo. I understand why Frontier wanted to just start off with large tortoises, but I think that it's well established by now how receptive people are to smaller animals. The radiated tortoise in particular would be nice.

I would love it so much to have small Tortoises walking over the Paths in a Tropical House and the Radiated Tortoise would be so nice for this (especially because it would also be a Animal from Madagascar. Put the Fossa, 2 new Lemurs and a Chameleon in the Game too and you would have a really nice little Madagascar DLC). I think the Red-footed Tortoise would also be a nice Addition.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Seal Lions would be a new niche. They don't just eat fish, they'll eat fish crustaceans, and even seal pups.

No they wouldnt, not in the way the op lined out. Its about animals that would give us new ways to build habitats/fill niches missing from the game.
We allready have a piniped with the exact same type of exhibit. You could just switch out your grey seals for sealions when they drop without changing the habitat one bit and no one would bet an eye.
For the same reason i havent mentioned deer, because while i would love to have more (the fallow deer is my number 1 requested animal), their habitats mostly wouldnt differ to much from the reindeer and other ungulates like antelopes. Same for equines, swine, bovines, etc.

The only ones i actually see as needed for their niche is a mountain caprid like an ibex or a takin, and im saying that as a strong advocate for more ungulates.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

a mountain caprid like an ibex or a takin

Would that not be covered by the Dall sheep?

 

[Ounze]

No they wouldnt, not in the way the op lined out. Its about animals that would give us new ways to build habitats/fill niches missing from the game.
We allready have a piniped with the exact same type of exhibit. You could just switch out your grey seals for sealions when they drop without changing the habitat one bit and no one would bet an eye.

In terms of habitat, they absolutely should have different niche. Chiefly, sea lions like rocky haul outs that seals can't climb. They have very different habitat desires and different behaviors.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Would that not be covered by the Dall sheep?

Not really, dall sheeps arnt really a fan of mountains, or atleast not in the way that some of these sickos are. But i do agree, that technically you could allready build something like that for them.

 

[ElectricMonk]

All marsupials other than koalas and large desert macropods.

 

[Magnolia]

It’s a relatively small one but seeing as the big ones have already been addressed: we don’t have any Asian snakes. Kind of a shame when some of the most recognizable serpents come from there. (King cobra, reticulated python, tentacled snake).