It seems like a large part of the community has kind of cast aside traditional exhibit animals (4x4 exhibits) in favour of the walk-through flying animals. While I'm all for this new direction, truth be told, I feel that within the older system, quite a few animals are missing! So welcome to...
My top wished 10 exhibit animals. I won't include any mammals (mice etc.) As that could fill it's own list.
Honorable mentions: Frilled lizard, Inland bearded dragon, Eastern snake-necked turtle, eyelash viper, Chinese water dragon, Lake Titicaca water frog...
10- Tuatara: While it's far from the likeliest of these animals, as part New Zealander I would love for this fascinating reptile to be included, and it would be the only exhibit animal aside from the fire salamander to have a temperate forest exhibit.
9- African giant millipede: A zoo staple that's sorely lacking, this humongous myriapod would make for a great counterpart to its carnivorous Amazonian brethren, and I can imagine educators handling them too!
8- Egyptian tortoise: even though we already have two giant tortoise species, having a third, much smaller species in an exhibit setting would be a really nice touch and, again, would make for a handleable reptile for educational displays.
7- Golden coin turtle: similarly to the previous one, it's a critically endangered small chelonian that could make for a more interactive animal. Aside from that, it, like the axolotl, could have. A more tropical aquatic exhibit, contrasting to the more temperate majority. Plus more Asian exhibit animals are desperately needed.
6- Mexican milk snake: Asides from looking absolutely gorgeous, this snake would be the first colubrid to be included, the only non-venomous desert snake, and also a no-brainer for educators to pick up and show off.
5- Leafcutter ants: Even though its husbandry could be challenging to recreate in-game (I still think buying 50 at a time would be a good compromise), these insects are an ineludible zoo classic, and the invertebrate I would most like to see in-game.
4- Burmese python: Having two American boa species in the game, one wonders about the inclusion of pythons in the future. Even though the ball and carpet pythons would also be quite valid, I chose the Burmese python, as it is among the largest but most commonly kept of its family, has the double wammy of being endangered in its home range and an invasive species elsewhere, and is a strong argument for the existence of 8x4 exhibits, for it, the anaconda, boa and iguanas at least. Also, Asian representation is sorely lacking in exhibits so far.
3- Monocled cobra: This family of snakes is sorely missing! (Okay, the Eastern brown snake kiiinda counts, but come on!) There are many species to choose from, but I chose the monocled cobra for its iconic status, Asian home range, and being the only venomous snake to be housed in a rainforest exhibit (again, there were other candidates, but I think this is the best)
2- Tokay gecko OR
common leopard gecko: the final Asian exhibit animal on this list, I feel these very famous species would be the best representatives of geckos as a whole, followed very closely by the the Madagascar day geckos and the Fiji crested gecko. While I personally prefer the tokay for its colour and personality, the leopard gecko would be the only Asian desert exhibit animal, which is more unique, sooooo... You can choose!
1- Panther chameleon: one of the most iconic lizard families are the chameleons, and while the veiled and Jackson's chameleons came very close, in the end I opted for this Madagascan species, as there are NO exhibit animals from this island, and I couldn't think of a better exhibit animal to represent said habitat (though the day geckos get close). Plus keepers could easily hold it for presentations, which is always a plus, and, in my opinion, it has the most beautiful and striking colour changes of the three species I mentioned.
Feel free to agree, disagree, or anything in between!
