Wildlife Watcher
Well-Known Member
To be completely honest, I have not actually played Zoo Tycoon 2, but after having looked over the game's roster several times I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Most of the animal options look pretty solid but there are definitely some weird choices, especially in the expansion packs. I do agree with what a lot of people on this thread have already said, but I thought it would be fun to give my own take on it anyway (again, I haven't played the game, so you're perfectly free to reject my opinions on it).
To start things out, here's every species I'd personally drop from the roster:
In addition to dropping certain species, there are other animals I think would be better suited for different expansion packs. To better accommodate new species, I'd expand the base game roster from 30 animals to 50, while keeping each expansion pack at 20 animals, ultimately bringing us to a roster of 150 animals total.
Here are the animals I would personally move to different packs:
BASE GAME
To start things out, here's every species I'd personally drop from the roster:
- Mountain Gorilla (Base Game) - Like Loxodonta Cobra already mentioned, the western lowland gorilla is far more common in zoos. I'm fine with keeping the emperor penguin, since they're the most well known penguin species and also at least present in a few facilities, but out of the two gorilla options the western species just makes more sense.
- Black Leopard (Bonus) - Might just be the most unnecessary animal in the game since it's literally just a color morph. White tigers and king cheetahs were added through the Endangered species pack so I see no reason why this can't just be a regular African leopard with the black panther version just being its own color morph.
- Addax (Bonus) - This game already has enough African animals and I don't think we need three species of oryx in a 130-animal roster. I'd replace it with a California condor, so we could still have a critically endangered arid species while also expanding the game's selection of birds. Assuming flying mechanics aren't allowed though, the condor would probably have to be flightless (it'd still be a cool inclusion, though).
- Asiatic Black Bear (Bonus) - Not a bad inclusion per se, but I personally I'd prefer the American Black Bear. The base game already has more Asian than American species in it anyway so maybe this swap would help balance things out.
- Crested Gibbon (Endangered Species) - I like the inclusion of a gibbon species but this still feels a bit like a weird choice. As far as gibbons go, I'd prefer the siamang.
- Barbary Ape (African Adventure) - Considering how this species is most remembered for being Europe's only primate, it feels like an especially weird inclusion for an African-themed expansion. I'd choose a mantled guereza to replace it, since it's a visually striking monkey that would also expand the game's Congo animal selection.
- Gerenuk (African Adventure) - Not a bad inclusion either, I just think there are lot more interesting options when it comes to antelope. I'd go with the greater kudu to replace it.
- Masai Giraffe (African Adventure) - Probably the most unnecessary animal in the game, since we already have the reticulated giraffe in the base roster, and there aren't multiple subspecies of any other animals in the game. I'd replace it with an African rock python, since it would fit the African theme while also giving us the first adoptable snake of the game (not counting the non-adoptable king cobra from the reptile house).
- Striped Hyena (African Adventure) - Definitely a really cool obscure species but it feels a little weird to have this in the roster instead of the more social spotted hyena.
- Blue Marlin (Marine Mania) - Do I really need to explain myself? It's a really cool sportfish but has no place in zoo game if it can't last a day in captivity. I fully agree with Loxodonta Cobra's sentiment that the ocean sunfish would be the better option.
- Narwhal (Marine Mania) - Pretty much the same logic as the blue marlin; really cool sea creature that just doesn't make sense for a zoo game. So we could still have a polar species, I'd go with the southern elephant seal to replace it.
- Goblin Shark (Marine Mania) - One of the weirdest selections in the game. Are these guys even held in captivity? So we can still have a benthic animal, I'd bring back the giant Pacific octopus from the first game, which for some reason was left out of this one.
- Great White Shark (Marine Mania) - An unfortunate one, considering it's the most famous shark that casual players would surely want to put in their zoo, but also infamous for not faring well in captivity. Though nowhere near as iconic, I think the great barracuda from the first game could be a good substitute, since it would still give us a cool marine predator that could also realistically be held in captivity.
- Leatherback Sea Turtle (Marine Mania) - Yet another super cool sea creature that just isn't realistic enough (then again, the game does have dinosaurs in it). Normally, I'd probably swap it out with another sea turtle, but this pack's fish department is fairly lacking, so I'll swap it with the humphead wrasse instead.
- False Killer Whale & Short-Finned Pilot Whale (Marine Mania) - More realistic than the narwhal at least but still somewhat baffling. Honestly, I thought the version of marine mania from the first game sounded way cooler because it actually had some variety to it. This one has too many cetaceans and large sharks and not enough of literally everything else. Honestly, most of the game's roster problems can be traced to this expansion alone. So to spice things up, I'll take the green moray eel with a side of Japanese spider crab.
In addition to dropping certain species, there are other animals I think would be better suited for different expansion packs. To better accommodate new species, I'd expand the base game roster from 30 animals to 50, while keeping each expansion pack at 20 animals, ultimately bringing us to a roster of 150 animals total.
Here are the animals I would personally move to different packs:
- Gemsbok (Base Game) - Move to African Adventure
- Giant Sable Antelope (Endangered Species) - Move to African Adventure
- American Bison (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Caribou (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Fennec Fox (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Koala (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Komodo Dragon (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Orangutan (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- African Wild Dog (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Grey Wolf (Endangered Species) - Move to Base Game
- Mandrill (African Adventure) - Move to Base Game
- Meerkat (African Adventure) - Move to Base Game
- Common Warthog (African Adventure) - Move to Base Game
- Blue Wildebeest (African Adventure) - Move to Base Game
- West Indian Manatee (Marine Mania) - Move to Endangered Species
- Sea Otter (Marine Mania) - Move to Base Game
- California Sea Lion (Marine Mania) - Move to Base Game
- Pacific Walrus (Marine Mania) - Move to Base Game
- Linnaeus's Two-Toed Sloth (Base Game) - Sloths in general are one of the most popular zoo animals so they'd make perfect sense for a zoo game (they'd also help spice up the Latin American selection). It first I was going to suggest a brown-throated sloth but I think going with one of the two-toed species would be more realistic.
- Capybara (Base Game) - I mean, come on, everyone loves capybaras. What else is there to say?
- Northern Raccoon (Base Game) - A fairly common species that won't fit in with any of the expansion packs but would fit in nicely to the base game. I also just think that they'd go along nicely with the American beaver.
- Giant Anteater (Base Game) - Another Latin American animal that'd slot in nicely to the base roster.
- Green Anaconda (Base Game) - If snakes are on the table, of course I'm gonna go all out and chose the world's biggest.
- White-Faced Capuchin (Base Game) - One of the world's most well known monkeys that would also fill in the absence of New World primates.
- American Alligator (Endangered Species) - I know this isn't currently an endangered species, but considering how it was almost completely exterminated before being brought back from the brink of extinction, I was thinking it could serve as an example of a conservation success story. Also, we'd be getting another crocodilian.
- Golden Lion Tamarin (Endangered Species) - Definitely on the smaller side for species options but they're an important symbol of conservation that would also give us another New World monkey.
- Coquerel's Sifaka (Endangered Species) - While we're on the subject of primates, let's have another lemur in the roster. Can you tell that I really like this species?
- Tasmanian Devil (Endangered Species) - The game generally could use more Australian animals, so the tasmanian devil here fits the bill pretty well.
- Burrowing Owl (Endangered Species) - I'm suggesting species under the assumption that flight isn't allowed, but that doesn't mean we can't have flightless members of avian families. Also, burrowing owls are just generally really cute.
- Grey Crowned Crane (Endangered Species) - At first I was going to put this guy in African Adventure, but it had much fewer open slots that I thought would be better to save for non-endangered African species.
- Southern Cassowary (Endangered Species) - Would definitely be an excellent choice for this pack; they look really cool, they're endangered, and they'd increase Australian representation.
- Kakapo (Endangered Species) - Same logic as the burrowing owl; just because we can't adopt macaws doesn't mean parrots are completely off the table.
- Chinese Giant Salamander (Endangered Species) - Like Loxodonta cobra already mentioned, amphibians are completely absent from the game, and the giant salamanders are the only ones big enough to qualify as a habitat species.
- Marabou Stork (African Adventure) - This pack has plenty of representation for mammals and reptiles already so at this point I'm just going to bring in more birds.
- Southern Ground Hornbill (African Adventure) - Another cool grounded relative of an avian family that'd fit right at home in an African-themed pack.
- Magellanic Penguin (Marine Mania) - I was more lenient towards the emperor and rockhopper penguins than other people on this thread since I thought it'd be cool to have some antarctic species, but this time I decided to go with a penguin more common in captivity.
- Tufted Puffin (Marine Mania) - A fun little sunbird that would have to remain flightless but would still be a fun inclusion.
- Harbor Seal (Marine Mania) - A pretty cool pinniped common in both captivity and the wild.
- Brown Pelican (Marine Mania) - Same reasoning as the harbor seal, but for a another seabird.
BASE GAME
- African Bush Elephant (Savannah)
- African Wild Dog (Savannah)
- Alpine Ibex (Alpine)
- American Beaver (Wetlands)
- American Bison (Grassland)
- Bengal Tiger (Tropical Rainforest)
- Black Rhinoceros (Savannah)
- Blue Wildebeest (Savannah)
- Bornean Orangutan (Tropical Rainforest)
- California Sea Lion (Coastal)
- Capybara (Wetlands)
- Caribou (Tundra)
- Cheetah (Savannah)
- Chimpanzee (Tropical Rainforest)
- Common Ostrich (Savannah)
- Common Warthog (Savannah)
- Dromedary Camel (Desert)
- Emperor Penguin (Tundra)
- Fennec Fox (Desert)
- Galápagos Giant Tortoise (Scrub)
- Giant Anteater (Tropical Rainforest)
- Giant Panda (Temperate Forest)
- Greater Flamingo (Wetlands)
- Green Anaconda (Wetlands)
- Grey Wolf (Boreal Forest)
- Grizzly Bear (Boreal Forest)
- Hippopotamus (Wetlands)
- Indian Peafowl (Temperate Forest)
- Jaguar (Tropical Rainforest)
- Koala (Temperate Forest)
- Komodo Dragon (Scrub)
- Linnaeus’s Two-Toed Sloth (Tropical Rainforest)
- Lion (Savannah)
- Mandrill (Tropical Rainforest)
- Meerkat (Scrub)
- Moose (Boreal Forest)
- Nile Crocodile (Wetlands)
- Northern Raccoon (Temperate Forest)
- Okapi (Tropical Rainforest)
- Plains Zebra (Savannah)
- Polar Bear (Tundra)
- Red Kangaroo (Scrub)
- Red Panda (Temperate Forest)
- Reticulated Giraffe (Savannah)
- Ring-Tailed Lemur (Tropical Rainforest)
- Sea Otter (Coastal)
- Snow Leopard (Alpine)
- Thomson’s Gazelle (Savannah)
- Western Lowland Gorilla (Tropical Rainforest)
- White-Faced Capuchin (Tropical Rainforest)
- African Leopard (Tropical Rainforest)
- American Black Bear (Temperate Forest)
- California Condor (Scrub)
- Asian Elephant (Scrub)
- Muskox (Tundra)
- American Alligator (Wetlands)
- Baird’s Tapir (Tropical Rainforest)
- Burrowing Owl (Scrub)
- Chinese Giant Salamander (Wetlands)
- Coquerel’s Sifaka (Tropical Rainforest)
- Florida Panther (Wetlands)
- Golden Lion Tamarin (Tropical Rainforest)
- Grey Crowned Crane (Wetlands)
- Javan Rhinoceros (Tropical Rainforest)
- Kakapo (Scrub)
- Markhor (Alpine)
- Prezwalski’s Wild Horse (Grassland)
- Scimitar-Horned Oryx (Desert)
- Siamang (Tropical Rainforest)
- Southern Cassowary (Tropical Rainforest)
- Spanish Lynx (Temperate Forest)
- Spectacled Bear (Temperate Forest)
- Tasmanian Devil (Scrub)
- West Indian Manatee (Coastal)
- Wolverine (Boreal Forest)
- Aardvark (Scrub)
- African Buffalo (Wetlands)
- African Rock Python (Scrub)
- African Spurred Tortoise (Desert)
- Bongo (Tropical Rainforest)
- Caracal (Scrub)
- Ethiopian Wolf (Alpine)
- Gelada (Alpine)
- Gemsbok (Scrub)
- Giant Sable Antelope (Savannah)
- Greater Kudu (Savannah)
- Honey Badger (Tropical Rainforest)
- Mantled Guereza (Tropical Rainforest)
- Marabou Stork (Wetlands)
- Nile Monitor (Wetlands)
- Pygmy Hippopotamus (Tropical Rainforest)
- Secretarybird (Grassland)
- Southern Ground Hornbill (Scrub)
- Spotted Hyena (Scrub)
- White Rhinoceros (Scrub)
- Beluga (Tundra)
- Bottlenose Dolphin (Coastal)
- Blacktip Reef Shark (Reef)
- Brown Pelican (Coastal)
- Giant Manta Ray (Reef)
- Giant Pacific Octopus (Benthic)
- Great Barracuda (Reef)
- Green Moray Eel (Reef)
- Green Sea Turtle (Coastal)
- Harbor Seal (Coastal)
- Humphead Wrasse (Reef)
- Japanese Spider Crab (Benthic)
- Ocean Sunfish (Pelagic)
- Orca (Tundra)
- Magellanic Penguin (Coastal)
- Rockhopper Penguin (Coastal)
- Scalloped Hammerhead (Pelagic)
- Southern Elephant Seal (Coastal)
- Tufted Puffin (Coastal)
- Whale Shark (Pelagic)