Adding Tahr (and Paradise Shelduck) to Te Awaroa

[coral ibex]

I know this has been requested multiple times back before this new forum type format, but since I can't see one here now, I might as well add it!

Now I believe the reason Tahr were not added to TA originally was issues with getting the males big manes of fur to work correctly. Having seen the excellent fur on the new red fox model, I would really hope that tahr could indeed be possible to create a decent model for now. I think they would be a fantastic addition to the reserve, and could hopefully see them even having zones way up high in the mountain. Players are able to make it right to the very top peak in the snow, I think it would be pretty neat if there was the odd rest zone up in the snowline. They also have a white fur variation naturally for an inbuilt rare fur (in fact looking at pictures of white tahr it seems like theres a sort of piebald variety with blue eyes and a little colour, then solid white individuals that look to be leucistic. Multimounts could include two tahr bulls fighting, a male with one or a couple of females, or perhaps a mount including tahr and chamois together (or even the other goat species as well).

Additionally to really bring TA together I would also suggest the Paradise Shelduck, an endemic waterfowl with a unique sexual dimorphism where the female is equally if not more attractive in plumage than the males. These guys could easily be found across the map, grazing in the open fields in their bonded single pairs or sitting in larger groups on the water. This is a species I think would be great where both males and females could make diamond, though since females do usually weigh slightly less perhaps female diamonds would be more rare. I think a must would be a multimount of a pair together.

[fleet token]

I'd like see red necked wallabies added as class two small game

[golden steeple]

They even have the logo made for Tahr! (It was a bug in the missions back when the map was released where the leaked Tahr's logo was showing instead of Homo Sapiens)

[tacit tiger]

The bigfoot tahr. Aka goat man

[burnt wind]

I think Tahr and Paradise Duck would complete TA's animal lineup nicely

[tacit tiger]

How much would the Shelduck and tahr give you?

[royal gulch]

I'd say Tahr, Shelduck, Pacific Black duck, red-necked wallaby, and rocky mountain elk (renamed Wapiti respectively) would settle Te Awaroa for me if I could add more to it

[fleet token]

Rather not give them more ducks to quack incessantly, trade black ducks for red necked wallabies and i'll vote for you

[tacit tiger]

Why name elk wapiti? That's if there is Europe and Asia.

[royal gulch]

Aren't they called Wapiti in New Zealand? Or is it still stuck to the hybrid between elk and red deer? If so, then forget the rename

[tacit tiger]

Nvm. They are called wapiti in New Zealand. I know that there called that in Asia mostly.

[royal gulch]

Ah, then the rename stays. Anyway this topic already has my vote

[coral ibex]

At least the shelduck don’t quack but the weird whistles and honks they make one might find more annoying lol

Wapiti elk in nz are so hybridised with red deer they could even have a minor model change from the regular Rocky Mountain elk, were they ever added

[coral ibex]

bumping this up 🙂

[paper terrace]

Wapiti are Roosevelt Elk and sometimes crossbred with red deer

[fleet token]

I'm still up for this, The new goats do long hair pretty well so the Tahr doesn't seem like a big ask

[rocky shadow]

From Bruce Banwell’s studies they believe that Fiordlands wapiti are almost certainly Rocky Mountain elk though they most likely have a significant amount of admixture with other subspecies from both before their introduction and from farm escapees here in NZ. I’d also say they are almost totally crossbred. From genetic samples taken by the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation the very purest wapiti in the herd had only about 60-70% wapiti and 20-30% red genetics with most wapiti sitting somewhere around 40-50%. Here’s a study from Lincoln university if your interested:

https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/6463/Harvey_BAgrSc(Hons).pdf?sequence=3

I think if they ever were to be added to Te Awaroa they should call them Fiordland Wapiti, they would be much larger than red deer but significantly smaller than purebred wapiti as they are in reality with their model altered to combine both red deer and wapiti features (probably too much work for little pay off for the devs though sadly).

Also they could have some variation between how red or how wapiti they appear. These two wapiti bulls for instance share very similar genetic makeup but the bull on the left is much closer in appearance to a red stag while the bull on the right looks more like a wapiti. Again I doubt we’d ever see this in the game as I imagine it would create too much confusion for most players.

[tacit tiger]

I've read that the elk and red deer there are inter breeding as well

[mortal tundra]

Honestly this would be the best way to include Elk onto Te Awaroa

[fathom jolt]

@mortal tundra with this concept if they made a Rocky mountain elk Go the one on Te Awaroa would be excluded?

[mortal tundra]

That depends on weather the devs decide to add Rocky Mountain Elk to Te Awaroa as part of a backfill or go with the Fiordland Wapiti idea

[fathom jolt]

@mortal tundra I would rather have them add the Rocky Mountain Elk to Te Awaroa. It would probably be less work for them also. I was just wondering your thoughts on this. Thanks for the reply!

[rocky shadow]

I agree with you that most people would prefer EW to just add Rocky Mountain elk, it’s much less work and it would be a shame to miss out on another Great One for Te Awaroa. In reality though Fiordland wapiti antlers differ markedly from the pure bred variety. I’d post some pics as examples but I’m pretty sure I can’t post images of hunted animals outside of the #🥩︴irl-hunting channel.

For example, Fiordland wapiti largely lack the throwback tines that are common with purebred subspecies. Their antlers mostly appear closer to that of a red stags but have the potential to grow much larger in length and diameter.

[fathom jolt]

@rocky shadow I've seen something pictures of them. I definitely wouldn't be upset if they got added by no means. I just would want them to make it a GO if they went that way. I definitely feel like eventually we will get a Rocky Mountain Elk Go.

[mortal tundra]

That will most likely happen once all the great ones that can appear on the 2 base game maps have been done

[fathom jolt]

Bring them on lol

[fathom jolt]

Found a good article worth Reading about the Spyder bull in New Zealand. It talks about where President Roosevelt got the elk from that he gifted them. The Spyder bull looks like he could be the next great one lol.
https://www.mountainhunters.co.nz/news/the-spyder-bull

[fleet token]

Voting for the the Fjordlands Wapiti, too cool

[burnt wind]

bump

[paper terrace]

Personally I'd prefer to see brushtail possums over wallabies as they are alot more common here 👌🏻

They would also be a bit of fun as we generally hunt them at night with a spotlight

[lost summit]

Tahr, wallabies and Possum

[fleet token]

I'm in for wallaby and possum

[burnt wind]

now that Tahr are being added with Sundarpatan, I think EW really needs to consider adding them to Te Awaroa as well.

[long mango]

I know ppl like this animal, but I am disappointed it is the new GO.

[fleet token]

Jaxy said they weren't being added with this update but they wanted to backfill them eventually. I hope they'll get wallabies added soon. They are the ultimate small game critter

[lost summit]

I HOPE...please

[lost summit]

So many varieties. Imagine them on the Highlands, I´m tired of hunt Goats and Chamois

[burnt wind]

bump

[fleet token]

Please EW