Scottish Highlands Reserve

[cosmic prawn]

I know there are a couple posts for a map set in the Highlands of Scotland already but I’d like to create my own as there were some species others missed that could make such a map much more unique and I’d like to add a bit more detail to my description of such a reserve. Plus I’d just really love to have a map set in the region.

There would be a few repeats that I’m sure a lot of people would be sick to death of (i.e. red deer for the hundredth time lol) and there are quite a few bird species much akin to Revontuli Coast which seems quite unpopular for some reason. I believe there are a few new species many would find interesting though and I don’t think we have a map that comes close to representing the terrain of the Highlands. The new species aside, I believe the hunting experience itself would be unique enough to justify Scotlands inclusion.

The western edge of the map could be reminiscent of the Western Isles of Scotland, featuring Scotlands rocky Atlantic coastline. Large vegetation would be scarce, being dominated instead by wide open rolling hill country and windswept, heather-covered moorland. Home to the reserves sheep and goat populations as well as hares and grouse in the moorlands.

Further inland to the east you would enter the Highlands proper, the typical red deer and sika habitat that you would imagine to find in Scotland. While still having few areas of large vegetation the land is much more rugged and mountainous with isolated pockets of forest cover in the more sheltered areas.

Outside of the more rugged areas you could have a large glen. This area would be a lot more wooded and with more signs of habitation such as croftland and castle ruins. The crofts would be home to geese, wood pigeon and grey partridge as well as populations of fallow deer and wild boar. The lochs found in such areas could also provide some amazing waterfowl habitat.

The furthest eastern edge of the map could be a lot more forested again, a remnant of the old Caledonian Forest. I imagined this area to appear very similar to the Black Wood of Rannoch in the Eastern Highlands. This would be ideal habitat for wild boar, red and fallow deer and the elusive woodcock.

New Species:

Eurasian Woodcock - Class 1
A bird species very unique from what we have seen before in CotW. They would be a very challenging hunt being both incredibly fast and agile on the wing.

Common Wood Pigeon - Class 1
As recommended by spacegiraffe and ayoliam.

Grey Partridge - Class 1
A popular and one of the more common gamebirds native to the region. Pheasants could also be an alternative but I would love to see some more new upland bird species come to CotW.

Red Grouse - Class 1
A species as iconic to the Scottish Highlands as the red stag. They absolutely cannot be left out of a map set in Scotland.

Pink-footed Goose - Class 1
Scotland is a goose hunting Mecca, pink-footed geese could be introduced alongside the returning greylag geese. Some duck species could also be appropriate on this map such as Eurasian teal and widgeon but I didn’t want to add more than the 14 species we have been getting on the past few releases.

Soay Sheep - Class 3
These sheep are descended from the feral sheep that have been inhabiting the western coast of Scotland for hundreds of years. They are quite small compared to other wild sheep species, with males weighing around 38kg so would make an interesting class 3 animal.

British Primitive Goat - Class 3
A feral landrace of domestic goat, visually distinct from the Pacific feral goats of Te Awaroa and Enerald Coast. They are descended from the earliest goats brought to Britain around 3000 BC. There are several isolated herds living throughout Great Britain and Ireland with the Scottish Highlands being a particular stronghold.

Images of new species:

[soft cedar]

Partridge could open up so many new possibilities for older maps

[cosmic prawn]

Repeat Species:

Rock Ptarmigan - Class 1
Black Grouse - Class 1
Greylag Goose - Class 1
Mountain Hare - Class 1
Red Fox - Class 2
European Roe Deer - Class 3
Central European Wild Boar - Class 4
European Fallow Deer - Class 4
Japanese Sika - Class 4
Scottish Red Deer - Class 6

[cosmic prawn]

I thought the same, they are a cool little bird and common throughout much of Europe. They could fit in on quite a few maps.

[soft cedar]

Which could also increase the ability of us seeing doves and pigeons something I’d love to see

[cosmic prawn]

I actually thought pigeons would fit well on a Scottish map. I was going to add them to my list but thought I would probably go over my 14 species limit.

[obsidian pine]

In Scotland live the biggest red deer I was told

[main creek]

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1070071704627458148

https://discord.com/channels/393040947006406657/1077993846530637854

[desert wyvern]

I like the detail, and while there is another Scottish Highlands Reserve this one has more details and isn’t so waterfowl heavy

[valid thicket]

@cosmic prawn May I suggest you add the species to the original post if you don't exceed the character limit

[regal stone]

Hi @cosmic prawn thank you for having taken the time to share this suggestion for a Scottish Highland Reserve with us, we appreciate the contributions from our players a lot.

[clear kelp]

How about wallabies? More "common" in England, but there are feral populations in Scotland as well https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211107-inchconnachan-the-british-island-where-wallabies-rule

[obsidian pine]

Also don't forget the wood pigeon is hunted in the UK too

[cosmic prawn]

Really? I wasn’t aware of that. I hunt them quite a lot here in NZ. Never knew they were found in the UK too. Could also down size the kangaroo model we are about to get on Emerald Coast so modelling them wouldn’t be too much work.

[clear kelp]

Yeah, mostly in England, but they are spreading. https://theconversation.com/wallabies-are-on-the-loose-in-britain-and-weve-mapped-95-sightings-148374

[cosmic prawn]

I also thought an appropriate weapon to be released alongside a Scottish Highlands map would be a John Rigby & Co. Highland Stalker in .275 Rigby

[clear kelp]

Another species could be Chinese Muntjac https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0000080204

[cosmic prawn]

I’d love muntjac and Chinese water deer or any smaller species of deer really. I’m not sure what their numbers are like in Scotland however. Maybe on an English reserve we could have both 😁

Since we are getting a new outfit for the first time in a while with Emerald Coast I thought it would be cool to add a tweed stalking suit with a Scottish reserve. Would be very fitting.

[cosmic prawn]

Muntjac are said to be found in Scotland from the link you shared. So I guess they should make the list. I think their populations in Scotland are very small and most likely illegally released and they are more of an English species so they would be more fitting for a combined Great Britain map that includes both Scotland and England at least.

That’s actually a fair few new species, enough that I believe complaints about repeats wouldn’t deter EW from creating a Scotland reserve.

[clear kelp]

To be honest, if EW was to produce the Scottish map in a similar way to NEM (not a lot new in terms of animals) and then followed up with another, more exotic map (Asia, Africa, etc.), that would be great as far as I am concerned.

[clear kelp]

Yeah, I know that almost no one wears kilts now, but some how this would be cool. (As a former bagpiper myself, I cannot but love them.)

[main creek]

I still maintain my position that if they make a UK map it will be with the combination of England + Scotland, to the south and center Caledon Conifer Forests + Celtic Broadleaf Forests or a possible Semi-rural Green Highlands and to the north the Scottish Highlands and Mountains..
Scottish Highlands by themselves they are too similar to Revontuli, not to say that they have the same ecoregion system

[soft cedar]

I’m afraid they’ll just downsize and remove the antlers off of roe deer like Siberian musk deer

[rapid forum]

defo would love a scotland map - been suggesting it in streams when asked what we want to see so yeah a scotland map would defo be on my wanted list

[clear kelp]

Chinese water deer would be excellent, but they are in SE England. They are also endangered, albeit invasive in the UK.

There are culls of feral sheep, goats, and pigs in Scotland, so these could all be considered

Apparently Chinese water deer are subject to deer management (i.e., culls) in the UK: https://bds.org.uk/information-advice/about-deer/deer-species/chinese-water-deer/ but they are not in Scotland

[agile rose]

Can you guys help me identify some classes and add other ideas to my new post? #1112309204947058689

[cosmic prawn]

I’ve found that some hunting reserves in Scotland also have feral boreray and Scottish blackface sheep available. They could be another interesting species for the Scottish Highlands.

I’d love to see more sheep to hunt in CotW. Apparently blackface rams are rather aggressive and more prone to fighting over ewes than other sheep. It would be cool to see rams butting heads in-game.

[desert wyvern]

I know the alpine ibex and bighorn sheep will butt heads in Classic, so I don’t see why they couldn’t add it in for the sheep and some of the goat species

[cosmic prawn]

Stags fighting one another has been suggested a lot by the community but would be cool to see in other species too. It would be a cool feature.

[desert wyvern]

And speaking of herbivores butting heads and clashing horns
Muskox on my Arctic Reserve, those things basically slam into each other

[cosmic prawn]

That would be really cool, bison also go at each other pretty hard.

[cosmic prawn]

I’m pretty happy with the gamebird species currently on my list but for varieties sake there are a few more that could potentially be added. All these species are legally hunted in Scotland so if people prefer some of these birds over the ones I have listed then they could be swapped out.

Waders & Rails:
Common Snipe
European Golden Plover
Eurasian Coot
Common Moorhen

Upland Gamebirds:
Rock Ptarmigan
Black Grouse
Pheasant
Red-legged Partridge

Ducks:
Gadwall
Goldeneye
Mallard
Pintail
Common Pochard
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Teal
Tufted Duck
Eurasian Wigeon

Geese:
Canada Goose
European White-fronted Goose

[cosmic prawn]

I also made a mock up of what I think Scotland should look like. A large central loch featuring castle ruins and croft lands to the west and more fertile farmland in the east bordering the old Caledonian forest. Heather moorlands dotted with small tarns can be found to the north and south of the loch with the mountainous highlands towering above them. And in the west, the craggy Atlantic coastline composed of rocky outcrops and sheer cliff faces that fall away to the sea.

The Atlantic coast, home to the most of the reserves sheep and goat populations.

Mixed croft and farmland where most bird hunting can be found as well as fallow deer and wild boar in the inland areas.

Heather moorlands, the home of the black and Scotlands famous red grouse.

The rugged, snow capped highlands, where most deer stalking for red deer and sika takes place with populations of blackface sheep and rock ptarmigan found scattered along the hill sides.

And the remnants of the old Caledonian forest. A great spot for stalking fallow, muntjac and wild boar as well as the elusive woodcock, commonly found along the river banks.

[desert wyvern]

Okay I need to ask: What did you use to make that awesome map?

[cosmic prawn]

Honestly I did most of it on my phone. I just used my topo map app to find suitable real-life locations in Scotland then chopped them up into bits and stuck them all together in a way I liked.

Don’t look too closely at some of the coastlines. I’m not a photo editing master lol

[desert wyvern]

I see, it looks awesome none the less

[rapid forum]

really well looked into, and as a scot myself id love to be able to hunt on my door step, i would say there would be some great places that could be put in and some really good animals as well

[verbal swallow]

I cannot express to you just how bad I want this to become a reality.

[rapid forum]

a scottish map would be amazing, up vote it folks

[fresh rapids]

could always set the map in Pollok and go jakie hunting🤣or maybe huntin fur haggis up Ben Lomond

[verbal swallow]

Bump

[cosmic prawn]

I haven’t added to this post for a long while, but seeing as we may be expecting updated models for both red deer and wild boar there is a good chance the next reserve may be set in Europe.

Both species are present on my Highlands concept so I’m personally hoping we get to visit Scotland in the next DLC.

Also, as we are getting remodelled red deer and wild boar, I’d like to make a case for a roe deer update.

Much like the Wild boar, they are one of the first species we got in CotW all the way back in 2017. After all this time though they are one of the most dated animal models in the game.

If we are getting a European map, even if it isn’t necessarily Scotland, I believe roe deer could use some attention. I’d particularly love to see roebuck antler update that includes variable pearling which may add to the trophy score.

[cosmic prawn]

https://youtu.be/ixOYmkd-5RY?si=8CJbOcUhLG7Q1zX0

The new trailer has me kind of hopeful, I really would like to see Scotland in CotW

There is still the possibility of a combined Great Britain reserve that may include water deer and muntjac however, which wouldnt be a bad thing.

[cosmic prawn]

After going through the trailer I'm pretty certain that the next DLC will be set in Scotland, the Celtic flute was a rather big giveaway but can still be confused with other traditional instruments elsewhere in Europe. The trailer description also mentions "your next hunt burrows within misty highs and lows" which I believe to be a reference to the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands which happen to be particularily misty IRL.

[cosmic prawn]

The first image in the teaser trailer is pretty blurry so it's difficult to make out in much detail. It does strongly resemble the twisted, lichen covered oaks of Britain's temperate rainforests. Temperate rainforest are a relatively rare biome which really narrows it down to only a few locations in Europe, but I think this image most resembles the Celtic rainforest.

The final image features a castle, a scots pine, a red stag, and what looks like a field of heather. While all of these things are certainly not unique to Scotland, they are all distinctive symbols of Scotland and having them all together in one image is a pretty big giveaway.

Also the lake in the second image does resemble a Highland loch with its long and narrow shape.

[desert wyvern]

If there is one weird species that could maybe work (not 100% certain) its the Red-necked Wallaby. The main reason I am not certain they would work is because their distribution across the UK is limited with the population I have read about most is located on the island of Inchconnachan on Loch Lomond

[cosmic prawn]

I would be pretty happy to see red-necked wallaby on this map simply because they could also potentially be backfilled to Te Awaroa. Their distribution across the UK is patchy, but so is the wild boar for the most part so it wouldn't be too egregious.

Also as for endangered an non-huntable species for Scotland, I think everyone seems to agree that the word "burrows" in the teaser description is referencing the European badger. Of all the protected species we could have had on a Scottish reserve, this is the one I'd be most in favour of seeing as cull permits are issued for badger on rare occasions and they were a common game animal until fairly recently I believe. Scottish wild cats, Eurasian beaver and Eurasian otters are species I've also seen mentioned though badger is still the best pick IMO.

[fiery shadow]

Emerald Coast too since i think they're native to Eastern Aus

[cosmic prawn]

Mostly SE Australia, though they do extend into Southern Queensland, though can't be hunted outside of Tasmania I believe. Eastern Wallaroo would be a better pick for EC I think as they are one of the three macropods legally hunted in QL alongside Eastern greys and red kangaroos.

[cosmic prawn]

Reading through the recent Q&A summary EW recently released they mentioned that they consider species that could realistically migrate into a region in real life.

This seemed oddly specific and in the context of a potential Scottish map could justify the inclusion of Reeves’s muntjac, which while currently not present in Scotland, are spreading throughout the UK at around 12% of their range per year. There is the potential that they may cross into the border regions of Scotland where habitat is favourable in the coming years.

Chinese water deer are much more restricted to Southeast England, and while their range is also expanding, it is at a much slower pace. There is still the potential that they may reach into Scotland, though it would potentially take several decades so their inclusion may be more difficult to justify.

This is of course if the December DLC isn’t already a combined Great Britain map.

[cosmic prawn]

https://youtu.be/Wcvf7TXuLoU?si=YFyhRnLDexuDdLAD

Scotland confirmed 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Tòrr Nan Sìthean will have a total of 17 species.

5 New Animals confirmed:

• European Badger
• American Mink
• Eurasian Pine Marten
• Red Grouse
• Eurasian Woodcock

3 Remastered animals, confirmed in the Feeder DLC:

• Red Deer
• Wild Boar
• Roe Deer

And 9 Returning species:

• Sika
• Fallow Deer
• Feral Goat
• Red Fox
• Mountain Hare
• Western Capercaillie
• Pheasant
• Black Grouse
• Eurasian Wigeon

“In this reserve, you will find a roster of 17 animals with diverse classifications - some remastered classics, others incredibly fast, and some where you might have to look twice to make sure you saw what you think you saw. These animals will challenge your hunting skills, so if you have a hunting dog, it will be invaluable as a companion.”

This could be a reference to 2 of the new species we can expect. Incredibly fast may be hinting at woodcock, snipe, or golden plover, all game birds known for their incredible speed. Looking twice hints to a particularly hard to spot animal, potentially muntjac which are small and notoriously hard to find in thick cover.

[fiery bridge]

I'm also thinking of the muntjac or the water deer

[cosmic prawn]

The new European badger and American mink.

And the three remastered species. Red deer, wild boar, and roe deer.

Plenty of room to speculate on the 11 remaining species.

I am so far unsure of what exactly the feral goats on Tòrr Nan Sìthean will look like. EW say they are a returning species so they may share the same model as the feral goats on Te Awaroa and Emerald Coast. While the model is fine I hope that they would at least have different coat colours and their own unique horn configurations as the British primitive goat and Pacific feral goats are quite different irl.

[fiery bridge]

I thought there was a change for goats but I just saw pictures of goats with big horns, maybe slightly, I find that the horns are less high than before but otherwise I don't think so.

[frosty summit]

They aren’t in Scotland

[fiery bridge]

There are many, certainly not yet water deer, but they say there are small populations of Reeves' muntjac there.

[cosmic prawn]

Hard to say as we never got a proper look at them, the image from the teaser trailer seems to show a standard diamond feral goat from the best I can tell.

The current feral goats, while the model is much too heavily built, is based on the feral goats of NZ and Australia

The goats here have a much greater variety of coat colours and wide spiralling horns. While theHunter: Classic features goats with the ibex-like horns on Bush Rangers Run, I have never seen a goat like that in New Zealand or Australia irl.

British feral goats are from a much older breed and are pretty uniform in colours of black, grey, and white. Their most distinctive feature however is their long, back-sweeping, ibex-like horns. I feel the models in Tòrr Nan Sìthean should reflect these differences.

[fiery bridge]

Yes, that's what shows that they just kept the model then, otherwise the color would be a little more uniform and the horns would be of the ibex type.

[cosmic prawn]

That’s what I’m hoping, this image does seem to show the wide spiralling type though.

[frosty summit]

My prediction

Class 6:

Red Deer (Remastered)

Class 5:

Wild Boar (Remastered

Class 4:

Sika Deer

Class 3:

Roe Deer (Remastered)
Feral Goat

Class 2:

European Badger (New)
Red Fox

Class 1:

American Mink (New)
Pine Marten (New)
Woodcock (New)
Red Grouse (New)
Black Grouse
Western Capercaille
Euro Rabbit
Gadwall
Greylag Goose
Tufted Duck

[cosmic prawn]

That’s a solid list and is pretty much what I think we can expect in December.

Mountain hares are now protected in Scotland as of a few weeks ago (they can still be managed by special licence holders however) but they are more fitting for the Highlands I believe. European hares and rabbits are both present in Scotland though so would still work.

Waterfowl looks great, though Scotland is known for its goose hunting so I think more geese over ducks will be better fitting. The pink-footed goose would be ideal on Tòrr Nan Sìthean.

Sika and red grouse should be a given.

Capercaillie might be a stretch though, they are protected in the UK but I think the main issue would be that they are struggling to reintroduce them into their former habitat in Scotland irl and their isn’t a viable self sustaining population currently.

[frosty summit]

Unfortunately I’ve got a strong feeling that they’ll sacrifice woodcock or red grouse for pheasant 😭

[fiery bridge]

Are there Eurasia Oystercatchers in Scotland, and if so, are they game animals there? I can't find any information about them.

[cosmic prawn]

They would be mad to miss red grouse, they are the quintessential Highland game species. Unsure about oystercatchers, to my knowledge they aren’t considered a game species and aren’t hunted, plover would be a cooler alternative anyway.

Also RIP fallow deer and a boatload of cool upland birds and waterfowl species that look like they won’t be making it into the map 😅

[fiery bridge]

Okay, because where I come from, right next door in France, it's a game species, so since it's more or less a neighbor, I would have thought you were doing the same thing.

It's true that the red ptarmigan is very beautiful; hopefully, they will be one of the new animals

[cosmic prawn]

For waders and rails in the UK, it’s restricted to golden plover, common moorhen, Eurasian coot, common snipe and Eurasian woodcock. All cool species I would have liked to have seen on this map but oh well.

Fallow is still a maybe, I can see them being dropped in favour of Soay sheep or muntjac but hard to tell. Patridges I feel will be sadly ignored.

[fiery bridge]

It's true, I hope there would be wild sheep. That would have been better than the goats, which haven't been restored.

[cosmic prawn]

I’m guessing no Soay sheep personally which really sucks 😅

Muntjac may still be on the cards though.

[fiery bridge]

There are still two spots left. Unless they say there are 5 species endemic to this map, but some will be on other maps? Yeah, that's highly unlikely, but who knows? Maybe muntjac and red ptarmigan.

[bold canyon]

The Scottish Red Deer in the painting ‘The Monarch of the Glen’. Painted by Sir Edwin Landseer.

[bold canyon]

A fragment of text taken from the video that explains there was a problem related to the deer: 👇

Comes estimates of total deer numbers in Scotland vary wildly but it is believed that stocks probably number about 280,000. When the last wolf in Scotland was killed, deer were left without a natural predator, and if nothing were done to control the numbers their quality and health would deteriorate due to overstocking, even to the point where they would have to maraud or die of starvation.

The deer we are looking at now are the product of controlled breeding and feeding conditions. They are park deer that are retained and fed during the winter and permitted during the rutting season to run with the hinds on the open hill. They will always return to the park when the winter draws near.

These beasts are what we associate with Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen: strong majestic bodies, beautifully balanced antlers. Yet sadly there are few stags in Scotland as beautiful as these. Through overstocking, the quality of deer in the Highlands has deteriorated in both health and beauty.

Unlike these magnificent animals, the majority of stags have poor antlers, often with no points at all. Bad stock breeds bad stock, and it is important to use the shooting of deer as a means of improving stocks by weeding out the old and unfit or poor beasts of all ages.

Deer numbers have increased dramatically over the last few years, and the Red Deer Commission annually recommend a size of cull that should keep the population numerically stable. It is not economically or physically possible for them to cope with the size of the cull they recommend. They are responsible for a percentage, but the majority of deer shooting is done by estates, enabling the estate owner to take a necessary financial return for the cost of management through the sale of venison.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/dPwNmQnQLpA?si=zldKfhsMxywDepFa

[bold canyon]

The skull and antlers of a deer dating back 4,000 years have been found on a beach in Borth, Ceredigion (Wales).

[fiery bridge]

Are the red deer and the roe deer found in Scotland distinct subspecies or not?

[bold canyon]

Scottish Red Deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus)

[fiery bridge]

Ok thanks you

[bold canyon]

Speaking of roe deer subspecies, here is the translation of the French text from this French book I have:

Obviously, as with many species, classification varies depending on the specialist, and the number of recognized subspecies is not definitively established. Thus, it is generally thought that the roe deer is divided into three subspecies: Capreolus capreolus pygargus (in Siberia and the eastern part of European Russia, from the Urals to the mouth of the Amur River in the east), Capreolus capreolus bedfordi (northern China and Korea), and Capreolus capreolus capreolus (the typical subspecies, found in Western Europe and Asia Minor).

Sometimes a fourth subspecies is mentioned (Capreolus capreolus melanotis), restricted to eastern Tibet and Gansu (a northern Chinese province).

To illustrate the revisions that periodically occur in classification, let us briefly look at the status of the Siberian roe deer C. c. pygargus, which will be mentioned many times in this book. First described by Pallas in 1771, this animal was initially considered a full species, then later classified by other authors as merely a subspecies of our roe deer (rightly so, in our opinion, because of the obvious resemblance).

However, quite recently, Sokolov challenged this status by once again declaring the Siberian roe deer a species, arguing that it has a higher number of chromosomes than our roe deer (which has 70 chromosomes), even though crossbreeding between the European and Siberian roe deer is still possible.

In this book, however, we will assign it the status of a subspecies, as many other authors do.

[fiery bridge]

Yes, what's also great about this author is that he acknowledges there are various hypotheses; it's rare to see that.

[bold canyon]

I have another book in Spanish.
The translation from the Spanish text:

The European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has undergone many taxonomic revisions, with up to four species differentiated within the genus. However, today it is considered a monotypic species with numerous variations that may be classified as subspecies (Sempere et al. 1996).

Throughout history, more than thirty subspecies have been distinguished across its distribution range, to the point that each country had one or two of its own, and as many as nine different subspecies were officially recognized (Kulak & Wajdzik 2009).

Taxonomic classifications have long been caught between a dichotomized view of nature, marked by differing positions between those who ‘lump’ and those who ‘split.’ It is interesting to observe, in the evolution of subspecies descriptions of Capreolus capreolus, how these classifications tend to cluster over time, following scientific trends or fashions.

From this book I have.

It appears that the roe deer subspecies with its type locality in Scotland is (Capreolus capreolus thotti), which is the same designation found in the Spanish book I mentioned earlier.

[cosmic prawn]

I have a huge print of this painting framed on my wall at home 😂

[cosmic prawn]

We got a decent preview of the map from the prerelease livestream.

I do see a lot of similarities to the map I patched together ages ago, though I wasn’t quite happy with my take as I made it years ago.

I’m glad to see the devs version, it’s truly everything I had hoped for. I really can’t wait to try it out.

[bold canyon]

Many big lakes? I am not a fan of them.

[desert wyvern]

From the number of lookout towers I get the feeling the map is bigger then Salz but not as big as maps like Medved and Emerald Coast, but I guess I will have to wait and explore the reserve myself when it comes out

For all I know it might be a standard sized reserve and it just looks small, either way I can see this potentially being my main map for Sika Deer and with the new species my Euro Lodge (Spring Creek) can have some new small game animals

[frosty summit]

All reserves are the same size no? Apart from Salz.

[desert wyvern]

Its very likely that the new reserve is the same size as the rest, it just looks smaller

[desert wyvern]

Now that looks bigger, I guess having all the outpost and lookout towers unlocked helps there