BLOODWOOD STATION RESERVE :flag_au: :dromedary_camel: :kangaroo: - Welcome to the Outback

[harsh cradle]

An Australia reserve focused on the arid regions of the country like Bushrangers Run from Classic has been a suggestion for COTW for a while, and several forum posts have already been made on the topic. However, as an Aussie who's spent a lot of time in Australia's deserts and has experience with many of its environments and species, I've been wanting to give my own interpretation of what such a reserve could be like for a long time. It's always been my personal dream map, and while I think the chances of it happening aren't as great as some other reserves, it's still something I really hope we see someday.

**BLOODWOOD STATION RESERVE**

*"G'day, and welcome to Bloodwood Station! This used to be a vast pastoral property, but nowadays it's managed as a scientific reserve where researchers come to study the interactions between different plants and animals in this arid landscape. One area of particular interest has been how invasive species impact desert environments, and there's certainly no shortage of them here to study - with everything from little rabbits and feral cats up to camels and feral cattle, the property provides ample opportunity to study the damage these pests do to our fragile ecosystems. However, a series of wetter years has led to the numbers of many species shooting up, and now the ecological integrity of the entire reserve could be compromised if we can't bring their numbers down to more sustainable levels. Think you could lend us a hand mate?"*

**REGIONS:**
BULLOCK DOWNS
- Bloodwood Scrub
- Little Diamantina
- Goanna Hills
BIG SKY COUNTRY
- Spinifex Country
- Blinding Flats
EYRE PASS
- Camaldula Ranges
- Malleelands

**MISSIONS:**
You've been invited by the head manager of Bloodwood Station to assist with research programs and the control of pest animals. The early part of the story mostly involves running errands around the park, helping to manage the land, monitoring populations and harvesting a particular quota of animals from areas of the reserve where they're causing issues. The story begins to ramp up when the owners of surrounding properties inform the manager of a pack of particularly bold and dangerous dingoes that have been harassing cattle and killing calves on their land, and seem to be using Bloodwood Station as a sanctuary of sorts to avoid detection. In order to maintain a good relationship with the surrounding landowners, finding and destroying the problem dingo pack becomes your top priority, but they prove to be elusive, and it takes several attempts using different methods (traps, trail cameras, inspection of den sites etc) to finally track them down. The main storyline ends when the pack's lead male, a black dingo with scarring on his face (unique fur), is hunted down by the player.

**SPECIES:**
RETURNING
European Rabbit - Class 1
Stubble Quail - Class 1
Red Fox - Class 2
Feral Goat - Class 3
Feral Pig - Class 5
NEW
Pink-eared Duck - Class 1
Feral Cat - Class 2
Euro - Class 3
Dingo - Class 3
Western Grey Kangaroo - Class 4
Red Kangaroo ![zm_greatone](https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/1201857911408558131.webp?size=128 "zm_greatone") - Class 5
Feral Donkey - Class 7
Brumby - Class 8
Dromedary - Class 8
Scrub Bull - Class 9

5 returning species, 10 new species, 15 species total

I tried to keep the species list to what I think would be realistic for the COTW devs to fit into a single map rather than adding every animal possible. I know far less about firearms than most people here so I'll leave weapon suggestions open to you guys!

I've done a bunch of short pre-written summaries of each subregion and species, which I'll share below.

A map of the regional divisions of Bloodwood Station Reserve:

REGION SUMMARIES

BLOODWOOD SCRUB
Region: Bullock Downs
IRL Inspiration: Grassy woodlands in Central Australia
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Pink-eared Duck, Feral Cat, Dingo, Red Kangaroo, Brumby, Dromedary Camel, Scrub Bull
The starter subregion of the reserve, this area is characterised by open grassy woodlands of desert bloodwood and ghost gum, with the occasional patch of mulga scrub. The main homestead of Bloodwood Station is located here, and there are several bore water dams that provide precious water in this arid landscape. Aside from occasional rocky ridgelines the area is mostly flat and open, making it perfect habitat for large herbivores like camels, brumbies and scrub bulls.

LITTLE DIAMANTINA
Region: Bullock Downs
IRL Inspiration: Queensland channel country
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Pink-eared Duck, Feral Cat, Dingo, Red Kangaroo, Feral Pig, Brumby, Dromedary, Scrub Bull
The Little Diamantina is the largest river that passes through Bloodwood Station, winding across the top left corner of the reserve. The riverbed itself is dry along most of its length, but several pools still remain, and there are also permanent billabongs just off the main river. The river attracts all kinds of animals, but it is particularly notable for its large population of feral pigs.

GOANNA HILLS
Region: Bullock Downs
IRL Inspiration: Central Australian mountain ranges
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Feral Cat, Euro, Dingo, Red Kangaroo, Feral Donkey, Brumby, Dromedary, Scrub Bull
The Goanna Hills are a set of low rolling hills at the foot of an ancient mountain range. Much of it is stony country dominated by mulga shrublands, though some grassy eucalypt woodland is also present around the escarpment faces in the north-east corner of the region. Far less mountainous than the Camaldula Range to the south, the Goanna Hills provide relatively easy hunting, especially for euros, brumbies and scrub bulls.

[cursive temple]

For anyone wondering, Euro is another name for Common Wallaroo

[harsh cradle]

SPINIFEX COUNTRY
Region: Big Sky Country
IRL Inspiration: Sandy deserts of inland and western Australia
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Feral Cat, Red Fox, Dingo, Red Kangaroo, Feral Donkey, Dromedary
The red heart of Bloodwood Station, Spinifex Country is the largest subregion of the reserve and covers a vast area of open sand dune country ruled by spikey spinifex tussocks. Aside from the occasional ghost gum or stand of desert oak, it is largely treeless, with nothing but stunted shrubs, termite mounds and the low dunes to obscure animals from view. This area contains the largest populations of red kangaroo and camel on the reserve, making it one of the best places to hunt some of Bloodwood Station's most revered species.

BLINDING FLATS
Region: Big Sky Country
IRL Inspiration: Gibber and chenopod country of South and Western Australia
Species: European Rabbit, Feral Cat, Red Fox, Dingo, Red Kangaroo
The Blinding Flats is a foreboding environment located in the far west of Bloodwood Station. The harshest location in the reserve, there are very few trees and almost no standing fresh water on the flats, with dry salt lakes of various sizes dotting the landscape instead. With few resources on offer, most large animals avoid the Blinding Flats, but the sheer openess makes it a great location to hunt smaller game like feral cats, foxes and rabbits, as well as dingoes and red kangaroos.

CAMALDULA RANGES
Region: Eyre Pass
IRL Inspiration: Flinders Ranges
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Feral Cat, Red Fox, Euro, Feral Goat, Western Grey Kangaroo, Brumby
Named after the river red gums that cover its lowlands and gorges, the Camadula Ranges are an imposing and rugged mountain range that covers much of the south of Bloodwood Station. Low acacia shrublands and woodlands of native pines dominate much of the higher elevations, where the rocky terrain of the Camaldula Ranges is perfect habitat for feral goats and euros.

MALLEELANDS
Region: Eyre Pass
IRL Inspiration: Mallee woodlands of southern Australia
Species: European Rabbit, Stubble Quail, Pink-eared Duck, Feral Cat, Red Fox, Euro, Feral Goat, Western Grey Kangaroo, Feral Pig, Scrub Bull
Quite a different habitat from the rest of the reserve, the Malleelands are separated from other parts of Bloodwood Station by the Camaldula Ranges, and are mostly covered by mallee woodlands with areas of open chenopod scrub. This is the main habitat of the western grey kangaroo on the reserve, though it also makes great hunting for a number of other species, including foxes, feral pigs and scrub bulls.

and that's all the subregion descriptions up! I'll give about half an hour of breathing room before I go through the species

[harsh cradle]

SPECIES SUMMARIES

EUROPEAN RABBIT (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Class 1 - Returning species
One of Australia's most well-known, prolific and damaging invasives, the European rabbit is also widespread across Bloodwood Station, being found in good numbers across all of the reserve's varied environments. It's great that they were finally remastered alongside Salzwiesen Park, but one additional change I'd hope to see with the addition of rabbits to this new reserve would be map-specific burrow variants - instead of the green burrows we have currently, on Bloodwood Station their burrows are orange to match the colour of the soil. I'd also love it if the way they behaved overall was modified to be more similar to Classic (where they both behave more realistically and are more fun to hunt), with feed zones further away from their burrows.

STUBBLE QUAIL (Coturnix pectoralis)
Class 1 - Returning species
COTW's smallest animal returns with Bloodwood Station, giving you another opportunity to search for their elusive diamonds and rares. Stubble quail can be found amongst long grass and dense shrubbery across most of the reserve, but avoid the Blinding Flats.

PINK-EARED DUCK (Malacorhynchus membranaceus)
Class 1 - New species
I didn't want to overload this map with ducks because it wouldn't feel right for a desert reserve, but I couldn't ignore adding this beautiful species! Pink-eared ducks are nomadic and can be found on temporary waterbodies right across the heart of Australia, even in the harshest of deserts. On Bloodwood Station they can mostly be found in Bloodwood Scrub, Little Diamantina and the Malleelands as these areas have more surface water than most other subregions.

FERAL CAT (Felis catus)
Class 2 - New species
The most common predator on Bloodwood Station, the feral cat is also one of its most destructive pests. Occurring in all environments, they also come in a variety of different coat colours, including tabby, ginger, tortoiseshell, grey and black, as well as the rarer piebald, albino and white varieties. They can be tough to spot amongst dense vegetation and their senses are sharp, so make sure to take your time when trying to get a clean shot!

RED FOX (Vulpes vulpes)
Class 2 - Returning species
Australia's other notorious introduced predator, red foxes are common in the southern parts of Bloodwood Station but are also present in lower numbers in Spinifex Country and the Blinding Flats, where dingoes keep their populations in check.

EURO (Osphranter robustus erubescens)
Class 3 - New species
The first of Bloodwood Station's three macropod species and the smallest roo in the game, the euro is a subspecies of the common wallaroo found in rocky and hilly country right across the drier parts of Australia. Thanks to its affinity for uneven terrain, it is mostly found in the Camaldula Ranges and Goanna Hills, but smaller numbers may also be found in adjacent areas in other subregions, especially in the Malleelands.

DINGO (Canis familiaris dingo)
Class 3 - New species
The dingo is found across most of Bloodwood Station north of the Camaldula Ranges, and play an important role in the reserve's missions. Dingoes behave similarly to wolves, travelling in packs and chasing down prey, but they are much more lightweight and the chances of them turning aggressive on the hunter are lesser. Nonetheless, their speed and agility can still make them challenging adversaries when they decide to turn the hunter into the hunted. Several varieties of tan and ginger are the most common furs, black-and-tan, sable and cream are uncommon, whilst pure black, piebald and brindle are rare.

FERAL GOAT (Capra hircus)
Class 3 - Returning species
Abundant in the Camaldula Ranges and Malleelands, where they are among the most common mid-sized herbivores, the feral goat is absent from most other parts of the reserve as they are vulnerable to predation by dingoes.

WESTERN GREY KANGAROO (Macropus fuliginosus)
Class 4 - New species
The lesser-known cousin of Emerald Coast's eastern grey kangaroo, the western grey is found only in the south of Bloodwood Station, especially in the Malleelands, though they also occur in lower and flatter parts of the Camaldula Range. Despite their name, they are actually brownish in colouration.

RED KANGAROO (Osphranter rufus)
Class 5 - New species
Australia's largest native animal and the world's biggest marsupial, the red kangaroo is one of the star species of Bloodwood Station and can be found in most habitats north of the Camaldula Ranges, even on the Blinding Flats (where it is the largest animal). It is also the reserve's exclusive Great One - I really feel like they shouldn't pass up another opportunity for a GO roo, especially given the red is easily the most iconic of all kangaroos. The GO red kangaroo is a massive muscular boomer with big arms and long claws, coming in a variety of different furs shaded in orange, red or grey. There is also a chance for any fur to come in a "scarred' variant, adding to the variety. A scarred GO roo would look great displayed alongside the scarred black dingo from the missions in the trophy lodge (potentially in a multimount)!

FERAL PIG (Sus scrofa)
Class 5 - Returning species
Can't have Australia without some hog hunting, even on a desert map! Being more tied to water than some of the other species on Bloodwood Station, the feral pig nonetheless is present in high numbers where it does occur, especially in Little Diamantina and the Malleelands.

FERAL DONKEY (Equus asinus)
Class 7 - New species
Equines are a new addition to the game alongside Bloodwood Station, with both donkeys and horses making an appearance. Feral donkeys are most common and widespread in Spinifex Country, being better adapted to such arid conditions than their brumby cousins, though both species coexist in Goanna Hills.

BRUMBY (Equus caballus)
Class 8 - New species
Australia's feral horses, brumbies can be found across most of the north of Bloodwood Station as well as in some of the more lowlying parts of the Camaldula Ranges. As with most feral species they display an immense array of variation in colour and patterning, so you'll want to work hard to get the best looking diamond possible!

DROMEDARY (Camelus dromedarius)
Class 8 - New species
Another of Bloodwood Station's star species and the most abundant of the large ungulates on the reserve, I imagine camels would also be the species featured on the reserve's icon (to differentiate it from Emerald Coast's kangaroo). Large herds of camels can be found roaming Bloodwood Scrub, Goanna Hills and Spinifex Country, and there is a chance for wounded bulls to become aggressive and charge the hunter.

SCRUB BULL (Bos taurus/indicus)
Class 9 - New species
Bloodwood Station used to run cattle, and proof exists to this day in the wild bulls that still roam Bullock Downs and the Malleelands. These cattle escaped the final musters when the station converted from a pastoral property to a scientific reserve, and now it's your job to get rid of them for good! Be wary however, for scrub bulls are easily the most aggressive animals on the reserve and will readily charge anything they perceive as a potential threat.

that's all the prewritten stuff posted, thanks for checking it out!

[random wing]

Good work! EW should takes some notes!

[sharp elm]

Western Grays don't have the same range as the other species in the list

[harsh cradle]

Like a lot of recent COTW maps this isn't meant to represent a specific location in inland Australia and more a collection of different regions. Western grey kangaroos are widespread in the southern semi-arid zone, including mallee woodlands and the Flinders Ranges, hence why I included them in the parts of the map inspired by those regions

[random wing]

Feral cat potentially change to class one? I feel like they’d die to a .22 pretty quick.

[harsh cradle]

Yeah that'd make sense, I've just put them in class 2 for now because that seems to be the standard for small carnivores (for better or worse - the raccoon should probably also be class 1 for example)

[random wing]

Yeah, thats where I was headed, I’m totally down to hunt feral cats (I know some people wouldn’t) and feral donkies!

[wicked ravine]

Reminds me of bushrangers run on classic, Great map, IYKYK

[mellow prism]

Invasive species heaven, 10/10

[trim patio]

I like this! We need more desert biome maps

[pulsar whale]

This is an amazing suggestion. Australia 2.0 might be a long way off though. I'm going to come back and read through everything you have posted. Thanks mate!

[pulsar whale]

Very tidy job. I know this map would be a hit. Look how stoked everyone was when emerald coast was released. Absolutely brilliant suggestion. You don't think dingoes would be a class 4?