Remove the Cougars from Aurora Shores

[mellow stirrup]

So I want to preface this by saying that I don't hate the new cougars. They have one of the best animal models in the game, and they fit in perfectly on Nez Perce Valley in my opinion. Elkcrest Island is a bit of a shooting gallery, so they also fit well there. But they just don't belong on Aurora Shores. This map is in south-central Alaska (based on the other animals present) and there are no resident cougar populations in that region. They aren't native to the region, and while there's a few cougars that wander into parts of Alaska from neighboring provinces in Canada, there's simply not enough to justify adding them to Aurora Shores. Cougars don't usually live in the cold boreal forests (which is the primary biome on Aurora Shores) and running into them on this map is very immersion-breaking in my opinion.

There's tons of native Alaskan species that would have made more sense to add to Aurora Shores. If they wanted to add a new feline species to Aurora Shores, they should have added the Canada Lynx, a native species in Alaska that primarily preys on the Snowshoe Hare (a species that is already present on AS). They wouldn't have been very hard to make, just change the model for the existing Northern Lynx and make it look more like the Lynx present in Alaska, and just like that, you'd have another new species that actually makes sense on AS. Also the fact that we got cougars on this map and not Dall Sheep (a much more fitting and popular species to hunt, not to mention that it's the ONE iconic Alaskan big game species that the map was still missing) is just plain embarrassing.

TLDR: Cougars don't belong on Aurora Shores and should be removed.

as you can see on this map, south-central Alaska is not part of the Cougar's native range

[gritty whale]

There are cougars on other maps? When did that happen?

[prisma fiber]

When they got added to the game in the first place.
They were added to Nez Perce Valley and Aurora Shored.

[gritty whale]

Cool. I like predators in the game.

[pliant stream]

It shouldn’t be there and needs to be removed.

[prisma fiber]

I think the reason why they are there is because the Devs wanted to have the Anmimal on multiple Maps, and the Only Amirican Map they had other than Oregon/NPV was the 2 Alaskan Maps

[pliant stream]

NRG was just playing the last card (Cougar) in hand to close the door of WOTH (releasing the final map), naively thinking that adding the Cougar to all North American maps (AS, NPV and EI) would make the players happier, without considering the inconsistency (Cougar in Aurora Shores).

[prisma fiber]

By that logic it shouldn't be on Elkcrest either since that's apparently also in Alaska (Kodiak Island)

[pliant stream]

Understood. I wasn’t sure where EI was located; I thought it was a fictional island.

[prisma fiber]

Also according to Alaskkas Fish and Game Page, cougers exist there is Small numbers, just not natively

[pliant stream]

Is Elkcrest Island inspired by Kupreanof Island?

[prisma fiber]

Not that I know

Even Kodiak Island is just guess

[pliant stream]

Yes, just a rare sighting, and it possibly comes from British Columbia.

[prisma fiber]

Just sayig.
My point remains.
If you want to remove it from AS than it must be removed from EI as well

[gritty whale]

It's just a game. It doesn't matter if one animal isn't set where it should be, just enjoy the hunt.