Lizard of Edmonton news - Jurassic Park: Advanced Operation Genesis mod for Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis

Species: E.annectens

Animal Class: Gargantuan

Standard Containment Procedures:

Groups of up to ten (10) E.annectens are to be contained within an exhibit with a floor space of a minimum of forty thousand (40000) square meters, the fencing of which should be within the ‘high’ classification of fencing. Temporary containment pens for individuals of E.annectens are to be constructed utilising fencing of a similar, if not greater, strength classification to a standard exhibit for this animal, the floor space of which should be a minimum of five hundred (500) square meters. Both primary exhibits and temporary containment pens are to be monitored on a constant basis by any and all available maintenance staff a park may have on hand to ensure that any damage or wear, caused by E.annectens individuals or otherwise, are examined and repaired immediately to prevent breaches of containment.

Exhibit space for E.annectens should comprise approximately of one third heavy woodland, one third swampy woodland and one third open fern plain, the latter preferably around water sources within the exhibit to aid in mimicking the natural environment of E.annectens. Ideally viewing areas would coincide with these open plains sections as to allow for a full view of the animals by visitors.

Feeding for E.annectens should be done several times a day with a herd of ten (10) individuals being provided at least 100 kilograms (kg) of suitable plant matter daily, preferably the feeding area should also be moved once every three (3) months to promote active foraging and in-exhibit ‘migration’ by the E.annectens group.

Recall procedures for individual E.annectens specimens that have escaped containment involve the utilisation of Class Ω (Omega) Ornithischian Containment Procedures, if any guests, buildings or other exhibits are in the path of an escaped and uncontrolled E.annectens then termination is deemed an appropriate response over recapture to prevent loss of life.

History & Description:

E.annectens is among the largest ornithischians available on the modern market, only outclassed by truly titanic animals such as S.giganteus. Standing at 12 (twelve) meters long on average and weighing in at around 8.5 (eight point five) tons with both lengths and weights much higher being not unheard of with the largest recorded individual of this species being roughly 14.2 meters long at its time of death. Appearance wise E.annectens features a body covered in large brown splotches formed by areas of larger scales on the animals flanks, these blotches continue up the animals neck and end slightly down the animals head, being replaced by several areas of more solid contrasting colour. Travelling down the body the blotch pattern turns into a fully striped tail with the blotches becoming darker bands and the primary body colour going from light brown to a fully contrasting white.

E.annectens is among the more recent introductions to the market having only been present for 2█ in public parks and having been overall present in research facilities for a further decade before that. Upon its introduction into parks E.annectens was an immediate public favourite, being among the few animals to instantly attain a 5 star rating due to its size, notable patterning and its quite friendly disposition, however this initial burst of popularity has slowly died down and currently E.annectens sits at a, still high, rating of 4 stars.

Behaviourally E.annectens differs very little from the other member of its genus, E.regalis, however unlike E.regalis, E.annectens is a much more sociable animal when it comes to mingling with other species. While ideally E.annectens is at its happiest kept in a large group of its own kind it is not uncommon for parks to purchase only one individual and keep it with other herbivorous animals. The most extreme case of this mixing of animals comes in the form of a joint exhibit between L.africana and E.annectens, featuring a full herd of the former and a singular individual of the latter and is the only exhibit of its kind in the world, other extreme examples come from keeping large Dicynodonts such as L.bojani alongside E.annectens and even keeping it alongside smaller Theropods. It is mostly recommended that E.annectens however is kept with its own kind or other animals from the Hell Creek formation such a P.wyomingensis, A.magniventris and T.horridus.

Within the private Dinosaur trade E.annectens is often not well favoured and is only present in a few select collections, this is due not only to its immense size and thus space requirements, but also due to it being a social animal thus demanding they either mix animals together and have to use up even more space than E.annectens alone demands already or have a lonely and somewhat sorry looking E.annectens in their collection. Due to this the vast majority of E.annectens specimens can be found in parks globally and within a select few research facilities scattered across mainland Asia. Wild instances of E.annectens are also exceedingly rare and currently no wild individuals are known, primarily due to the efficiency of recapture efforts or, in more unfortunate cases, the speed at which individuals are poached for their hide.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this update. Due to unforeseen circumstances in real life many of our members have been quite busy, however with some luck the next update should be arriving much sooner than this one did!