Data sources and licences

New native-country encounters are approximate virtual game placements, not detailed natural ranges or real wildlife sightings. Nearby visitors use verified native-country evidence. Walking encounters also use mapped habitat and permitted paths. Existing regional rules remain where shown. Never approach real wildlife or leave permitted paths for a marker.

Native-country evidence

• British Columbia Conservation Data Centre, 2024 species status history: Province of British Columbia dataset, used under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. Native and regularly occurring BC records support Canadian native-country evidence, not occupancy across Canada.
• State of Queensland (Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation), WildNet/WetlandInfo, retrieved 30 October 2026: wildlife information, publisher copyright terms, CC BY 4.0. Explicit native establishment records support Australian country evidence.
• Quintela FM, da Rosa CA and Feijó A (2020), Updated and annotated checklist of recent mammals from Brazil, Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 92(suppl. 2), e20191004, CC BY 4.0. Native appendix entries are distinguished from introduced species.
• New Zealand Threat Classification System / Department of Conservation: published assessments and report authors, copyright information, CC BY 4.0. Current resident-indigenous species assessments are used; introduced/nonresident categories are not. Dunn et al. (2025), Conservation status of New Zealand freshwater fishes, 2023, NZ Threat Classification Series 46, supplies a freshwater-domain classification for the relevant fish—not a claim that each occurs in every waterbody.
• Defra, with RSPB/BTO/WWT/JNCC, Wild bird populations in the UK and England, 1970 to 2025, 2026 release. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Only the UK native-breeding species group is used, not wintering-only or England-only rows.
• 部份資料出處：農業部生物多樣性研究所-台灣生物多樣性網絡 (Taiwan Biodiversity Network)。上述資料原依政府資料開放授權條款 (https://data.gov.tw/license) 進行公眾釋出。 TBN Taxon API v2.6, retrieved 30 October 2026, under Open Government Data License, Taiwan 1.0. Exact species-rank Native records with positive local red-list status were selected and transformed into approximate game placements. Lin, Chiu and Pursner (2024), The Red List of the Birds of Taiwan, 2024, CC BY 4.0, supplies assessment methodology excluding unstable/vagrant populations. Regular seasonal visitors may qualify; this is not a claim of year-round wildlife residency or of an API row’s assessment edition.
• National Park Service, NPSpecies public park-species status records, retrieved 30 October 2026, from Yellowstone, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains and Yosemite. No claim to original U.S. Government works. Only approved Native, Present and Breeder/Resident records with reviewed identity are used. We selected exact names, excluded taxonomic conflicts and joined existing guide habitat labels to a contiguous-mainland virtual game scope. This does not imply actual nationwide occupancy. Third-party rank fields, photographs and linked content are not imported into the game dataset.
• European Environment Agency (EEA), Article 12 bird checklist, version 1.4 (13 October 2026), final 2019-2024 reporting round. CC BY 4.0, under the Reportnet reuse notice. Modified: exact existing bird identities selected from regularly present breeding populations explicitly marked non-native N; ambiguous combined taxa and unsupported territory scopes excluded. These records extend approximate native-country game placements, using the same habitat and walking rules. They do not predict local sightings or imply EEA endorsement.
• American Society of Mammalogists, Mammal Diversity Database v2.5 (28 July 2026), CC BY 4.0. Modified: exact matches to existing game identities, conservative country selections and country-name mapping. The source includes native or reintroduced populations and some ancient introductions; uncertain records, reviewed introduction/taxonomy ambiguities, domestic/extinct/flagged taxa and unresolved territory scopes are excluded from this batch. These selections add approximate country-and-habitat game placements, not detailed natural ranges or wildlife sightings. Existing habitat, activity, walking and befriending rules apply. The publisher does not endorse this game.

Additional country and territory wildlife evidence

Local wildlife authorities, field surveys, museums and natural-occurrence checklists support these additional native-country placements. They use the existing habitat, permitted-path, walking and befriending rules. Country records are approximate game ranges, not complete wildlife inventories. The Vatican blackbird origin assessment combines local wild-bird observations with the territory checklist; it is a reviewed inference. Restricted islands do not become publicly accessible through the game.

• Aland: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Andorra: Sciurus vulgaris — local wildlife evidence.
• British Indian Ocean Territory: Sula sula — local wildlife evidence.
• Faroe Islands: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Gibraltar: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Guernsey: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Heard Island and McDonald Islands: Mirounga leonina — local wildlife evidence.
• Isle of Man: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Jersey: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Macao S.A.R: Platalea minor — local wildlife evidence.
• Monaco: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Saint Helena: Rhincodon typus — local wildlife evidence.
• Saint Martin: Chelonia mydas — local wildlife evidence.
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon: Phoca vitulina — local wildlife evidence.
• San Marino: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• United States Minor Outlying Islands: Phoebastria immutabilis — local wildlife evidence.
• Vatican: Turdus merula — local wildlife evidence.
• Western Sahara: Falco tinnunculus — local wildlife evidence.

South African native-country evidence

SANBI: white shark and SANBI: blue shark identify indigenous species and South African marine distribution. Moodley (2022), University of the Witwatersrand, Appendix 3.1, identifies the African monarch as indigenous and records it in Gauteng. Three existing game identities were extended to South Africa using the same walking, habitat and befriending rules. These approximate virtual placements are not detailed range maps, sightings or a complete South African animal list.

Supporting review data

Mammal Diversity Database v2.3 (2025), CC BY 4.0, was used for the earlier taxonomy/status screen. Its broad country lists were not activated by that review; the separately documented v2.5 selections above apply additional exclusions. Wilman et al. (2014), EltonTraits 1.0, Ecology 95:2027, was used for offline trait review; publisher metadata identifies CC0. Imputed traits are not silently converted into biological game-hour claims.

Changes and limitations

We selected exact scientific identities, retained source status and uncertainty, applied conservative exclusions, reused existing guide habitat labels, and joined these to game country scopes and mapped habitat. The opt-in wetland bird group requires explicit mapped wetland/marsh/swamp evidence, not a generic lake, river or ocean. This broad virtual wetland binding does not assert freshwater salinity. Freshwater-dependent and tall-vegetation-specific review holds remain excluded. Opt-in Grassland animals require explicit mapped grassland/meadow. Marine virtual encounters require confirmed ocean plus a permitted mapped land path outside water masks; never enter water. This does not certify real shore safety or wildlife presence. Marine animals are not enabled at inland dams. Activity and rarity settings are game policies, not real abundance or sightings. Sources are not endorsing this game. Additional educational sources are cited in the field guide; map-provider attributions remain on the map. These data credits do not relicense third-party photographs or the game's artwork.

Reviewed island shoreline refinements

Data from the SCAR Antarctic Digital Database, 2026, used under CC BY 4.0. Antarctic Digital Database source and citation. The Deception Island physical shoreline uses the original published land geometry, transformed from Antarctic polar stereographic coordinates to WGS84. A shoreline is not permission to land or enter a protected site. Fiji Viti Levu uses the pinned geoBoundaries source component derived from OpenStreetMap 2017; © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.