Zootopia 3 Chapter 1

For our dear friend Daveigh, who taught us that no one should be left behind or forgotten. She will forever be remembered.

Daveigh Chase

1990-2026

It has been one year since Zootopia welcomed reptiles back into the city. Along with pit vipers, lizards, and chelonians being integrated into Zootopia, crocodilians, tuataras, pythons, and other species of lizards arrived into the city and were welcomed with open paws. Gary Dessnake has received 800 million dollars in royalty fees after the Lynxley scandal, and he used that money to buy Judy and her parents new cellphones (Bonnie and Stu, Judy's parents, would use the same phone) along with a monument of his great-grandmother Agnes, the true creator of the Weather Wall. He also got defanged since he didn't want to be poisonous anymore, so he decided to become a therapy animal alongside Dr. Fuzzby. Paul, a mole who worked in ZPD's computer system, moved to Bunny Burrow so he can live a simpler life digging up ripe vegetables. The ZPD also welcomed their first reptile officer with a saltwater crocodile named Terrence Jawful, who is just as knowledgeable on policework as Judy Hopps. The hundreds of escaped mammals that Nick Wilde let loose by accident were all recaptured, with Dawn Bellwether being sent to a special cell in Cliffside Asylum. However, our story doesn't begin in Zootopia. It begins on a bird-filled island far south of Outback Island, with an island being a forest almost as big as Gnu Jersey. If that wasn't good enough, there was a birdhouse on each tree. A puffin carrying fish in his beak flies over to Bird Village so he can fill up one of three boxes: One with dead fish and sea creatures, another filled with insect eggs, and another filled with vegetables. There's also a birdfeeder for the seed-eating birds such as quails, blue jays, swallows, and canaries. To top it all off, lizards, tortoises, squirrels, and even caribou are forced to build bird houses, operate simple elevators, and plant flowers all in their birthday suits so they don't get eaten. They were taken from Outback Island whenever fish populations seems scarce. Nolan, the owl leader of Bird Village, hates any animal that isn't a bird, and he especially hates how Cory, a red-tailed hawk, tries to befriend the slave animals. Nolan sees Cory playing with a caribou's horns, and he angrily calls him over.

"Cory!" The barred eagle owl shouted. "Come here this instant!"

"Sorry, Comet." Said Cory. "I'll play with you later." He flew over to Nolan to wonder what he wants.

"How many times have I told you?" Nolan asked Cory. "Only birds can be friends with birds!"

"But I already played with every bird in the village!" Cory replied.

"I'm sure that there's at least one bird you haven't met yet." Said Nolan. "Besides, any animal that isn't a bird is considered food, and you should know that. Everyone knows that!"

"But I think it's wrong to eat something that can talk." Said Cory. "The only meat I eat are fish and large frogs."

"Are you listening to yourself?!" Nolan shouted. "A red-tailed hawk eating fish? That would be like a fox eating blueberries! Real hawks eat snakes, lizards, fish, mice, rabbits, squirrels, and even other birds! If there's a slave animal that steps out of line, just eat him or her!"

"But that's so barbaric! Besides, mammals give me indigestion."

"Then eat a reptile!"

"But it's wrong to eat an animal that lays eggs. Unless it's a fish or a frog."

"Luckily for you, Floyd confided in me that very far northwest, there's a reptile country where they have chameleons and pit vipers, both of which give birth. I want you to fly north to get me a reptile and eat it alive!"

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then this will happen." Nolan grabbed a pear and squeezed it. "Do I make myself clear?" Cory started quivering.

"Yes, Nolan!" Said Cory, and he flew off northwest to find the reptile country Nolan spoke about. After a few hours of flying, Cory saw a building, but unfortunately crashed since he can't see glass.

Author's Notes: Gary Dessnake getting 800 million dollars from the Lynxley family is a reference to the Dinosaurs episode "Earl's Big Jackpot". In this episode, Earl gets fired from WESAYSO for not showing up at work, despite having an inured leg. Earl's family files a lawsuit against his evil boss BP Richfield, and WESAYSO is forced to pay 800 million dollars, making Earl filthy rich.

Cliffside Asylum was a location in Zootopia 1 where (SPOILER ALERT!) the 14 missing mammals have been secretly kept by Mayor Lionheart since they went off-the-rails crazy.

Cliffside Asylum will appear again in Chapter 8.

Gnu Jersey is one of MANY sub-locations in Zootopia (the city). In Zootopia 2, while chasing Anthony the giant anteater, Nick and Judy drive through Gnu Jersey and ruin the Zootenial parade.

Cory is named after and loosely based on Coco, an injured red-tailed hawk that I was fortunate enough to meet in July 2025.

I imagine that in the world of  Zootopia, the amphibians never had the chance to evolve to mammal or reptile-level intelligence: The habitats they grew up in were covered with night howlers, toxic flowers that make animals go savage. As a coincidence, Bird Town's local pond not only has fish and frogs, but also night howlers. I also chose not to include amphibians because I felt the frogs would look too much like Freddie from Meet the Robinsons.

Caribou being slaves on Canary Island (which I decided to call the place) is a nod to how in real life, bald eagles may eat reindeer calves when there aren't enough fish.

One of the many new characters in Zootopia 2 is a mole named Paul Moledebrandt, voiced by Olaf himself Josh Gad.