Can we just talk about the problems with the Zoopedia's information regarding animal group sizes, and the realities in the game? I don't know if the group sizes they list in the game are the actual "realistic" group sizes of the real animals, but they sure as hell aren't correct for your habitats in the game, at least not if you're trying to avoids animals trying to kill each other for dominance!
Let's look at Bongos as a prime example. Here is the information that is presented in the Wikipedia:
Based on what it says here, it gives the impression that we should be able to have multiple males and females in the same habitat without any fighting. And yet, the MOMENT a male bongo becomes an adult, it will IMMEDIATELY get into a fight with it's Dad.
In a different situation, I just set up a large habitat for African Wild Dogs, my first time having them in a zoo. After consulting the Zoopedia, which says you can have up to 9 males and 9 females in a group, I decided to spend my last remaining Conservation Credits to buy 1 male and 4 female AWDogs. I figured out how big the enclosure should be for that many Dogs (using the Planet Zoopedia website to do the calculations), set everything up, and happily put all my new Dogs in there.
...Only to have my females immediately try to kill each other!!
(As of writing this message, I only now noticed that it also mentions Dominance as 1 male and 1 female. I can at least anticipate problems by checking that. But going back to the Bongos, it says NONE for Dominance there. It does say 1 for male bachelor group size, but what does that even mean? Apparently it means that the Dominance listing is WRONG.)
I know there are several posts already discussing the fact that animals almost immediately try to fight as soon as they become adults, as well as fighting for dominance vs legitimately trying to hurt each other, etc. But I specifically want to focus on the incredibly confusing information presented in the Zoopedia. If we're setting up a habitat for the first time, we really need to have correct and easy to follow information in order to set things up so that things run smoothly. As it is right now, I no longer feel like I can trust the Zoopedia. At. All.
Let's look at Bongos as a prime example. Here is the information that is presented in the Wikipedia:
Based on what it says here, it gives the impression that we should be able to have multiple males and females in the same habitat without any fighting. And yet, the MOMENT a male bongo becomes an adult, it will IMMEDIATELY get into a fight with it's Dad.
In a different situation, I just set up a large habitat for African Wild Dogs, my first time having them in a zoo. After consulting the Zoopedia, which says you can have up to 9 males and 9 females in a group, I decided to spend my last remaining Conservation Credits to buy 1 male and 4 female AWDogs. I figured out how big the enclosure should be for that many Dogs (using the Planet Zoopedia website to do the calculations), set everything up, and happily put all my new Dogs in there.
...Only to have my females immediately try to kill each other!!
(As of writing this message, I only now noticed that it also mentions Dominance as 1 male and 1 female. I can at least anticipate problems by checking that. But going back to the Bongos, it says NONE for Dominance there. It does say 1 for male bachelor group size, but what does that even mean? Apparently it means that the Dominance listing is WRONG.)
I know there are several posts already discussing the fact that animals almost immediately try to fight as soon as they become adults, as well as fighting for dominance vs legitimately trying to hurt each other, etc. But I specifically want to focus on the incredibly confusing information presented in the Zoopedia. If we're setting up a habitat for the first time, we really need to have correct and easy to follow information in order to set things up so that things run smoothly. As it is right now, I no longer feel like I can trust the Zoopedia. At. All.
