European Badger Breeding Questions (Game Mechanics, Not Real Life)

[iloveyourzoos]

The Zoopedia for the new European Badger says they are promiscous, and that males have a hierarchy based on age and size. But when I go to the Animals' Social Tab, it's showing them as bonded, with the wedding ring that says "monogamous" when I hover over it. I read the extra reproduction paragraphs, but am trying to figure out how to set up my habitats based on the best in-game mechanics.

So far, it looks like only one female has been pregnant at any one time (which isn't usually the case with promiscuous animals where there can be groups of this size -- up to 7). It looks so far like this is always the one marked as dominant (but I need to watch more closely to see if this is always the case)

Is the idea that they bond but only for a shorter, limited period of time, instead of for life? Or is the game treating them as monogamous throughout?

Would also love tips on whether anyone has seen the non-dominant males/females mate in-game (if you've got multiples in your habitat), or if the dominant pair is the only one that will do that.

I'm loving the new pack, by the way. So this is not meant as a complaint, but rather me trying to figure out the in-game mechanics so that I'm not wasting stats/lifespan of my animals if their breeding does turn out to work like the in-game monogamous animals.

 

[WolfofAnarchy]

As stated in the zoopedia, badgers live solitary lives or else in small family groups. They tolerate other adult animals, but utilize the same pack system as the canids and meerkats. I belive you're only intended one breeding pair, and for the remaining adults to be their offspring, as usually badgers don't tolerate adult strangers around their family. Of course, the game doesn't care if they're related or not, but either way only the dominant pair will breed. Hope this helped!

 

[iloveyourzoos]

Thanks! I'll adjust this evening to manage them as if they were monogamous. I guess it's just the promiscuous tag that threw me off, since it sounds like these are functionally monogamous, at least for in-game zoo management purposes.

 

[WolfofAnarchy]

No problem! I agree that it is odd, but this wouldn't be the first case of Frontier using real life info in the zoopedia that contradicts the actual gameplay (interbirth period anyone?). There are lots of aspects of the zoopedia that need clarification.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

There are already animals in the game which are "promiscuous" but which don't allow multiple mates at the same time. Jaguars, for example, are listed as Promiscous but if you put more than one of either gender in a habitat they fight and get hurt, constantly.
The zoopedia listing for "Mating system" is all about real life info, not game mechanics.

For the badgers, because they are promiscuous and not monogomous, there's a good chance mates will change over time if you keep more than one of a gender in the habitat. Though it shows the bonding, the bonding is just for the current mating cycle. Again, it's not the only animal like this in the game.

 

[WolfofAnarchy]

There are already animals in the game which are "promiscuous" but which don't allow multiple mates at the same time. Jaguars, for example, are listed as Promiscous but if you put more than one of either gender in a habitat they fight and get hurt, constantly.
The zoopedia listing for "Mating system" is all about real life info, not game mechanics.

For the badgers, because they are promiscuous and not monogomous, there's a good chance mates will change over time if you keep more than one of a gender in the habitat. Though it shows the bonding, the bonding is just for the current mating cycle. Again, it's not the only animal like this in the game.

I would 100% agree with you, except when adding badgers to a new habitat, you get notifications about them "joining a pack". If it were true that they could switch mates whenever they wanted, I wouldn't think they would utilize the pack system, as they could've just been programmed to get along without it. Thus far I have not seen them trading mates willy nilly, because "alpha" animals never give up their status without a fight, "beta" animals are quite literally not allowed to breed by the game's programming, and they never fight for status as long as their social welfare is met. I would love to be proven wrong though, because it seems weird to me that the badgers would behave like carbon-copy canids.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

What I do for most of the pack animals in the game is rotate in breeding partners. I usually keep several females and just one male in the habitats and when one female gives birth, I send her to the trade center, or outright sell/release her if I don't intend to ever breed her again.
Sometimes I even make 2 habitats for the species with one of them being a female-only pen. When I do it this way I move the female as soon as she gets pregnant and let her give birth in the female-only pen. Doing it this way allows for faster breeding.