Hippos Require Improvements

[Great Wolf]

Hippos (not the Pygmy Hippo) require too much space. I downloaded a habitat from the Steam workshop that was made for elephants. It wasn't a massive habitat, but it's big enough to comfortably house four full-grown elephants (of either species). I put three adult hippos in, however, and it barely meets their space requirements, even with modifications to the habitat. This has been an issue ever since the game was released, and I'm far from the first person to bring this up. The habitat I used is comparable in size to, if not a bit bigger than, some real-life hippo habitats at different zoological facilities like the San Diego Zoo and Disney's Animal Kingdom, and those places had good-sized habitats for multiple hippos, adults and/or calves. So, why do hippos require more space than elephants?

Another thing is that the minimum social requirement should be changed from three to one. I've been to zoological facilities with hippos, and they either have them living in groups or solitarily. This should be reflected in the game.

 

[PnGLINNyo]

So, why do hippos require more space than elephants?

I think it has to do with the fact that hippos are land relatives of cetaceans, and AFAIK the UK is stanced negative towards keeping cetaceans in captivity. Still that would not justify the aforementioned space requirements which I too find puzzling and honestly nerve wrecking.

 

[Mjmannella]

I think it has to do with the fact that hippos are land relatives of cetaceans, and AFAIK the UK is stanced negative towards keeping cetaceans in captivity. Still that would justify the aforementioned space requirements which I too find puzzling and honestly nerve wrecking.

That would be a strange extrapolation from hippos being the closest living relatives of whales. The two clades have vastly different care needs, and far fewer people take issue with captive hippos compared to captive whales.

 

[Fallax]

I think it has to do with the fact that hippos are land relatives of cetaceans, and AFAIK the UK is stanced negative towards keeping cetaceans in captivity. Still that would justify the aforementioned space requirements which I too find puzzling and honestly nerve wrecking.

I really doubt this has anything to do with it

 

[PnGLINNyo]

I think it has to do with the fact that hippos are land relatives of cetaceans, and AFAIK the UK is stanced negative towards keeping cetaceans in captivity. Still that would not justify the aforementioned space requirements which I too find puzzling and honestly nerve wrecking.

Whoops, miss the "not" part where it's important . Would completely change the context.

As I was saying and so do you, I too find the requirements absurd, and I have no idea of a zoo with a hippo place that big IRL.

Edit: I mean if pygmy hippo requires like 270m2 of land and 270m2 of water plus 30m2 per addition in Planet Zoo, why not just triple or quadruple the space requirements for common hippo cuz it would be more into scale.