Planet Zoo: Animal Genetics Guide (Tips, Tricks, & Strategies)
All animals in Planet Zoo have a complicated genetic makeup they pass to offspring. Players can manipulate these genes and become master breeders.
As players build and grow their perfect zoo in Planet Zoo, they may need to get involved in the sale, trade, or release of certain animals to help make profits. This usually happens when players are working on a campaign in Franchise Mode, as they will need to sell, trade, or release animals into the wild to lower costs and continue to earn cash or Conservation Credits. Becoming an expert in animal genetics and breeding in Planet Zoo can help players in any game mode, however. All animals in Planet Zoo have a relatively complex genetics system, which consists of the animal's size, longevity, fertility, and immunity. Often players have the most control over the animal's size and longevity stats through breeding. If players are selective about the breeding process, they can easily create offspring with the most desirable traits that can earn them a small fortune in cash or Conservation Credits. This can help players make needed improvements to the zoo or add new habitats, enclosures, and vendors.
Players won't need to become expert biologists to properly breed their animals. Instead, they will simply need to make sure each animal's welfare stats are as high as possible, provide strategic breeding situations for their animals, and use contraceptives strategically. Players can also hire keepers and researchers to improve the chances of successfully breeding their animals for life in the wild, the best possible sale, or a better quality of life at the zoo. Here are some tips and strategies for players who want to become the best breeders in Planet Zoo.
There are four major attributes that make up any individual animal at a player's zoo. These percentages are defined in the Genetic Makeup section of any animal's profile and consist of:
- Size: The maximum size an individual creature will reach
- Longevity: The life expectancy for this creature
- Fertility: How easy it is for successful breeding of this creature
- Immunity: The likelihood of this creature avoiding disease
There are also hidden values embedded into each animal's genetics that will determine how well each one can transfer its genes to the next generation.
Players will have the easiest time manipulating genes to get animals with 100% size and longevity. Fertility and immunity are more random and require more work and research to maximize.
The animals that fetch the highest prices or most Conservation Credits are usually the ones with high or maxed out size and longevity stats, though animals with high or maxed out stats in all four categories are ideal. Each time animals breed, it is likely they will have improved genetics from those of the parents, provided one of the parent animals was not inbred.
Only animals who have reached maturation will be available for breeding. Juveniles cannot breed.
Players who want to begin breeding their animals should set up a separate breeding area in their park, accessible only to staff. While this isn't required, and animals will breed if they want to in their main enclosure, building a breeding habitat can speed up the process or ensure it takes place at all. The ideal breeding habitat will contain the male animal and the maximum amount of female animals the male can mate with at a time. This information is contained in the animal's Zoopedia page in the Lifecycle section.
Players will need to build a habitat that can contain all the animals comfortably and that can maximize their welfare stats to at least over 80%. This means the enclosure should contain:
- Good, consistent food source
- A large enough social group
- An appropriate and pleasant habitat with some shelter
- Enrichment, like toys and a keeper
Once players have the breeding habitat set up, they will need to assign a keeper or two who can care specifically for those animals and be attentive to their needs.
Next, players will want to invest in a researcher. They will need to hire a researcher and assign them to the animal they would like to breed. The player will need to wait for the researcher to fully research the animal, which can unlock a fertility bonus of up to 60% depending on the creature. This will improve the chances of a successful breeding.
When the researcher finishes, players should move their animals into the breeding habitat. They will need to simply wait a few days until nature takes its course and the female animal has her offspring.
Each generation should have improved size and longevity stats from those of the parents. To improve immunity and fertility, players will need to click on each animal and use the Compare Mates function to determine which of them have the best stats in these areas. Fertility and immunity are more random and cannot be as easily manipulated, so players will need to compare mates for any of their animals with 100% size and longevity to determine the chances of producing offspring with 100% to fertility and immunity. While this doesn't guarantee an animal with 100% to all stats, it greatly improves the chances of producing one down the line.
Players should be sure to keep a decent male-to-female ratio in their habitats and trade or sell any males who have bred with all adult females. Players can use the cash or Conservation Credits they made from breeding to purchase a new male with the best possible stats to avoid any instances of possible inbreeding. Inbreeding will tank the offspring's immunity and fertility stats and make it more difficult if not impossible for players to breed, sell, trade, or release these animals.
If there are animals players would rather not breed, or if players want to prevent breeding outside the breeding habitat, they can allow zookeepers to provide contraceptives to their animals. To do this, they will need to visit an individual animal's profile and click the pill icon next to the animal's gender icon to toggle it on. They can also do this from the Zoo panel under the Animals page. Once animals have gone to the breeding habitat, players can toggle their contraception off to ensure only the animals they want breeding will be able to produce offspring.
Players can make high scores on the leader board from breeding, and their animal's stats are shared with the rest of the Planet Zoo community in Franchise Mode. There are few better ways to make enough money to turn a profit on a zoo in Franchise Mode, so players should find a strategy that works best for them and get started.
Planet Zoo is available for PC.