How to Avoid Animal Inbreeding in Planet Zoo | Screen Rant
Sometimes, animals in Planet Zoo will inbreed, which can cause genetic problems. Players can prevent inbreeding with preparation and investment.
As players build and grow their perfect zoo in Planet Zoo, they may want 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 breeder can help players in any game mode, however, as all animals need to breed to survive and continue the species. All animals in Planet Zoo have a relatively complex genetics system, which consists of the animal's size, longevity, fertility, and immunity. The animals with the best genetics often sell for higher prices or bring in more Conservation Credits upon release and are often the best choices for breeding.
Sometimes, if there are not enough mating options because an animal is rarer or more difficult to obtain, parent animals in Planet Zoo will breed with their offspring. Like when animals inbreed in the real world, this can lead to complications players may want to avoid, whether for business or personal reasons. Inbred animals are quicker and easier to obtain, but they will have low fertility and immunity. They will not be able to survive in the wild and are not desirable when sold or traded. Players can avoid inbreeding, but they will need to be patient and make sure to hire zookeepers to help administer contraceptives to their animals.
As with any breeding, a player intends to do in Planet Zoo, the first step is to set up a breeding habitat. This is usually a basic habitat that allows animals to maximize their welfare rating. Ideally, zookeepers hired here would only work with the needs of breeding animals to keep them at their best.
Next, players will need to select the animals they would like to breed and move them over to the breeding habitat. From there, players usually have to wait a little while for nature to take its course. Each time offspring is born, it should ideally have better attributes than the parents. Over time, players will end up with animals that have maxed out their size and longevity at 100%.
To prevent inbreeding from taking place unintentionally, players will need to enable zookeepers to provide specific animals with contraception. To do this, they will need to visit the animal's profile and click the pill icon next to the animal's gender icon to toggle it on. Players can also prevent all animals from breeding by providing contraceptives to all animals and then selectively turning off contraceptives for the animals they want to breed. They can access this option by clicking Zoo, then navigating to the Animals page.
Players can also separate the offspring of parent animals into a separate enclosure to ensure no inbreeding takes place. And, of course, players will not want to bring a parent and offspring pair into the breeding habitat.
It may also help for players to sell or release older animals, especially males who have bred with all adult females. This will require players to go to the market and purchase another male, ideally with perfect stats, and introduce him into the enclosure to continue allowing the animals to breed normally. This can prevent inbreeding, though it can get expensive. One player estimated an investment in a male lion with perfect stats would pay itself back off once 7 cubs with good genes had been born.
Some players may want to simply introduce a new male into the population, but this is not always the best or safest idea. Sometimes, male animals will fight for dominance. This can lead to fights and injuries that will result in higher vet bills, lower guest satisfaction, and trouble overall. It is best to only keep one adult male at a time if possible.
Players will also want to manage their animal populations. The more animals are in an enclosure, the easier it will be for them to breed constantly without the help of a breeding habitat, and the more likely inbreeding will be. For players taking on Franchise mode, attentiveness to their animals will be extremely important to prevent inbreeding, increase animal welfare, and improve guest happiness and profits.
Planet Zoo is available for PC.