Breeding animals is an important mechanic in all Zoo Tycoon games. The player will often be required to breed animals, or rewarded for doing so. It is also the most important and reliable way to get free animals.
As a general rule, if at least one male and female adult animals of the same species share the same exhibit and are happy, breeding will happen eventually.
In Zoo Tycoon[]
A baby giraffe between two adults.
In Zoo Tycoon, breeding happens when a female animal shares an exhibit with a male of the same species. The likelihood of 2 animals breeding is 1% or 2% when not during an interval period; both of these factors flucuate depending on the species. The player will get a notification that the female has given birth, without previous notice, and the baby animal(s) will automatically appear in a random free location of the exhibit. After a certain amount of time, babies will grow up into adult animals undistinguishable from adopted ones.
Oviparous Dinosaur Digs animals, such as dinosaurs and other reptiles, will lay an egg instead of giving birth to the young directly. Some dinosaurs, such as Coelophysis and Gallimimus, will eat unhatched eggs of a different species.
Baby animals are comparatively less aggressive and will not attack some (or any) of the animals that their adult counterparts would attack.
Mating habits of animals vary between species. Some animals like lions and Gallimimus will have males mate with multiple partners, while others like bottlenose dolphins and giant tortoises are strictly monogamous (only having 1 mate their whole life).
The first time an endangered animal (Okapi, Snow Leopard, Lowland Gorilla, white Bengal Tiger, or black Leopard) produces offspring, the player will obtain a cash grant of $10,000. For the first baby Giant Panda, the player will recieve $50,000, and for the first Great White Shark, $25,000.
The player can research for improved reproduction rate to increase the chances of animals breeding.
There are several scenarios which require breeding certain animals to complete, such as Breeding Giant Pandas, Breeding the T. rex, and Endangered Species Zoo. It should be noted that though the conditions mention a "baby" animal, they will still complete if the animal born in the zoo has grown up.
In Zoo Tycoon 2[]
Breeding animals in Zoo Tycoon 2 involves more steps, but it mostly follows the same general idea as in the previous game.
African Buffalo pair mating.
Animals have a hidden reproduction need which will rise as they are happy and their other needs are met. When this need is high enough, an adult female animal (who is not already pregnant or has any baby offspring) will invite an adult male of the same species for reproduction. Males will respond regardless of their happiness and reproduction needs, meaning newly placed male animals can already reproduce.
After mating, there is a chance (going from 50% to 100% depending on the animal) that the female will become pregnant. When this happens, a pregnancy timer will be visible in her status window. Each species has its own pregnancy timer, with egg laying animals taking the shortest time, and elephants taking the longest.
African Buffalo giving birth.
After enough time has passed and the pregnancy timer has filled up and changed to red, the animal will either give live birth or lay an egg. Birth will produce one or more baby animals directly, while eggs will need their own incubation timer to fill before hatching into babies.
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Giant Panda mother and cub.
Young animals will perform different behaviors, such as nursing from their mother, or playing with eachother. Some of them are unable to use certain items, such as food troughs or some toys. They can't be released into the wild, and they have a higher guest attractiveness than adult animals. Being smaller than adults also means they are more susceptible to predators in comparison (see Predator and Prey Classification in Zoo Tycoon 2).
Many campaigns and challenges require the player to breed certain animals, notably those in the Conservation Programs campaign, and the follow-up The Mysterious Panda.
Endangered Species[]
Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species introduced several new mechanics to animal breeding. Firstly, with the introduction of family trees, when two animals mate they will be set as eachother's "Mate". Some animals are monogamous and will not mate with a different animal once their mate is set, while others will mate again, simply overriding the previous mate.
When an animal is born, it will automatically have its mother, father and sibling(s) (if applicable) on its family tree window. Only siblings born from the same mother (even from different births) will be considered as such, while half-siblings who share a father are considered unrelated.
Animals will not mate with related animals, including their parents, offspring or full siblings. If a female animal finds no suitable male to mate with, a message will pop up to alert the player that she "wants to reproduce but can't find a mate".
Balloon bouquet.
Young animals will also always be born and grow up to the base skin, even if their parents have skin variants.
Whenever a Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Extinct animal is born, the player will be awarded a balloon bouquet at the front gate, blue circles for a male baby or pink stars for a female baby. If both a male and female are born, there will be mixed ballons. Though balloon bouquets serve no purpose as they are, they can be recycled for $250, effectively netting that amount for every endangered animal birth.
Conservation Breeding Center.
This expansion also introduces a Conservation Breeding Center building (which has to be unlocked in Campaign Mode) which will help endangered and critically endangered animals breed more easily, increesing an animal's pregnancy chance by 50%.
Marine Mania[]
The Leatherback Sea Turtle and Green Sea Turtle can live comfortably on a simple tank, but they will need either some land area or a Desert Island to be able to lay eggs. The Rock Island can also be used by penguins, such as the Rockhopper Penguin, to lay eggs.
Breeding is the only way to obtain the two-tusked male and tusked female Narwhal variants, as they cannot be placed from the adoption menu.
Extinct Animals[]
In Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, Super female animals created at the Extinct Research Lab have a chance to produce Super offspring, depending on species. A regular Dodo and Diprotodon can also produce Super offspring with a 6% chance.
Most dinosaurs (with the exception of Protarchaeopteryx) will create nests for their young, instead of laying eggs directly on the ground like other oviparous animals. Despite several eggs being visible on the model, a dinosaur nest will only spawn one baby.
Crossbreeding[]
Masai giraffe mating with a reticulated giraffe.
There are two combinations of animals that are able to crossbreed in Zoo Tycoon 2; the Reticulated Giraffe with Masai Giraffe, and the Common Zebra with the Quagga. Other than being separate species, breeding occurs as usual. The resulting offspring will randomly be either of the parent species.
It's worth noting that the masai giraffe is much cheaper than the reticulated giraffe ($2000 versus $7500), so crossbreeding can actually be a cost-effective way of obtaining more reticulated giraffes, with enough luck.
In Zoo Tycoon (Xbox)[]
To breed animals in Zoo Tycoon (Xbox), a full habitat must have a breeding specialist assigned. The animals themselves must be between level 6 (when an animal enters adulthood) and level 14 (reaching level 15 will stop the animal from breeding). Occasionally, animals will produce a rare variant (ex. melanism, albinism, striping). These mutations can be encouraged with research trees, boosting variant likelihood by up to 50%.
Due to Mini-Exhibit animals being simpler in behaviour, they will not breed.
In Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game[]
Breeding animals in Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game occurs as part of the 'Spring' season of gameplay and unlike its video game counterparts, is directly controlled by the player. At the start of each Spring season, the players roll dice to determine whether or not their animals will breed. Each species has a specific minimum number that must be met in order to breed and the number will decrease the happier the animal is, resulting in a greater chance at successful breeding; for example, a Plains Zebra in a suitable exhibit (yellow) would require a roll of six in order to breed, but at its highest happiness (dark green), a roll of five or six will result in a successful birth. Some animals need to be sufficiently happy enough in order to breed; a Red Panda which isn't happy enough will not be able to breed at all, for example.
When an animal successfully breeds, it will give birth to between 1-3 offspring, depending on the species. These are represented by special "offspring discs", which are randomly determined to be male or female. From here, the player has the option of giving away offspring during the Summer season, provided there is an available offer at the zoo market, or converting them into adults. Whilst offspring do not take up space in an enclosure, converting them into adults will require more space.
The exact number of dice needed to roll varies between each species. For most species, a dice is rolled for each female animal present in an exhibit. For most bird species, a dice is rolled for each pair of birds (a male and a female). For the Golden Lion Tamarin, only a single dice is rolled regardless of how many individuals are in an exhibit, a trait shared by species that only tolerate living as a pair by default. In addition, some species (namely bears, big cats, great apes and megaherbivores) will nurture their young after successfully breeding. Any individuals with this characteristic will not be able to breed in consecutive seasons if they had offspring the previous Spring.
Once all species in a zoo have attempted to breed, the base popularity value of of the most popular species generates 'Buzz', which goes towards boosting a zoo's overall popularity. In addition, for Level 3 species - the Arabian Oryx, Bearded Vulture, Bornean Orangutan, Golden Lion Tamarin and Northern Bald Ibis - the player may choose to contribute any young born towards a reintroduction project, which in turn boosts a zoo's overall conservation status. However, any offspring still present at the end of the game (without being converted or given away) will have a negative impact of a zoo's popularity.
As with mini-exhibit animals in Zoo Tycoon (Xbox), Co-Species are unable to breed.
Details[]
| Animal | Minimum Roll (Yellow) | Minimum Roll (Light Green) | Minimum Roll (Dark Green) | Offspring Number | Dice Number | Nurtures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Black Bear | N/A | 4 | 2 | 2 | One | Yes |
| Arabian Oryx | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | One per female | No |
| Asian Elephant | N/A | 6 | 5 | 1 | One per female | Yes |
| Bearded Vulture | N/A | 4 | 3 | 1 | One | No |
| Black Rhinoceros | N/A | 5 | 4 | 1 | One | Yes |
| Bornean Orangutan | N/A | 5 | 3 | 1 | One per female | Yes |
| Chimpanzee | N/A | 6 | 5 | 1 | One per female | Yes |
| Common Ostrich | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | One per pair | No |
| Common Raccoon | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | One per female | No |
| Elk | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | One per female | No |
| Giant Panda | N/A | 5 | 4 | 1 | One | Yes |
| Giraffe | N/A | 5 | 4 | 1 | One per female | Yes |
| Golden Lion Tamarin | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | One | No |
| Lion | N/A | 6 | 5 | 2 | One per female | Yes |
| Northern Bald Ibis | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | One per pair | No |
| Plains Zebra | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | One per female | No |
| Red-and-green Macaw | N/A | 6 | 5 | 2 | One per pair | No |
| Red Panda | N/A | 6 | 4 | 2 | One | No |
| Red Ruffed Lemur | N/A | 6 | 5 | 2 | One per female | No |
| Snow Leopard | N/A | 4 | 3 | 2 | One | Yes |
| Tiger | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | One | Yes |
| Tufted Capuchin | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | One per female | No |
| Western Gorilla | N/A | 6 | 5 | 1 | One per female | Yes |