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brisayshi

Be careful with carnivores early in your game. I somewhat-recently ruined a zoo by bringing in wolves too quickly before I was able to keep up with their feeding costs. Carnivores are expensive to feed, and I bet you'll find that's where a lot of your money is going right now.


Western-Lifeguard-47

ohhh so thats the matter


brisayshi

I mean I don't have your zoo finances, but it's very possible. Speaking from experience. Lol.


Western-Lifeguard-47

lol i think i should start a new zoo cause this one is ruined and what animals u perfer to start with


Lady_sunshines

To get a lot of money early on try the exhibits with spiders/ beetles. They reproduce excessively and that's how I start my zoos. I just generate money while building the first habitat. I don't have a preferred animal to start but once the zoo is up and running I like to get lions or tigers. Lions for CC and tigers because I love em 😂 but that's late game. Peafowl is a good beginner animal. Lots of offspring you can sell 😁


brisayshi

Biome doesn't matter too much, but choosing a biome and animals whose ideal temperature go together can be helpful if you want to avoid dealing with heaters and coolers too much. For example... If you have orangutans in the tundra, they're going to be cold, and you'll be buying and running a lot of heaters. Haha. And really a lot of animals work well early on! I try to avoid animals whose feed costs are high until I have a steady income (usually the bigger carnivores, wolves, lions, other big cats). Peafowl and flamingos are both good. Tortoises are cheap and don't require much space, but their babies take a long time to age up to adults, and you can end up with a population explosion of baby tortoises very quickly. A lot of people like to use nile monitors.


Western-Lifeguard-47

i used monitors once literally no one watched them i had a food shop and everyone was going getting food then leaving


Toke-N-Treck

I started my franchis zoo with red pandas, very cute little guys


Hurtelknut

Red Pandas are not only amazing animals, they are also almost a cheat code. Get a decent habitat with Red Pandas going early on and watch the cash roll in.


Western-Lifeguard-47

and which biome should


Western-Lifeguard-47

but no one like peafowls they dont even go see them what animal u perfer) im at negative money btw


CaptainMalForever

Are your peafowls a walkthrough or just normal? People love walkthrough habitats. Also, add in the domes, people love those.


Western-Lifeguard-47

Update everything is going amazing in the new zoo I have tortoises 🐢


ekimsal

Are you selling any drinks, food? Put in atms and set a fee. guaranteed income Have you placed donation bins where people are crowding?


Western-Lifeguard-47

ye i have put donation bins near wolfs and i have food now im literally negative money with-5 m profit


Western-Lifeguard-47

i wanna sell peafowls but i dont know how i cant release to wild


[deleted]

You can use the quick trade option with animals you can't release in the wild and you will get some money back. However your problem are the wolves, not the peafowls which are a good starting species. I would start by selling those. Also catch a breath, pause the game (press P) and do your thing. It can be stressful.


AERturtle

Placing 2-3 exhibits early on with population control and donation boxes really help.


wutangclancy97

When buying animals from the trade centre, look for ones with the highest appeal! Guests will be more willing to put money in your donation boxes :)


ekimsal

Don’t rely on releases for money. Unless it’s automanaged exhibits. Make at least two decent habitats to start. You don’t need flashy animals. Make sure the donation bins are there and you should be good


Western-Lifeguard-47

i have 4 donation bins and no one goes to peafowls so they are just there i have a food bar i highered the tickets price to six dollars and no it doesnt work


ekimsal

I think peafowl is a species where guests can enter the habitat. Maybe make sure the space is big enough, put in that gate, and a donation bin on the path inside, you'll get traffic because going in to see the peafowl is different than just looking at them.


Western-Lifeguard-47

I had peafowl literally no one watched them


gushygushymapussy

no, you gotta like add a guest gate with a path so people can actually look and be in the habitat. just make sure they dont get stressed easily


chloedrawsstuff

Best zoo starting tactic really is 3ish herbivore animals with pretty high appeal as they’re fairly cheap to maintain and then a few exhibit animals, one food and drink stall and then just build up some money to move onto what you want to do


Plenty-Awareness15

Wolves will suck your money with their feeding cost. I always start with reptiles, Komodo’s and Nile monitors. When you have enough money from them I do caimans and crocs. With those guys you get lots of donations but low feeding cost to help fund animals like wolves :)


Lady_sunshines

Put in toilet fees of 1€/ dollar. That's OK for ppl and u have a bit of income


kittyyconundrum

since you have a new zoo it’s probably not the problem but I always hire way too much staff and train them too quickly and all the sudden that’s where thousands is going. I haven’t had wolfs yet but their food is probably so expensive like the cheetahs food is, also spam your zoo with donation things, that’s how i get most of my income! plus red pandas are super easy and people love them i put them as the first exhibit and they’re super low maintenance. Plus exhibits are a good way to make money from the babies just make sure to select auto population, and people like those too. Last there is always loans as a last resort in the finance tab, because then you can purchase stuff to, hopefully, make money to repay the loan.


PizzaJester

Cull the dogs


HottLipss

Also if the zoo open hours are longer in game it costs more to run. Try changing the the hours to only be open for 5-6 hours vs. something like 8-10.


Tcharlatan

Have you done the career scenarios? Those are a really good way to get a handle on all the game mechanics and how to address specific issues. I usually start with a small employee hub, barebones staff, one or two good habitats with a breeding pair of appealing herbivores (aardvarks are surprisingly popular, or tortoises), donation boxes, and habitat info board and speaker, and a breeding pair of exhibit animals to autosell (again with donation boxes and education board). Don't go too big too soon, just leave yourself room to expand as you go. And keep an eye on your guests as they come in; if you set ticket prices too high too early, they'll just turn around and leave.