Monogamous animals and contraception - question

[AirToob]

I have been slow to realise that once a monogamous animal mates, it's for life, so when their mate dies (or is moved out of the habitat) the animal left will never mate again.

That being so, the original choice of mate must be critical.

My question is, do contraceptives stop mating in the first place, or do they allow mating but only prevent offspring?

I now realise that that's an important difference...

[steelerx]

I would think that in-game contraceptives would work the same as real ones, you can still have sex, just the odds of getting pregnant are greatly reduced

[AirToob]

So once you (a monogamous animal) mate for fun, as it were, and have no offspring, you can't mate with anyone else?

I'm hoping to find out that that's not the case, at least in this game.

Does anyone know one way or another, for a fact?

[grampers62]

I'm not certain but I have noticed that some do indeed choose a new mate when the previous mate has died or moved from the habitat. Obviously there are many other factors that go into it as well. Consider this, if an animal were to have a mate and then placed on the market, would that animal no longer be able to choose a mate again? This would be a serious issue with the market.

[AirToob]

Originally posted by grampers62:

Consider this, if an animal were to have a mate and then placed on the market, would that animal no longer be able to choose a mate again? This would be a serious issue with the market.

It's more a question of whether the animal left behind in my zoo can ever mate again. So far, I think not. More careful checking to be done, it seems!

[grampers62]

It seems they do find a mate and do have offspring unless the animal is older and it's viability has subsided. For the more difficult breeders it might seem otherwise but that is all part of the way it works. Even the ones that only the alpha pair will mate, if things change with that pair they will find new mates.

[AirToob]

Thanks again.

I will keep an eye on those wedding ring symbols...

[AirToob]

Does anyone know the answer to my question in my OP?

Much appreciated if so.

[grampers62]

Never paid attention to that contraceptive question...
One could assume that it only prevents pregnancy but still allows mating, but that is just conjecture at the moment.

[iloveyourzoos]

I can confirm that animals do indeed "mate for fun" and get paired monogamously even if contraception is turned on. The contraceptions only stop the offspring, not the mating or pairing.

If an animal's mate has died or even been removed from the habitat, the social tab will often show usually include a timer that shows how long you have to wait before the bond is broken.

One trick, depending on how you play, is that you can move the animal to the trade center while you wait out the mating timer. (You can use the compare mates feature to determine if their bonding has opened up again). This takes away some of the realism, of course, so some players may not want to use it. But it is occasionally helpful if you've got a really high stats animal whose lifespan you don't want to waste.

[AirToob]

Originally posted by iloveyourzoos:

I can confirm that animals do indeed "mate for fun" and get paired monogamously even if contraception is turned on. The contraceptions only stop the offspring, not the mating or pairing.

If an animal's mate has died or even been removed from the habitat, the social tab will often show usually include a timer that shows how long you have to wait before the bond is broken.

One trick, depending on how you play, is that you can move the animal to the trade center while you wait out the mating timer. (You can use the compare mates feature to determine if their bonding has opened up again). This takes away some of the realism, of course, so some players may not want to use it. But it is occasionally helpful if you've got a really high stats animal whose lifespan you don't want to waste.

Thanks for the really useful info. Much appreciated.