Hard shelter makes no sense

[Hampamatta]

why should i need hard shelter for animals that in the wild would never seek out such features? for animals that live in burrows or seek out caves or builds nests, sure. but i have never seen a moose build a nest or an elephant live in caves... i really dislike this requirement, it kills immersion and also forces me to build ugly features that takes up alot of valuable habitat space.

[MIGHTYANDYMAN]

I suspect it is because a zoo can not exactly replicate an animals natural environment and there will be times when an animal will need some protection from extreme weather such as heat, cold,snow, heavy rain etc

[Mister Jofel]

You could actually make some decent 'hard shelters' in your habitats. I never use any of the available blueprints for it. I mostly use the construction tab and make something custom. As long your animal can 'shelter' underneath it, it counts as hard shelter.

To give an example, last time around in my red panda habitat, I actually created a large elevated climbing platform where they could sit on. Since the red pandas could also shelter underneath it, it was not required to build any additional 'hard shelter' for them.

[GunRunner89X]

So... you've never been to a zoo in real life then?

[Anthracite]

It is literally required by law to provide shelter for captive animals.

[Moving Target]

For large animals like elephants etc: that need hard shelter try constructing a raised path over the top of the habitat, this serves as 'shelter' for the animals and as improved viewing for the guests. I placed a raised path running along the edge of a habitat and then walled in the overhanging area to create a shelter that the guests don't see and that doesn't encroach into the viewable habitat (bonus point it also contains the habitat entrance which the guests also cannot see) Just let your imagination run wild, hard shelter does NOT equal a shed!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3010583022
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3010582988

[audiolady]

I was just going to suggest something like what Moving Target suggested!

[Pezza83]

What a stupid thing to moan about

[Just Kevin]

What Matty said ...
Animals in the wild are acclimatised to where they live, it does not snow in deserts for example, but a zoo could be in a place where it does, so the animals need shelters. And in real zoos they are trained to sleep in them, and even go in when called for many reasons. In reality a keeper does not go in to a tiger habitat while the tiger is in it!
But what's the problem? there are many ready created shelters, and if the OP says they take up too much space, just how big are his habitats?!
What puzzles me though is when some animal's needs say they need a habitat, but they never use it.

[SLG]

Also in zoos, most animals, especially very large ones, are taken into a closed building to sleep overnight.