Hey Mando! Been a while. Recently, there has been a lot of conversation about Planet Zoo 2. Specifically, Frontier Dev's response about cetaceans in captivity and what that means for the game. "Whilst we know dolphins, whales and porpoises are popular species in the natural world, it is important to us that all animals represented in Planet Zoo 2 have environments that best reflect their requirements. We’re mindful that there is a lot of ongoing research on conservation for cetaceans and how re-wilding programmes for species within this group are handled by modern aquariums. As with a number of other species, we're keeping a close eye on how the conservation community's work evolves in this area." What are your thoughts on this?
Hi Apollo! Hope all is well. So I'm not a gamer, but I know that Planet Zoo is pretty highly regarded, and I believe they actually collaborated with the AZA on designing the game. Which is probably why this answer is a little more diplomatic than I expected.
Honestly though, I imagine keeping cetaceans out of the game is simply to avoid backlash. Ironic, considering you can keep elephants, great apes, large sharks, and other sensitive and complex species in the game. There's also the fact it's... a game. It's pretend. There are no real animals involved. What better way to explore what the ideal zoological cetacean habitat would look like than in a video game where there are no real animals or budgets to worry about? You could even build a sea pen! There have also been numerous recent scientific publications (namely the Cetacean Welfare Project) exploring what aspects of a cetacean's environment are most essential to their welfare. Why not build off of that?
Overall, a predictable but still disappointing and nonsensical move.