Overpopulated animal count!!

Sleek · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 987

that sounds like a great idea. What animal do you think needs it most?

mash · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2683

Yep, I'm game for having a go. Although I do kinda buy/steralize and release various animals anyway, as and when I can.

Maybe we could concentrate on one animal per month, as a group so to speak. I don't know if it would work, but specifying in a certain animal sounds good also.

A. L. Aljan · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 661

What would we like to consider for our first joint effort? Ragdolls? Shagya Arabs? Something altogether different?

Let me know which variation or color is highest on your "WHY are there so many of these?!?!" list, folks... I'd like to get moving on this.

~ Amanda @ Aljan

Sleek · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 987

I agree that we need to get this moving. There are no Ragdolls on the market. I will look at the list on the 1st page

Sleek · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 987

How about a dog, cat, horse, or Guinea Pig??

koneko · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 1883

We can pm people who have thier AE animals up for stud Laughing

EDIT: Starkat320 has a ragdoll up for stud, she is still active

A. L. Aljan · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 661

You have to be VERY tactful when approaching people about breeding/studding/selling.... some may listen, and some may get defensive, especially if the person writing the letter says something that offends the recipient...

Proceed with caution!!!

~ Amanda @ Aljan
PS... how's the Shagya situation? Should we target THAT one this month? I know poor odin's gotta be going out of her head with the way that turned out.

mash · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2683

I think that would be a good place to start. I recall seeing some problems regarding the Shagya's recently, and I know they are way out of control.

When I get a spare hour or two I will update the overpopulated count list.

At the mo I've got a LOT on my plate lol. But I will get round to it eventually Smile

Sleek · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 987

ok i think that that is a good idea. There are a lot of 2 and below up for stud, some at very low prices

koneko · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 1883

What happens if AEs go extint? THere are only 3, over 20 yr ocicats left

Kholran · Site Admin Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 784

mash · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2683

Sleek · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 987

WHEN are we going to start the project???

mash · Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 2683

Ok list has been updated (See first post) and quite frankly I'm appaled at the increase in MOST of these already overpopulated animals.

I find this not only disheartening but very frausterating. Mad

Misty Glen · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 1393

I don't think the majority of these figures are as bad as you think they are. Since a lot of players end up leaving the game before their animals die or get released, then the population is rarely going to decrease, and even the slightest amount of breeding will make it increase. It's all about birth rates and death rates, however 'death' only takes into account when the animal is released or goes to florida. it does not take into account when an animal becomes inactive due to the owner quitting. without taking into this factor your values for population will not give an accurate reflection of the breeding habits of players, hence rendering them meaningless.

You're right in that it should be the change in population we should be looking at, however I still think you're approaching the issue the wrong way. it is not a case of 'the larger the increase, the larger the problem'. A breed with a large population is going to increase quicker than a breed with a small population, simply because the former has more players involved in breeding, but that does not necessarily mean any of those players doing the breeding are breeding unreasonable amounts of offspring.

A better figure to use to determine current breeding trends is the percentage increase of population. For example, if at one point the population of Breed A is 500 and the population of Breed B is 10, and four weeks later the populations of each have increased by 50 animals, then the figures would read:
Breed A: 10% increase in 4 weeks = 2.5% increase per week as of dd/mm/yyyy
Breed B: 500% increase in 4 weeks = 125% increase per week as of dd/mm/yyyy
So even though Breed A has the larger population, it is Breed B that we should be concerned about. The time frame is very important here, since an increase of 50 animals over 4 weeks is clearly nowhere near as bad as an increase of 50 animals over 1 week. You will find the figure, percent increase per week, to be useful to keep track of how breeding trends are changing. If over time this value is seen to be getting smaller or staying steady, then people are being pretty reasonable about breeding. If however you suddenly see a sharp spike, then you have an over-breeder on your hands and you can respond to that situation.

So to clarify, the data you need is past population, date when this was recorded, current population, and date when this was recorded. From there you can calculate the rate of increase of population, which is a value that is comparable between breeds and species, and accurately reflects the breeding activities of players. Also keep track of all previous values of this figure, as the overall trend will also be useful.