Horsey Game Conservation Map — Population, Genetic Diversity, Carnivore Crisis
🔬 Sourcing. Every population number, percentage, and color-code below is anchored to Cheru's 100% playthrough. The conservation tent UI is filmed cleanly between 38:30 and 39:30; the carnivore-extinction softlock is debriefed in the post-credits segment.
The conservation map is one of the most under-documented systems in Horsey Game. It's also one of the most punishing — leave it unattended and it will softlock an achievement. Here's what we actually know.
The conservation tent UI
Cheru @ 38:50 opens the conservation tent and reads the on-screen stats:
| Metric | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 400 | Total creatures alive in the conservation area |
| Genetic division | 50% | Diversity index — exact mechanic uncertain, but "50%" is presented as a baseline |
| Genetic diversity (separate readout) | 43% | @ 39:00 "It's at 43% now." |
The 50% / 43% split suggests genetic division and genetic diversity are two different stats — possibly inter-species spread vs. within-species spread. We have no further evidence yet.
The diet color code
Cheru @ 39:30 reads the legend:
"Green is herbivores. Red is carnivores. Orange is omnivores."
This is the key to reading the conservation map at a glance:
- 🟢 Green dots — herbivores. Eat plants. Stable population assuming food.
- 🔴 Red dots — carnivores. Eat meat. Unstable — see softlock below.
- 🟠 Orange dots — omnivores. Eat both. Generally most resilient.
If the red dots disappear from the map, you have a problem.
The carnivore-extinction softlock
Cheru @ 44:30:
"And I've been softlocked out of acquiring a hot air balloon because there's no freaking carnivores in the entire world because they all ate each other."
The mechanic, as observed: carnivores that run out of herbivore prey will eat each other until none remain. In Cheru's playthrough, once the last carnivore was gone the hot-air-balloon achievement stayed locked for the rest of that save. A separate community report claims dug-up bones can be processed in the DNA Lab to revive extinct species (see Hidden Secrets); we have not verified that this actually repopulates carnivores or clears this specific softlock, so treat extinction as effectively permanent until someone confirms a fix on video.
Mitigation steps:
- Open the conservation tent regularly. It's the only UI that shows the population breakdown by diet.
- Watch the red dot count. If it's trending down, intervene: introduce more herbivores (carnivore food supply) or relocate carnivores to a different region.
- The hot air balloon achievement specifically requires a living carnivore at acquisition time. If you've lost all of them, the achievement is gated until a future save.
This is one of three documented softlocks — see Achievements + Softlocks for the full list.
What this means for breeding strategy
The DNA Database includes presets for bear, tiger, croc (carnivore lineages) and monster, goblin (omnivore-coded fantasy lineages). Splicing carnivore alleles into your breeding line may reduce ecosystem load — or it may make the situation worse, depending on how the game classifies hybrids. We don't yet have evidence either way. Test on a fresh save before committing.
What this guide won't claim
We don't have video evidence yet for:
- The exact threshold of carnivore population loss that triggers the softlock
- Whether you can re-introduce carnivores after extinction (e.g., via DNA splicing on the conservation map)
- The relationship between the 400 population number and the per-species split
- Whether genetic diversity below some threshold has its own consequences
- The full hot-air-balloon achievement chain (acquisition / use / reward)
If you've reproduced any of these on your save, please submit via /contact.
What's next
- All 26 Achievements + Softlocks — full softlock list and Strange Bedfellow quest spec
- DNA Database — bear / tiger / croc / monster / goblin presets if you want to re-engineer the ecosystem mid-game
- How DNA Actually Works — the GCAT base-pair model behind cross-species splicing
Sources
- Cheru — "I 100% Solved Horse Racing — CRISPR and a Broken Moral Compass". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoiOVMPzUWM (conservation tent at 38:50; softlock debrief at 44:30).
Last updated: 2026-05-09. Numbers and color codes anchored to a single playthrough — verified by independent reproductions if you have them.
Last verified: 2026-05-09 · Game version: 1.0.4 · See /sources for citation list.