Why would animals suddenly disappear?

[Uriel Cain]

I'm in my second in-game year (first world, first time playing) and finally have some stables and such built for animals, so I'm trying to track some down. I've tried laying out reed traps for chickens and such, but I haven't seen any small animals other than raccoons and foxes in a long time. The traps never catch anything.

After about a week in-game, I finally found a small pack of three goats. I spent an entire in-game day herding them back to the pen I'd made for them. I got the first one there, just outside the pen, but the second ran off in another direction, so I ran back to get it. I lost the third one somewhere along the way. As I chased the second one back, I couldn't see the first, so I assumed it went into the pen where I'd set up a trough of food. The second one ran up against the fence, but wouldn't go in through the gate, so I backed off to let it relax and looked around a bit for the third. At that point I realized that all three were just gone. I spent the rest of the day looking around the area but couldn't find them anywhere. My base is set up against a large cliff and the only entrance is the way I'd brought them in, so they couldn't have run off in another direction. They were just gone...

What did I do wrong. Did them getting split up cause it? Could certain structures or trees cause it? Will they despawn if chased a certain distance from where they started?

I really don't want to go through the effort again if they're going to just despawn again. Especially with how rare animals seem to be in my world.

Edited September 19, 2025 by Uriel Cain

[Kyassady]

animals in this game will despawn after sometime without light! be a candle, lantern or sun light! probably thats what happened to you.... 

[Uriel Cain]

This was all entirely outside, open to the sky. The cliff does cast a shadow, though. They were only at my base for in-game minutes, 20-30 seconds real time at most. So, if that's what it was, maybe that's why I'm seeing very few animals, because I imagine just walking into the trees would cause them to despawn, too. I definitely never see animals in the forests other than bears.

[Uriel Cain]

Nevermind. I left the game and when I came back they were suddenly exactly where they'd disappeared. All three of them. *shrug*