Microsoft Flight Simulator guide: How to find animals

The recreated world in Microsoft Flight Simulator is home to famous landmarks, man-made wonders, and at least a few herds of creatures you can spot from the skies.

The simulator makes it easy to find places like your house if you know the coordinates, but you can also travel effortlessly around the world to spot herds of animals — or as the game refers to them, fauna. These are among the few living entities in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Each group of wild animals are made from handcrafted 3D models that roam about different areas of the world.

In Polygon guide to Microsoft Flight Simulator’s animals, we’ll show you how to quickly locate and visit all the creatures in the game.

What animals are in the game?

You can find several herds of animals roaming the game world at any given time. Currently, here are the species of creatures you can come across:

• black bears
• elephants
• flamingos
• geese
• giraffes
• grizzly bears
• seagulls

Each set of animals is listed in the game as “fauna,” and they have markers on them just like points of interests or airports. To make sure you have them highlighted on the world map, select the Filters options at the bottom of the map screen, and ensure that fauna is set to On.

Image: Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

Now that we know fauna are displayed on the world map, let’s find them all.

How to find animals

Locating the creatures scattered across Microsoft Flight Simulator is quite easy. When on the world map, search for “fauna,” and a full list of each herd’s location will be displayed.

Image: Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

From there, click on the batch of animals you’d like to visit, and the map will zoom in on their location. Just like any other destination, you can then choose to arrive or depart from that map marker.

If you choose to set a different departure location from your destination, like we recommend in our Microsoft Flight Simulator beginner’s guide, remember that animals move. So if you choose to fly to where they are located from somewhere else, make sure you have fauna markers turned on under Options > Assistance > Navigation Aids. That way, you’ll be able to spot them as they move across the map.

Image: Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

Naturally, these creatures move much slower than any aircraft you can pilot, but if you’re trying to stage shots by using the Microsoft Flight Simulator photo mode workaround, just know that they won’t stop for photos. Even if you enable Active Pause, animals will trot along, so be sure to follow them with the Showcase Camera.