What does color mean in the pets/livestock list

dwarf-fortress

When you press u and select pets/livestock, why are the animals listed in different colors? For example, in my new embark, the sheep are red, dogs brown, and horses white. Their icons on the map are the same color.

Best Answer

Baby animals are red (like dwarven children).

Apart from that each species has their own colour, roughly corresponding to the colour of the animal in real life.

  • Brown: goats, horses, cows, yaks, deer, dogs, kangaroos
  • Grey: buffalo, cats, ravens
  • White: geese, woolly animals (sheep, llama, alpaca)
  • Blue: peacocks (peahens are brown)
  • Green: kea, duck
  • Pink: pigs (sows and boars)

Note that a change in background colour indicates a status effect and has no relation to the species.