I always look for an island or peninsula for defending purposes.
I really don’t care about animals in main base. Animal breeders are always away from the base because of the lag they can produce and bat events that almost always kill wolves/boars. Also if your wolves or loxes are free roaming around the base they will make a lot of mess killing natives… and a lot of drops around the base can also produce lag.

What is more important to me is ambient. I prefer Black Forest or mistlands for great sunrise/sunset colors.