Hi! Thank you so much for playing for a full 30 minutes and writing up such detailed feedback. This kind of write-up is the most valuable thing a developer can get.
Let me go through your points one by one.
On the UI being overloaded and the first pebble purchase being hard to find: I've had the same comment recently, so I'm currently trimming and reorganizing the UI text. For the pebbles, I'll have the tutorial point out the shop location one more time.
I'm really glad you saw the capture loop as the core of the game. I agree that after about 20 minutes the bait → hide → hunt cycle starts to feel repetitive. The first new weapon shows up too late, which is probably why that stretch drags, so I'm adding "unlock the first extra weapon earlier" to my balance list.
Animals getting stuck behind trees on their way to the bait is a movement logic issue, and they should be routing around obstacles. I'll look into it.
For the zoo side, you're right that filling it up is pretty much all there is right now. Visitors growing in number and reacting to the animals is something I want to add too, and I'll be figuring out where it fits as I prepare for the Steam release.
Please leave a link to your game and I'll definitely play it and leave feedback. Thanks again :)