Newer Spawning optimizations in the players' immediate surrounds and beyond need more tweaking; both in bedrock and java, more on bedrock though.

Untamed mobs such as wolf continue to rapidly despawn from boats, can't feed some boated baby mobs and/or other mobs either.

Started another new world, luck would have it wolves near me. Took one in a boat with me with-in less than 5 min. got out the boat for less than 2 minutes to Kill a cow for meat, while I maintained being very close to shore. turned around wolf despawned while my back was turned, literally right behind me in less three minutes of getting out of the boat.

Went back for another wolf, turns out they can’t be fed to slow despawning on bedrock, having issue feeding foxes and baby foxes (kit) in boats as well for some reason. Even so, mobs aren’t supposed to despwan from boats; at least not that rapidly, especially while not in the boat or while leashed either (which I have been seeing leashed mobs despawning quickly as well, both in java and bedrock) , especially while player is maintaining such a close distance to them.

I do think having game optimizations are great, but boats and leashes need adjusting; especially on bedrock. Its like the devs are pushing the game to force players to focus on one task at a time:

focus on taming a mob; explore; build; or grow crops; OR else face not potential consequences, but now immediate consenqunces. I would prefer to have the option lightly multitask (occasionally heavily multitask) and just dealing with potential consequences, as Minecraft is a game that players can very easily can experience burnout from focusing too much time on a single task so please adjust boats and leads (including updating it for the Ocelot, dolphin, and other despawning mobs while leashed), as well as fix the newer optimizations from causing rapid despawning, especially with-in the player’s immediate surroundings; on both bedrock and java, especially on bedrock.

Also - Please re-consider increasing the overworld’s mob spawners' smaller optimized distance (dungeons, mineshafts, end portal rooms), so they are not only active while the player is standing so close them. The newer optimized distance that they have been made to be active around the player isn’t ideal for casual gameplay, at least not on hard mode(s). They are supposed to act more like “monster dens” or “monster nests”; and be more challenging for the player to disable, forcing the player to deal with the likely hood of more enemies to around the loot and themselves or to come back better prepared. While they do make decent XP and other resource farms that the player may choose to build around; their implementation shouldn’t be optimized to focus around farming; leave that to the players' building around it, at least on harder modes. I've visited way too many empty and mostly empty mineshafts, dungeons, and Strongholds on newer updates, and there are plenty of easier structures for less equipped players and/or early game players to get easy loot from; shipwrecks, pyramids, occasionally villages and ruined portals as well.