This entry mixes outdated information from the former broad taxonomic concept of Aetobatus narinari with the current classification of the species complex.

1.Aetobatus ocellatus
English name: Ocellated eagle ray
Chinese names: 眼斑鹞鲼 / 睛斑鹞鲼
Distribution: Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Hawaii and French Polynesia.

2.Aetobatus narinari
English name: Whitespotted eagle ray
Chinese names: 纳氏鹞鲼 / 斑点鹰鳐
Distribution: Western Atlantic, possibly including parts of the Eastern Atlantic.

3.Aetobatus laticeps
English name: Pacific eagle ray
Chinese name: 太平洋鹞鲼
Distribution: Eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to Peru, including the Galápagos Islands.

These regional populations were formerly grouped under the broadly defined Aetobatus narinari, but they are now recognized as three separate species. The game should therefore use the current classification and updated distribution data.

Main Issues
1. Ambiguous English common name
The entry identifies the species as Aetobatus ocellatus, whose FishBase preferred English common name is Ocellated eagle ray. Spotted eagle ray has historically referred to Aetobatus narinari or the former broadly defined species complex.

2. Incorrect distribution map
The map appears to combine the ranges of three species:
A. ocellatus: Indo-West Pacific
A. narinari: Atlantic Ocean
A. laticeps: Eastern Pacific

3. Inconsistent language versions
The English and localized versions are inconsistent in their common names and distribution information, suggesting that different taxonomic sources were used.

Conclusion
The species is clearly intended to be Aetobatus ocellatus, but the entry retains outdated names and distribution data from the former broad classification.
The English name, distribution text, map and localized text should be revised so that they consistently correspond to Aetobatus ocellatus under the current classification.
I hope the developers can correct these Zoopedia issues soon. Errors involving fish species appear particularly frequent and require a thorough review.

I bought this game during the steam sale for a couple bucks thinking it would be a relaxing kind of sandbox game. Like something I could boot up after work and quietly put together some exhibits and make a nice zoo. I imagined a Zoo Tycoon from my childhood with better looking animals.

It is clear at this point that I made a huge miscalculation . . . but is it salvageable?

Everything is so inflexible. Everything is so rigid. Everything is unavoidably obstructed.

Paths are hard. Barriers are hard. Gates are only acceptable in the most arbitrary of places. Why can't I just put a gate there? When the gate is there, why can't my zoo keeper go in? Would the entire engine of this game spiral out of control is someone could just walk on a piece of dirt outside an exhibit? I feel like I'm missing something fundamental.

Is what I imagined this game to be possible? Are there mods to make this relaxing / enjoyable / whimsical? It's a zoo game. It should be whimsical. Did I fool myself and is this actually a silly little zoo game for masochists?

I swear I'm not trying to talk shit about the Zoo game you all love. It's clear that a lot of love went it to it. But when do I get to relax?

I would really really really like to the bactrian camel and western gorilla and bison remade they were did so dirty in pz1 😭 so pleaseeeeee

How do i remove the dots? I remember I used to be able to move things freely but now the dots keep showing up and snapping an an ' imaginary ' grid

1.Marine mammals are explicitly mentioned.
Since seals and sea lions were already included in the first game, this strongly suggests that Planet Zoo 2 will introduce additional types of marine mammals in the future.
2.Aquatic animals have preferred depth zones.
Different species favour different parts of the water column. For example, blacktip reef sharks tend to swim closer to the surface, while great hammerhead sharks generally prefer deeper water.
3.Aquatic animals can forage from aquatic plants.
Certain aquatic plants will serve as food sources rather than purely decorative objects. This system could support herbivorous fish and future species such as manatees.
4.The developers’ ethical criteria raise concerns about cetaceans.
Taken together with Frontier’s previous responses, the article indicates that cetaceans will not be included at launch. However, Frontier has not ruled them out as post-launch DLC. Orcas, dolphins, belugas and narwhals could potentially appear in a major expansion, following the larger DLC models used for Jurassic World Evolution 3 and Planet Coaster 2. If cetaceans are never added, Frontier will likely face considerable negative feedback from players.
5.The zebra shark has now been officially confirmed.
This week’s animal silhouette reveal confirmed the zebra shark, although it had already appeared several times in Tuesday’s trailer and had been identified much earlier.
6.Upcoming promotional schedule
A new Animal Focus trailer will be released next Thursday. The following Tuesday, a new Feature Focus article about flying birds will be published, with the great hornbill already confirmed to appear.

Those of us into our taxonomy, recognise that the IUCN Red List is not up to date as far as species recognition goes. It often lags years behind in terms of new scientific discoveries and reclassification, and it seems lazy on Frontier's part to cling so stubbornly to it. One example is that nowhere on the red panda's Zoopedia entry does it acknowledge there being two formally recognised species.

I refer to Lynx Edicion's excellent volumes All the Mammals of the World and All the Birds of the World, as the most accurate authority on species recognition. If you don't have these volumes, I highly recommend them. They are unique in listing and illustrating every recognised species of bird and mammal known at the time of publication 2020 and 2023, respectively. (Reptiles coming next!)

Worse, Frontier are inconsistent with their species naming convention. Some animals are named by their subspecies, and some by their species name. This really frustrates me and was the biggest thing I wished they would fix from the first game. They corrected it with some species, but here are the remaining offenders:

Sumatran Tiger - should be Tiger

Western Chimpanzee - should be Chimpanzee or Common Chimpanzee

Eurasian Brown Bear - should be Brown Bear

Red Panda - should be Himalayan Red Panda

African Leopard - should be Leopard

Leaving them named like this indicates that other subspecies of the same species might be added, e.g. Amur tiger and leopard, Grizzly bear. Doubtful for the chimp though, the bonobo and common would be enough. In the case of the red panda however, Frontier (like Wikipedia) have not recognised the species split.

i dont have any mods and i bought the game on steam, why the hell did this happen??

i was building a habitat and i tabbed out, when i came back there were like 4 big pixels (like when theres something with no texture in minecraft) with lowered opacity, i hovered over it with my mouse and it like spread and my whole screen was black (all the menus were still visible) i closed the gmae because im easly scared like that 😭

ignore my "blood vat" post im so serious this happened i have no footage of this im so scared what the hell did this happen to anyone else??? i swear to god im not lying or making up a schizo post lmao please why does this happen

With planet zoo 2 coming out, I have decided to create a YouTube channel to start creating speedbuild videos as a hobby. I already have the basics planned out like how to record, editing and stuff like that. I even have a logo, banner and intro video I made. I can't decide if I'm going to start when they game comes out, or wait a year and get use to the game and improve my skills a little more. im a senior in highschool starting in a few weeks so It might be better to wait till I'm done with highschool bc college will give me some more free time. But either way I will let y'all know what I ultimately decide so please let me know what things you like or dislike about other creators so I can't get a good start. They might be a little cringe or hard to watch but I really want to do this. And if it takes off maybe even streaming on twitch sometimes.

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to recreate a real zoo in Planet Zoo as accurately as possible (currently considering Burgers' Zoo or Chester Zoo).

My goal isn't just to build something inspired by the zoo—I want to recreate it as close to 1:1 as possible, including:

- Accurate layout and path network.

- Correct proportions and scale.

- Buildings and habitats in the right locations.

- Terrain, elevation and water.

- As much detail as possible.

I'm curious how experienced builders approach projects like this.

Some questions:

- What websites do you use for references? (Google Earth Pro, ZooLex, Flickr, ZooChat, etc.)

- Do you use any software to create a blueprint before building?

- How do you measure distances and convert them into Planet Zoo?

- Do you use overlays, grids, rulers or other tools?

- Are there any Steam Workshop items that help with scaling or planning?

- How do you deal with the fact that Planet Zoo doesn't really have a proper measuring system?

- Any workflow tips that make large recreations easier?

If you've recreated a real zoo yourself, I'd love to hear about your process and any tools or tricks you recommend.

Thanks!

This could revolutionise the management aspect. Think of the money to be made

As the real world is getting sad, I will gladly take random animals like Planet Zoo gave us, a Goliath frog, which nobody is familiar with in the US here, plus they hardly thrive in real captivity but yet cool species to have in the game

u/fdvs

@ the powers that be there, directors who decide game concept and mechanics...

why are you using such a time compression-insane, non-realistic, and spoiling the simulation..??..

because it's not supposed to be a simulation..??..

because it's supposed to be an arcade..??..

so we can get bombarded with notifications, and tasks, and "things" to do, just to give us the impression we are busy managing the zoo..??..

so we can be distracted from what it is we do, or want to do, and jump all over the zoo to "fix" problems...

why the modders have to step in to correct your mess..??..

if you hope to have success with PZ2 or JWE3 you better make the in-game time, real time scale, and let us - aka your paying customers - decide if we want to speed up the time 2x 4x 8x 16x... as we feel comfortable...

this could be such a great simulation for decades to last - and bring you revenue, feed your corporate greed - yet you keep it arcade... why..??..

because you are terrified that a bored kid or teen who has nothing to do for 2 minutes or more, will close the game..??.. but is this your target audience..??..

are you aware that kids and teens have no money to buy your game and/or DLCs, but they beg their parents, who might want to play the game also...

food for thought, Fdevs... digest it and make something out of it...

I have been playing this game for about a month now and have gotten VERY good at making things up to the start of a zoo, then after that have absolutely NO CLUE what to do after that, I don't know what animals to start with, the pathing i should do, the types of habitats i should put first, how close i should put the first habitat, so can someone help me find out ways to fix this absolute brick wall I have hit for really, a week straight. I'm not trying to be picky but i know eventually if i experiment i will find something but i feel as if there is a defined way I can start my park to make it fit my theme and look good.

Currently building a zoo loosely based on Dublin Zoo. I did not carve the whole water body, instead I just made the two smallest island on the south (for those who know how looks like Dublin Zoo), nicely decorate them and populate with red ruffed lemur. I also add lions and tigers, started decorating the main alley/adding food and drink services. It was really nice.

Then this morning I wanted to expand the lake to add the "biggest" islands (which, IRL, contain the ourangutan and the gibbons).

First, I hate the fact that you have to remove water to terraform. But okay, that's what I did. I terraformed the land, added back the water and... why the water body is lower than before ? Removed it, can't add water at the same height than before. Maybe it's because I used climbing logs to allow the lemur to go from the island to the "main" land where they have their shelter and food (fun fact, it also work for the staff) ? Removed them, not, still saying "obstructed".

So here I am. I can't put the water at the same height as before because the game decided that nope, I can't anymore. I don't want to delete everything to raise the ground, so I just lost 4h hours of game and start another zoo where this time I'll do the whole lake before starting building.

I need a sanity check y’all. They distinguished ground from the aquarium floor when talking about where aquarium animals like to spend time. Could this mean that having solid land in an aquarium is an option? For sea turtle nesting as an example.

I could totally be reading into this. 😅 What do y’all think?

Article: https://www.planetzoogame.com/2/news/2026-07-23/behind-scenes-going-underwater?utm_campaign=415031524-Planet+Zoo+2+-+Announcement+Window&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=141507582&utm_content=141507582&utm_source=hs_email

I made it using the website and illustrator, it's not much, but it's clean and simple.
Enjoy !

Some that just came to mind for me are animals like bears hibernating during the winter, predators dragging/caching prey, mass migrations for our herding species, bird nesting, and pack hunting. If this game is truly determined to have its animals behave as realistically as possible, then I feel many of these behaviors should be simulated as accurately as possible.

What do you guys think? What are some behaviors you’d like to see on display in the preserves?

The final segment of the African Adventure ride at my Animal World park features the most iconic animal of Africa...the lion. Coming soon, a pov video of the entire attraction.

I’ve stayed away from doing cultural themed zoos for awhile now but after having the game for so long and PZ2 coming soon I figured I’d try my first zoo inspired by the country its based on. For this entrance I went for sort of a Chinese inspired fortress entrance in the Asian taiga mountains.

Hayo Zookeepers! Its Day 51 and the wheel has chosen the European Badger! This one is based off the Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. (Though admittedly that's an American Badger Enclosure). Oh and I forgot to post it yesterday but the last picture shows what the map looks like with all 50 of the first builds. Lemme know what you think!