In Planet Zoo, there’s an entire menagerie of animals that you can acquire and display; to show off all these animals, you create exhibits that are specifically for megafauna (large animals) and other, small creatures that resides in terrariums. This guide will go over all the various Terrarium animals in Planet Zoo, as well as talking all the facets that go into creating an exhibit.
Planet Zoo Exhibit Animals
Terrarium Animals are a special class of creatures that can be bought at any time in Planet Zoo, but unlike the megafauna, these come with a terrarium in which they reside.
The central distinction between Terrarium Animals and megafauna is that the former cannot sustain themselves in a large enclosure the same as the latter; they must remain enclosed in their glass terrariums.
An interesting feature of the Terrarium Animals is that, unlike the megafauna, they do not have unique animations. Therefore, while looking at them, you will never seem them move. Instead, when you turn away and turn back to them, you’ll see that they’ll have changed positions.
An interesting aspect, regarding the terrariums: they are mostly empty, save for a bit of plant life – however, they can be customized to some degree to enrich the lives of the animals within.
To gain the items needed to enrich the habitat, the player will need to conduct copious amounts of research and find exactly what’s needed.
In regards to the actual animals, they don’t require as much attention and care as the megafauna. This is due to their small size, which means they have fewer needs.
As stated before, they do require enrichment, and depending on what you’ve added to the terrarium, their position can alter based on it.
As mentioned earlier, they don’t have animations, they simply fluctuate from one spot to another, and these spots can be determined by what’s actually present inside the terrarium.
One of the most important tasks the player has, in regards to these terrariums, is monitoring the animals’ needs for specific temperatures.
Some animals require more humidity, others require a chillier environment; you must accommodate these animals, and it will cost a hefty amount, but if the quality of life of these animals is improved, then visitors will be all the more impressed and all the more willing to donate.
The following is a list of all 20 Terrarium Animals available in Planet Zoo:
- Amazonian Giant Centipede
- Boa Constrictor
- Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula
- Brazilian Wandering Spider
- Common Death Adder
- Eastern Brown Snake
- Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion
- Giant Forest Scorpion
- Giant Tiger Land Snail
- Gila Monster
- Golden Poison Frog
- Goliath Birdeater
- Goliath Frog
- Green Iguana
- Lehmann’s Poison Frog
- Lesser Antillean Iguana
- Puff Adder
- Titan Beetle
- Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
- Yellow Anaconda
The following are all the megafauna available in the game:
- Aardvark
- African Buffalo
- African Bush Elephant
- African Wild Dog
- Aldabra Giant Tortoise
- American Bison
- Bactrian Camel
- Baird’s Tapir
- Bengal Tiger
- Black Wildebeest
- Bongo
- Bonobo
- Bornean Orangutan
- Cheetah
- Chinese Pangolin
- Common Ostrich
- Common Warthog
- Formosan Black Bear
- Galapagos Giant Tortoise
- Gemsbok
- Gharial
- Giant Panda
- Greater Flamingo
- Grizzly Bear
- Himalayan Brown Bear
- Hippopotamus
- Indian Elephant
- Indian Peafowl
- Indian Rhinoceros
- Japanese Macaque
- Komodo Dragon
- Mandrill
- Nile Monitor
- Nyala
- Okapi
- Plains Zebra
- Pronghorn Antelope
- Pygmy Hippo
- Red Panda
- Red Ruffed Lemur
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Ring-Tailed Lemur
- Sable Antelope
- Saltwater Crocodile
- Siberian Tiger
- Snow Leopard
- Spotted Hyena
- Springbok
- Thomson’s Gazelle
- Timber Wolf
- West African Lion
- Western Chimpanzee
- Western Lowland Gorilla
Now that you’re aware of the distinctions between Terrarium creatures and megafauna, it’s time we take a dive into what exactly goes into creating an exhibit – the ins and outs necessary in creating a proper zoo.
Terrain
When creating the exhibit, players will have to terraform a unique terrain that matches the needs and requirements of the animals they’ll choose to place inside. This includes the actual size of the exhibit, whether there’s need for grass or plant life, and whether a watering hole is necessary.
Perform research on the animals to get a better understanding of their needs and desires.
By going to the Animal’s Info Screen – and clicking on the various tabs – you can see just how much the animals are affected by everything you’re doing. If you add in more grass, you can check the Info Screen to see whether the animals are appreciative of it or not.
All of the elements of the terrain can be controlled via the Terrain Tool; this tool allows you to terraform the landscape as you so choose.
For example, if there’s a need for a watering hole or swimming pool, use the Terrain Tool to start digging a hole and fill it with water.
Note the following: When filling a hole with water using the Water Tool, a blue ring is displayed, indicating that this area can be filled with water; if there is a red ring visible, then there’s something preventing the game from filling the hole with water – Investigate!
Pay close attention to the needs of the animals in those enclosures and you’ll know exactly how to terraform the exhibit to match their needs.
Fences
One of the most important aspects of the exhibit as it serves two central purposes: It keeps the animals in, while letting visitors take a gander inside.
The key feature that you need to take into consideration when building a fence is the material that’s going to be used. The material is entirely dependent on which animal you plan to put inside the exhibit.
For example, small creatures that do not have the ability to climb or jump very high don’t require a very sturdy fence; a simple wood fence will be suitable for them.
On the other hand, larger animals like elephants will require a much larger fence that needs to be reinforced with extra bricks. You can tell by the disparity that there’s a lot to consider before you construct a fence.
To do this, you click on whatever base fence you already have set up and press the ‘Edit Barrier’ button. From here, you can adjust the barrier to meet whatever criteria you’ve set up.
You can choose to edit a part of the fence or the fence entirely, depending on the circumstances.
You can drag the fence upwards to increase its height, or you can make it shorter if you feel that’s appropriate. As I stated, you can build the fence using whatever materials you’ve purchased, do some research and make the proper decision.
Shelters
Within the exhibits, animals require shelter, a place where they can relax and escape from the heat/cold or unwanted attention of the visitors – a safe haven, so to speak.
What exactly they require from their shelters can be determined by doing research and then clicking the ‘Terrain Tab’, which will provide you with all the shelter requirements.
Animals cannot share their shelters, so as you add more and more animals into the exhibits, the more shelters you’ll need to build to accommodate each and every one of them.
Now, you have the option to build a shelter yourself – everything, from the walls to the ceiling, to the general layout. However, this can be an arduous process and one has to develop an intuition for architecture to do it right. If you’re not willing to go through that hassle, there are several pre-made blueprints available that will suffice.
A shelter can be constructed using whatever materials you have on hand. It can be dependent on what animals you’re trying to provide shelter for.
Some animals would prefer a wooden shelter, whereas others, like bears, would prefer a simple cave (something you can construct using the Terrain Tool).
Enrichment
One of the facets of the game that many would describe as ‘adorable’. After conducting research on an animal, you’ll gain the knowledge of what exactly is needed to enrich their lives.
This primarily refers to toys – secondarily it refers to certain objects the animals instinctually desire (for example, monkeys will require tall structures to scale).
These items improve the animals’ quality of life and simply ward off boredom, creating a more amicable and lively experience for visitors.
Some items can be multi-purposed; they can be used to enrich the lives of multiple animals, and there would be no need to research every single animal as some items will overlap.
By clicking on the Enrichment Items Tab (after conducting research) you can click on an existing item and see which animals will benefit from it.
You can also click the Enrichment Tab to check just how much of an effect an item has on any particular animal. This can let you know what is and isn’t worth the money.
You’ll sometimes need multiple items to max out any animal’s enrichment meter. This may take some time and lots of research but will undoubtedly enrich the lives of every single animal that you have to exhibit.
Food Quality
When you’re nearing the completion of your research, you’ll discover all the various food types that are uniquely beneficial to any specific animal.
An increase in food quality will lead to an increase in the animal’s vitality and overall health, which leads to a long life and more breeding.
Once research has been conducted, you can alter the quality of food by clicking on the Habitat Fence – you want to open the Habitat Window and look for the Animal Tab (it will be in the shape of a Paw Print). From there, click on the ‘Habitat Contents’ button; you’ll spot a drop-down window where you’ll be able to adjust the quality of food.
That concludes our guide on the building of Exhibits, the various creatures that dwell in them, and some of what’s needed to maintain the high standard.
