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Asian Elephant

The Asian elephant is one of the most space-hungry animals you can adopt. Each adult adds a big chunk of land to the requirement, so plan the habitat before you buy the herd, not after.

2 min read · Care guide

ScreenshotAsian Elephant
Asian Elephant in Planet Zoo 2

Key requirements

Land areaAbout 1,100 m² per adult; the requirement climbs sharply with each extra adult
Temperature5–30 °C
BarrierUse terrain or concrete; elephants are not climbers but need a solid edge

Habitat set-up

  • A mix of blended sand and light soil. elephants dislike a habitat that is mostly grass
  • Some waterlogged ground and a filtered water hole
  • A very large shelter; a scaled-up rock shelter works well
  • Only light plant coverage. one large tropical tree is plenty

Enrichment & feeding

  • Large wall feeder on a rock face
  • Large food drop
  • Barrel feeder and tree-scatter feeder
  • Tyre and a mud bath

Keeper tips

  • Keepers collect elephant dung, so make sure the habitat is inside a staffed work zone.
  • In cold mountain maps add a heater set around 10 °C and shrink its range so you are not heating the whole map.
  • Check the shelter percentage after every terrain change. rocks pushed into the hillside can quietly reduce it.

Full asian elephant care guide

2 min read · Updated 2026-11-07

The Asian elephant is one of the biggest projects you can take on in Planet Zoo 2. Elephants need a huge habitat, a lot of water, a big shelter and a steady supply of enrichment. Get it right and you have one of the best attractions in the zoo. Get it wrong and you'll spend hours expanding the habitat after the herd arrives. Plan first, then buy.

How much space?

The Zoopedia lists roughly 1,100 m² of land per adult elephant, and the requirement goes up sharply with every extra adult. Before you adopt:

  1. Draw a temporary barrier where you think the habitat will go.
  2. Use the pin species button in the habitat panel to see the elephant's needs against that space.
  3. Only buy the herd once the numbers are green.

You can switch the units between square feet and square metres in the settings if that's easier to read (25,000 sq ft is about 2,300 m²).

The barrier

Elephants don't climb or jump, but they're heavy and need a solid edge. Concrete works, and so does using terrain itself as the barrier: a raised bank or a dry moat. I once couldn't place a null barrier where I wanted, so I used the terrain plus a concrete wall instead.

Add a staff gate with a staff path. A tunnel under the guest path keeps keepers out of sight.

Ground and plants

Elephants are picky about terrain:

  • Blended sand and light soil should make up most of the floor.
  • Some waterlogged ground near the water.
  • Not too much grass. "Too much grass" was the first complaint my elephants had.
  • Only light plant coverage. One giant tropical tree is plenty for shade.

Water

  • A big water hole with a water filter (pump). Check supply against demand in the filtration panel.
  • Large bodies of water need a lot of filtering. Don't make the pool bigger than you need.

Shelter

Elephants need a very large shelter. Rock shelters can be scaled up, which is the easiest way to get there. Check the shelter percentage after every terrain change, because rocks pushed into a hillside can quietly reduce it.

Temperature

The comfortable range is 5–30 °C. On a cold mountain map it snowed at -3 °C in winter, so I added a habitat heater set to around 10 °C and shrank its range so it only warmed the elephant habitat, not the whole map.

Enrichment

  • A large wall feeder built into a rock face
  • A large food drop
  • A barrel feeder and a tree scatter feeder
  • A tyre
  • A mud bath (after vet research)

Keepers and dung

Keepers collect elephant dung, and there's a lot of it. Make sure the habitat is in a work zone with enough keepers, or cleanliness will drop and disease risk will climb.

Elephant rescue and release

The Conservation Projects hub sometimes offers an animal rescue challenge where the reward is a rescued Asian elephant. One cost me two vets and $7,000. Releasing that elephant into the wild earned 164 conservation credits, which is a big boost early in a Franchise zoo.