Planet Zoo 2's animals got a big upgrade in looks and behaviour. Some individuals are born with unusual colours, many species change as they grow up, and the animations are far more varied than in the first game. Here's what to look out for.
Colour variants
A colour variant is an animal whose colouring is different from the rest of its species. Some players collect them, a bit like shiny Pokémon, and will pay extra or breed specially for them.
What I've seen so far:
- Clown loach: in a shoal of the usual orange-and-black fish, one had orange and pink colouring instead. You only notice it when you look closely at the tank, so it's a nice surprise for guests too.
- Komodo dragon: two dragons in the same habitat had clearly different skin colours.
- Javanese cownose ray: has no colour variants at all, so don't waste time hunting.
Do variants matter?
Colour is purely cosmetic. It doesn't change how healthy an animal is or how well it breeds. What matters for that is the animal's traits:
- Fertility: how easily it has babies. 0% means never.
- Immunity: how well it fights off disease.
- Longevity: how long it's likely to live.
- Size and appeal: bigger, more impressive animals attract more guests.
A gorgeous pink variant with 0% fertility will never pass anything on. If you're breeding for looks, check fertility first. More on this in Breeding, Genetics and Traits.
How animals change as they grow up
Lots of species look different at different ages, which is great material for education boards:
- Sable antelope get darker with age. The top male and female in a herd are dark brown to almost black, while young ones are lighter. A darker coat basically means "senior member of the herd".
- Palette surgeonfish are bright yellow as babies and turn blue as adults.
- Zebra foals have fluffy ears and gangly legs, and they're surprisingly good at jumping onto low rocks.
- Bear cubs are tiny next to their mothers. Brown bears can have up to four cubs at once.
- Flamingo chicks are grey fledglings at first. You can't click on them until they've grown a bit.
Males and females
- Golden eagles: females are bigger than males, which is true of most birds of prey.
- Schooling bannerfish: males and females look almost the same, so it's hard to tell them apart outside breeding time.
- Clown anemonefish: all are born male and can change to female, usually when the group's top female dies.
- Spotted hyenas: females run the group. Mothers raise the cubs, so you can't move a mother while her cubs still depend on her.
Behaviours worth watching
The new animation system is one of the best parts of the game. Spend a few minutes with the animal camera and you'll see things like:
- Leopards and snow leopards climbing trees and lounging on branches (just make sure the tree isn't next to the fence).
- Otters chasing balls into the water and carrying on playing while swimming.
- Camels walking sideways and placing their feet properly on slopes. They look much more natural than before.
- Hippos rolling in mud, with mud splashing as they move.
- Eagles circling, landing on perches and sitting in nests during mating season.
- Sharks and rays mating, then very quickly filling your tank with babies.
- Warthogs sheltering under stilted buildings when it rains.
- Keepers throwing in whole carcasses for carnivores. It's surprisingly graphic, and old food left lying around raises the disease risk.
Getting the best view
- Animal camera: click an animal and switch to its first-person view to follow it around.
- Explore camera (press T): a smoother camera for walking around at guest level.
- Photo mode: freezes the scene so you can frame a shot. Birds on perches look amazing up close.
Model quality
Close up, you can see individual hairs on big cats and bears, scales on Komodo dragons and wet fur on otters. Some players think the Bactrian camel doesn't look quite as crisp as the rest, but its new movement more than makes up for it.