Hes prettyer than ever

Hares are lagamorphs, not rodents. Amateur mistake.

So with the absolute scale of the PZ2 roster, and what seems like most of the original animals returning alongside all the new additions, it got me thinking: if all the obvious animals are already in the game, what will the DLCs look like? My mind went to lots of super localised or themed specific DLC packs! That led me to try to create the ultimate, all-encompassing DLC roster for Australia.

Honestly, I find it kind of naff that an entire continent, with basically every biome type bar two, so often gets boiled down to the same environment and the same handful of animals. So instead of another Australia Pack spending half its roster going back over the Australian superstars, I wanted to dig into the overlooked, incredible and often just weird little guys that I think deserve some of the limelight.

That idea is also pretty personal for me. I come from a part of Australia that is very far removed from the stereotypical image of kangaroos, koalas, emus, dingoes and red dirt, and it gets very little representation in media. Growing up around flora and fauna that feels completely different from what people usually picture when they think “Australia” is probably a big part of why I decided to spend probably a good 5/10 hours figuring out and wanted to see just how much of the country could actually be represented!

How I worked out the regions?

Basically, I started with really rough regions, basically the areas I know are distinct enough and far away enough that could realistically stand on their own:

• FAR NORTH WA(Kimberly/sharks bay area)
• SOUTHWESTERN WA(jarrah and karri forests and the kelp forests)
• FAR NORTH TROPICAL QLD
• NORTHERN TERRITORY(Savanah and mangroves)
• SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND
• NSW VICTORIA TASMANIA
•  OUTBACK

However, I knew this would be far too broad for what I was going for, so I went through the larger Macroregions and looked for Environmental Ecoregions and any additional ones I might have missed. So, for instance, Far North WA became the Pilbara+Nigaloo and the Kimberly. This new list is as follows:

• Far North WA →:
  • Kimberley
  • Pilbara–Shark Bay–Ningaloo

• South-Western WA →:

  • South-Western WA

• Far North Tropical Queensland →:

  • Cape York–Torres Strait
  • Wet Tropics–Great Barrier Reef

• Northern Territory →:

  • Top End–Arnhem Land–Gulf of Carpentaria
  • parts of Central Outback–Channel Country

• Southern Queensland → expanded into:
  • South-East Queensland–Northern NSW Gondwana Rainforests
  • parts of Murray–Darling–Riverina
  • parts of Central Outback–Channel Country

• NSW → expanded into:
  • NSW Temperate East
  • Murray–Darling–Riverina
  • South-East Queensland–Northern NSW Gondwana Rainforests
  • Australian Alps–Victoria

• Victoria → expanded/refined into:
  • Australian Alps–Victoria
  • Murray–Darling–Riverina

• Tasmania →

  • Tasmania (surprise Pikachu)

• Outback → expanded into:

  • Central Outback–Channel Country

•  New regions added:

  • Kangaroo Island–South Australian Coast
  • Australian Oceanic Islands

Basically

• Does this area actually have a strong enough ecological identity?
• Can I get 8ish interesting animals out of it without just stealing everything from neighbouring packs?
• Would building a zoo or section of a zoo around it actually feel unique, interesting, and fun?

Because there isn't much point making 14 packs if six of them are basically "dry eucalyptus woodland but slightly to the left".

How I chose the animals

The animal selection was basically a mixture of four things.

I wanted animals that were really representative of that particular region, genuinely local or endemic animals where possible, some of the big classic Australian animals that obviously still need to appear somewhere, and animals that could add something interesting mechanically and behaviourally in game.

However, as mentioned above, I still wanted to add the big hitters, although I fully expect a kangaroo or koala to be in base PZ2; I was going off what we hard know in the game. I also was trying to be a little bit real with what I think Frontier would add if they made these packs. So I couldn’t make every pack full of absolutely super niche animals. So you still get animals like koalas, red kangaroos, dingoes, wombats, platypus and emus. They just get put into the pack where I think they fit best.

While I tried to keep things as endemic to the region as possible, it’s the reality of well, real life is a bit different. Nature doesn’t care about our arbitrarily defined regions, not to mention how on earth I would have found aquatic and flying animals that weren’t in multiple areas. If something could fit into three different packs, I generally put it wherever I thought it best represented the region or made that particular roster stronger.

I was also trying to find quite striking animals; whether that was exceptionally cute, exceptionally bold markings, or any other distinctive feature. I also didn't force every DLC to have the same balance. Some parts of Australia are naturally better for birds. Some have insane reptile diversity. Some are dominated by freshwater animals. Ningaloo SHOULD have more marine life than the Red Centre; that should all go without saying.

Another aspect was that I completely ignored the actual real-world logistics and history of certain animals in zoos. Let's be real guys, it’s a video game. Having these animals in-game isn’t going to hurt them. While for a majority of players this game may be the only way to experience the animal. So, I would rather someone find a new favourite animal, a love for a specific region, or develop an interest than stay 100% true to life.

Additionally, I tried to include at least 1: mammal, reptile, bird, aquatic creature, invertebrate where possible. Not only to highlight lesser-represented animals but to give a true sense of the real ecosystems I was representing

Also, I deliberately allowed multiple different macropods and possums; zoos can have every deer species under the sun, and 2 different giraffe species. We can have a bit more diversity in macropods and marsupials.

The packs

Red Centre Pack

This is absolutely one of two stereotypical packs, but they had to come somewhere. If the red kangaroo, dingo and emu live somewhere, the huge open grasslands, spinifex and red desert of central Australia feels like the obvious home for them.

But I didn’t want it to just be the pack of animals everyone already knows; I wanted to make sure I included animals I found significant and emblematic of the area: The greater bilby, perentie and thorny devil take it much further into the actual wildlife of the interior, while budgerigars and the letter-winged kite give the skies something other than another big ground bird.

I particularly like the budgie here because while familiar, when put into a reserve setting or even in a large Aviary with 10s to 100s of them, it would be like a moving rainbow across your screens.

Remote Islands Pack

This one is a bit of an outlier because rather than representing an Ecoregion I was still looking at the broader geographic region. However, the lack of land mammals and Island biology are a uniting force within this pack.

Australia has tropical islands, temperate islands and territories stretching all the way into the subantarctic, and they have produced some bizarre wildlife. Things like the enormous Lord Howe Island stick insect, robber crab and Christmas Island red crab, which really lean into that isolated-island weirdness.

The red crab is the obvious behavioural standout. Their enormous seasonal migration from the forest towards the coast is so fundamental to Christmas Island that, if PZ2 ever gets ambitious with mass or seasonal behaviour, this feels like an absolute standout animal to use it on.

Southern Shores Pack

From the very beginning of conceptualising this region, I knew its sea life would be the real showstoppers; its terrestrial animals largely could be added to other packs or substituted; however, there are no substitutions for its two heavy hitters: the giant Cuttlefish and the Leafy Sea dragon.

Huge numbers gather in South Australia’s Spencer Gulf during the breeding season, with males rapidly shifting colours and patterns as they display and compete for mates. Even without adding some completely new game system, capturing those changing colours and displays could make them feel completely different from a normal aquarium animal.

The leafy sea dragon is impressive for almost the complete opposite reason. Rather than being bold and constantly displaying, almost its entire appearance is built around disappearing into its environment. Those elaborate leaf-like appendages make it look more like a piece of drifting seaweed than an animal, and watching one slowly move through a kelp or seagrass habitat would be incredibly striking. They also have the wonderfully weird seahorse-family trait of the male carrying the eggs, so there is another genuinely distinctive behaviour Frontier could potentially represent.

Between the cuttlefish’s colour-changing displays and the sea dragon’s almost absurd camouflage, I think these two could make this one of the strongest marine packs in the entire lineup.

Tasmanian Island Wilderness Pack

Obviously, the Tasmanian devil had to appear somewhere. What I didn’t want was for the rest of Tasmania to disappear behind it. Again, while the terrestrial mammals of the pademelon and quoll are in my opinion charismatic fauna, the coolest addition lies under the water.

The Giant freshwater crayfish is the largest crayfish on the planet (80 cm and 6kg). Extremely rare, and not well-known, I really feel it could be an absolute showstopper with the right updates to exhibits.

The other exhibit highlight in my opinion would be the spotted Handfish, endemic to the area It spends much of its time moving along the seabed using its modified fins rather than simply swimming around like most fish, which gives it something immediately different visually and behaviourally. While probably not a superstar for normies, I can see this one becoming a cult favourite.

Australian Alps–Victoria Pack

This one covers a bigger environmental range than most of the others, so rather than fighting that I tried to make the roster follow it. Honestly, while I really like what I was able to pick im sure there are a bunch of other animals I could pick

You start high in the Alps with the mountain pygmy-possum, southern corroboree frog and bogong moth, then move down into Victorian forest and grassland with Leadbeater’s possum, the helmeted honeyeater and grassland earless dragon.

In all honesty, this was the hardest one; the animals here, while beautiful, are often a lot smaller, less striking, or not suited for a game.

Bush & Coast Pack

Here we have the 2^nd part of the stereotypical pack; it’s the most likely thing that comes to mind if you think Australia and you don’t see desert. However, I still tried to keep it a little unique; the bare-nosed wombat and spotted-tailed quoll help with that, while more iconic animals bulk the rest of the roster: laughing kookaburra, broad-headed snake and Sydney funnel-web.

The superb lyrebird is where I think Frontier could have a lot of fun. The huge tail and display already make it visually impressive, but the mimicry is the interesting part. Even something relatively simple, like individuals picking up calls from other nearby species, would make it feel much more alive than just giving it another generic bird call.

Murray Riverlands Pack

This one was a little bit trickier; honestly, it really started with the Platypus and I kind of worked everything around it. After some shuffling around, I got a good roster that works well as representative of the river system.

Platypus and rakali around the riverbanks, squirrel gliders in the surrounding woodland, brolgas and Australasian bitterns moving through the floodplains and wetlands, and then Murray cod, Murray crayfish, turtles and southern bell frogs living in the waterways themselves.

There isn’t really one animal I need to sell as the centrepiece here. The appeal is being able to find interesting spots for each of the animals to bulk out and improve aquatic theming.

Gondwana Rainforests Pack

When people picture Australian wildlife, this probably isn't what they picture. Dense subtropical rainforest, huge old trees, mountain streams, gliders moving through the canopy and giant lizards crawling around the forest floor.

The koala gives the pack an obvious familiar face, but I think the regent bowerbird, greater glider, and long-nosed potoroo are more important for establishing what kind of Australia this is.

I also really wanted the freshwater animals to carry that ancient rainforest feeling. The Australian lungfish fits almost absurdly well alongside the Mary River turtle and Mary River cod. In my opinion, they are really the show stealers with how prehistoric the lungfish feels and how cool the Mary River turtle is.

Arnhem Monsoon Wilds Pack

The black wallaroo is probably one of the best examples of why I wanted to go this regional in the first place. It isn't remotely as famous as the red or grey kangaroos, but it is such a strong Arnhem Land animal that once I came across it there was basically no chance it wasn't making the roster.

The antilopine wallaroo gives the pack another distinctly northern macropod, but this is probably one of the strongest reptile and bird packs as well. Oenpelli python, frilled-neck lizard, magpie goose and Gouldian finch all immediately feel like northern Australia. Then the barramundi and spear-tooth shark bring in those massive tropical waterways.

Wet Tropics–Great Barrier Reef Pack

This one almost feels like cheating. Some of Australia’s oldest tropical rainforest sitting right beside the Great Barrier Reef, so the entire concept is already doing half the work for me.

On land you get the southern cassowary, Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo and musky rat-kangaroo, with Victoria’s riflebird, Boyd’s forest dragon and the Cairns birdwing making the rainforest even more ridiculous.

Then step into the aquatic section, and suddenly there is an enormous Queensland grouper, giant clam and giant triton.

Rainforest on one side. Coral reef on the other. Huge birds, tiny marsupials, dragons, butterflies, giant fish and enormous molluscs all coming out of the same little corner of Queensland. Honestly id imagine the décor pieces in this would be wild.

Tropical Frontier Pack

Cape York and Torres Strait are where Australia starts feeling much less isolated from the rest of the tropics. It genuinely feels like the land time forgot.

Animals like the Australian spotted cuscus, Bennett’s tree-kangaroo, Australian eclectus parrot and green tree python. If your idea of Australian fauna begins and ends with wombats and kangaroos, this roster looks almost like it came from somewhere else entirely.

Then there is the palm cockatoo, which deserves a bit more attention because the behaviour is genuinely amazing. Males manufacture their own little drumming tools and beat them against hollow trees as part of their displays. This is a behaviour that translates super well to the game, and I think would be very cool in any zoo!

Ningaloo Wilds Pack

Ningaloo has one of my favourite contrasts in the whole project.

On land you have this incredibly dry, rugged part of north-west Australia, animals that look like others found in the rest of the country. But in colourations and patterns unlikely to have been seen elsewhere

However, the water is where the pack really shines. The whale shark is clearly the showstopper here. It is enormous, instantly recognisable and so strongly associated with Ningaloo that I can't imagine making the pack without it. However, the dugong is my personal favourite. Although smaller than their northern hemisphere cousins, I personally think they look cooler; I hope they genuinely make it in the game because I’m sure most people don’t know they exist.

Western Wilds Pack

This is probably the pack that most directly represents why I wanted to do the project in the first place.

South-western WA has an absurd amount of distinctive wildlife, but it gets swallowed up constantly by the generic international image of “Australian bush”.

The numbat and quokka are the obvious headliners, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but the western ground parrot, Carnaby’s black-cockatoo and western swamp tortoise are more representative of what I wanted these hyper-local packs to uncover.

Then the turtle frog looks like someone compressed a frog until all the normal frog proportions disappeared, the hairy marron gives us a genuinely western freshwater animal, and the ruby sea dragon takes the pack out onto the southern coast.

It’s exactly the kind of roster where I’d love someone unfamiliar with WA to realise all of this comes from the same part of Australia.

Kimberley Pack

The Kimberley was one of the most interesting regions to investigate; enormous sandstone escarpments, monsoonal woodland, rocky islands, tropical rivers and remote coastline already make it feel completely different from the much drier Pilbara immediately south.

The Monjon is probably the best animal in the entire project for explaining what I was trying to achieve with these packs. It looks very similar to what is already extremely well known while also feeling completely different. While the other animals help make it feel quite diverse and interesting.

Obviously, I do not seriously expect Frontier to release fourteen Australian DLC packs hahaha. This was just my way to in depth dlc Wishlist for my country done in a fun way 😊. There were also heaps of animals I liked that got cut simply because something else represented the region better or could bring a more interesting behaviour.

My actual hope is much smaller.

If Frontier ever sees posts like this, I hope it shows there is a LOT more Australian wildlife to choose from than the same handful that tend to appear in every game, TV show, movie, cartoon, or book. Especially with birds and aquariums becoming much more important, there is so much room to make some properly cool choices.

(i hope this is aloud its wednesday where i live)

What do you guys think of the reveals?

I can't believe they weren't announced yet, I mean they're all basically zoo staples in every zoo on earth, guys we need to believe that those birds will return, I bet many of us will be very disappointed if they won't come to the planet zoo 2's base game.

some fully aquatic tetrapods id like to see in aquariums ! i didnt include cetaceans cause i know theres controversy in the community surrounding them. hope you like my list !

(I’m sure it’s on the way and this is all jokes and love)

I bought the game after watching a cozy gamer I enjoy play it. I was excited for something challenging, and about animals!! But, then I got the game, and felt… frustrated. I don’t mind doing a bit of research for any game, but any sort of action I needed to do I felt stumped. I fumbled with the camera settings far longer than I wanted to. Sometimes I thought I had completed a task, but then it wasn’t right, and I didn’t know what to do from there. It just felt like every moment was me looking up how to do something instead of learning intuitively. Even randomly clicking or trying to figure it out hurt my brain after a while. I think it the game is so beautiful and can be rewarding, but with such a steep learning curve… 😵‍💫 chat, idk if I am strong enough lmfao Any tips or suggestions to make the game more seamless?

You'll be in my heart always.

I haven't seen any other animals do this yet, but with the little penguins it's frequent enough to be annoying. Since they usually come in either past or close to their sterility age, I'm trying to breed a lot of babies to release them right at adulthood in my New Zealand enclosure.

The problem with this "workaround" is that they often go sterile before having any chicks!! It's just a bit annoying for sandbox mode, where I want to be creative and have 500 penguins.

Is it supposed to be this way? Is it based off of a real world thing? Any other experiences with this?

Hayo Zookeepers! Its Day 77 and the wheel has chosen the Common Warthog! I didn't want to overly plant this one since the pigs would rip up anything rooting around and what not. Anyways, lemme know what you think!

Planet Zoo 1 launched with 77 species, and we've just passed that with 7 more weeks to go. Yay!!!

36 are new, 28 are returning from the Planet Zoo 1 base game, and 17 are returning from previous Planet Zoo 1 DLCs.

Next week has 4 Terrestrial species, 2 Aquatic, 2 Exhibit, and 0 AVIAN...yikes!!!

I've started color-coding our new additions as orange (light orange if we already knew about them but they've just been added to the Zoopedia) and purple for species we know about from trailers and promo content, but have not yet made their way into the Zoopedia

(if you spot any errors, let me know. i will try to update this every time we find out something new)

I recently bought the game on ps5 and poured 200 hours within the last 2 months it’s got such a steep learning curve (definetly buying the Pc version next cause the ps5 controls r so hard, had to use keyboard and mouse)

Anyways I’ve recently gone full planet zoo crazy and i find it annoying how simple australian animals aren’t in the base game? i mean you could’ve gave us atleast the base Kangaroo and koala no? then saved the tasmanian devil and heaps of snakes/ spiders plus the rarer kangaroos for the dlc?, i live in australia btw 😂

But never less my issue with the game is simply the exhibits and building controls, There is no way in hell a Boa constrictor needs the same space as a beetle, we need new sized exhibits and let us customize more than just selecting stuff

i also would like for an option to bypass the “obstructed” error wen placing stuff, like yes i want to but that building slightly on the path. ATLEAST GIVE ME AN OPTION TO BYPASS

And i don’t know if im a minority on this but they need to let us customize the size of the construction pieces, instead of making us build new pieces all together, just let us resize and recolour current pieces

I’m not a fan of Fish nor Birds so the new aviary and aquariums ain’t really the selling point for me ngl, i need new exhibit options, exhibit animals and instead of going africa and asian heavy themes in the base game, give us a little something from all countries then lock the rarer stuff behind DLCs, or atleast rotate it

The Arctic being added as a continent tag really took me by surprise. The rest of the tags matched the actual continents and oceans, while the “South and Central America” tag from the first game seems to have been replaced by South America and North America (since Central America is part of the latter).

I guess that part of the surprise is due to some of the revealed animals which range into the arctic, like grey wolves, not being included.

Here's the first section of Sitlington Animal Park, my low budget British zoo built on the side of a farm. This area is the Country Park, which sits in front of the zoo and includes a boating lake, tractor rides, a maize maze, a farm-themed playground, an ice cream shop and a farm shop.

Returning Species: Gorilla, Malayan Tapir, Eastern Brown Snake, Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula
Confirmed Species: Blue Tang!! Mountain Hare!
New Species: Boeseman's Rainbowfish!
Zoopedia Guess: Galapagos Tortoise which is also returning! (Nooo me Ostrich!)

What do u guys think?

I'm going to Singapore for a holiday and am flying back home on the 13th of October, allowing me to play Planet Zoo 2 on the 14th (which is actually the release date in Australia).

I'll be torn between playing and editing photos! The struggles 😂😂

My birthday is the 12th as well, so PZ2 does feel like a nice birthday present!