The 10 Animals I built the Most for in Planet Zoo

My lifelong love of zoos started at a very young age, thanks to my mother. It was fostered into a passion as I have gotten older by both my parents and myself. It became an obsession thanks to having my own money and traveling to different cities in the US. The thing that drove it further than anything else, however, was Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2 on PC. As a kid of the early 2000’s, I saw Zoo Tycoon as the closest thing I could to my own version of Animal Planet or Jurassic Park, or hell even my version of the Kansas City Zoo. Zoo Tycoon 2 blew me away with how close it looked to real life. Keep in mind that ZT2 came out in 2004 and looked like this.

So, it was not the most graphically inclined game of its time. But you could perform the duties of the zookeepers and create some of the most insane enclosures you could think of. However, when I got my PS3 in 2010, it became sports, FPS, and wrestling games for me. I did not see or play Zoo Tycoon 2013, as that was the peak of my wrestling phase, which some would argue I haven’t quite grown out of yet. It wasn’t until this past year that I finally got around to playing the 2013 version. It was fine, just fine. I played it on console, which is not the way it is meant to be played, I’m pretty sure. However, in 2021, I discovered a new game thanks to a video on YouTube. Planet Zoo. 

It was love at first sight, and the spark was reignited that burned into a wild inferno. I watched videos of other people’s creations. I read up on all I could about the game, and in the summer of 2023, I purchased Planet Zoo. Three years and 700 hours later, it sits only behind a game that I’ve played since I was 14 years old. However, few games have captured my imagination like Planet Zoo, as I have long incoherent notes app as to the contents of the zoos I’ve made. Whether good, bad, or somewhere in between. However, something has become clear. I really like using 10 animals in particular in my zoos. So, I decided to go back through all the old files that I could and keep a tally as to the animals I have had in my zoos the most. Something I discovered is that I did a lot of multi-species habitats. So, each animal was counted as they appeared in my listings. This will be the top ten spots, not just one animal at each spot. So here are the 10 animals I built the most for in Planet Zoo

10. American Alligator 7 times. There is something to be said before we go any further that there might be a slight slant more North American animals than the rest of the world. The perfect example of this is the alligator, as while I have made habitats for Saltwater Crocs and both types of caimans, it’s the gator that I have used more. Whether it was in some low-effort/budget runs or my more recent attempts to make either more realistic or better-looking exhibits. The gator doesn’t quite fit into some of the other zoos I have done, however.

9. Indian Elephant 9 times. The animal that made me try harder with my builds after I was inspired by visiting the Tulsa Zoo and its amazing Asian area. I had built for them before. My Missouri Elephant Sanctuary is probably my favorite single exhibit build I have ever done, and massively influenced many of my builds since. Several of which will be talked about later on. As to why are Indian elephants compared to the other two in the game? My local zoo has African elephants but not Indian, so it's more of an absence of the heart thing than anything else. 

8. Snow Leopard 10 times. The first of the double digits and the first of the animals that I love in real life. While in zoos, it can be a bit harder to find them in their habitats, I strive to make their enclosures closer to that of old school bear pits with a modern touch to them. It looks more like Big Cat Country at the Saint Louis Zoo. With a planned trip coming up here this year, I’m sure that I will have more plans for the Snow Leopard soon.

7. Coyote 11 times. For an animal that is so new to Planet Zoo, it’s one I have used in almost every zoo since the Americas Animal pack launched. Mainly featuring in a part of my Predator Canyon with the Snow Leopard and a few others, later. For the Yotes, I mainly go with the idea that the guest is looking into a canyon or gorge in the southwest US. Very rarely do I stay from that; however, my favorite build I’ve done for them was a grassland habitat for them, where the coyotes could come right up to the one-way glass in a “cave” next to the guests. Modeled after the lion exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo.

6. Siamang and Binturong 15 times. While they haven’t been housed together all that much in my builds, I do often come back to the two animals who play well with others. Siamangs make for a good movement animal in zoos, and when paired with others on this list, paint a picture of what the rainforests in Asia look like. Binturongs, on the other hand, are a personal favorite of mine and are used more in small animal houses or the Unseen World areas of my zoos. However, when paired with a land animal, they make a good housemate.

5. Clouded Leopard 16 times. My favorite of the small cats in the game often gets the more experimental of my builds. They often have been the test subjects while I learned to build indoor exhibits, with mixed results. The greatest of them, however, is a temple ruin-style structure with fog and a waterfall. Something is comforting when I build for the Clouded Leopard as if my mind is free to explore new possibilities for design. 

4. Bornean Orangutan, Malayan Tapir, and Asian Small Clawed Otter 22 times. These three are the most common paired-up Asian animals I build for. With the Siamangs and Binturongs, this is the rotating five animals in the Asian sections of my zoos. With a few others like the Snow and Clouded Leopards and Indian Elephants mixed in. With only one other Asian animal being used more than the Orangutan, who roams the tree canopy, the Tapir, who patrols the underbrush, and the otter, who swims the waters. I have gone simple, and I have crashed my computer with the builds for these three. 

3. Pronghorn, American Bison, and Prairie Dogs 27 times. These three make up what I lovingly call the American Prairie/America Lost sections of my zoos. The stars of my Missouri State Zoo, these three are the perfect example of what the plains of the Midwest and western US once were and can be once again. With almost every one of the builds being primarily the same large plot of grass and dirt, the crown jewel of what I have built for them was a drive-through habitat where they were separated by a rolling river. Showing that while we might share the same lands, we are still disconnected from them. 

2. Cougar 33 times. The most used carnivore due to its wide range. From the peaks of the Andes to the snow caps of the Rockies. From Canada to Chile. The cougar covers five of the seven biomes in Planet Zoo. From a hillside hideaway to a plain old cage to a sprawling field, I've made it for the cougar in-game. With it being the main attraction of the Missouri State Zoo and its Cougar Bluff. Paulina oversaw the American Prairie from her cliff. 

Honorable mentions

Przewalski’s Horse 5 times. I’ve only recently started building for them after my trip to Denver. It will be focusing on more since I’ve become burnt out on the Missouri State Zoo and the B-Card Zoo, and one I am looking forward to building for in my new projects.

Bactrian Camel 3 times. Three times might not seem like a lot, but much like the previous one, it’s only been since November that I have started building for them. Mostly just with Przewalski’s Horse, but I have made a paddock for them that resembles that of the high deserts of Asia, where they are most used to with Saiga.

Timberwolves 6 times. Just missing the top 10 comes in the Timberwolf for no other reason than they were used in my Northwoods Zoo and River Bend Zoo. Both of which featured large open spaces for visitors to see them and tall, dense trees to hide in. They were also in the Missouri State Zoo as a stand-in for the Red Wolf.

Red River Hog, Bongo, and Okapi 5 times. While it’s not every time that I put these three together. They tend to be in the same area of the zoo with each other. Recently, it has been in an area called Hog River in the newest project I have started, which is yet to be named. However, the Red River Hog is my favorite animal, so it should be no shock that I will be building for them more in the future.

1. Lar Gibbon 46 times. By far my favorite animal to build for is the Lar Gibbon. Where part of my newest undertaking of a massive indoor rainforest, similar to that of the Omaha Henry Doorley Zoo, or the islands like that of the Denver Zoo. Almost anytime I go to a zoo, I get inspired to create something new for the Gibbons. They pair well with several others on this list, but also with others I have seen them with in real zoos. Indian elephants and rhinos, orangutans, siamangs, small-clawed otters, and even Tapirs. Lar Gibbons and Gibbons in general, in my opinion, are the perfect animal for both Planet Zoo and real zoos because they are active, loud, colorful, and playful. They should receive the same love that is given to other apes, such as chimps, if not more. Gibbons could overtake my favorite animal someday, but in Planet Zoo, if you didn’t know better, you would think that it is my favorite animal.