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Three Ways to Play

Campaign: In this mode, you start with tutorials that cover the basics of successful zoo creation and then move on to more difficult challenges. Each campaign scenario tasks you with different goals to complete, such as caring for rescued animals or improving the conditions in a rundown zoo. When you achieve success, you unlock various reward objects, such as new animals or buildings.
Challenge: Here you start with very little cash, as well as a limited selection of animals, buildings, and other zoo accouterments. Build exhibits for your fledgling zoo and increase its fame which, in turn, expands your choices. Photo Safari challenges task you with snapping shots of specific animals (usually ones that you haven’t adopted yet); complete them and unlock even more objects.
Freeform: Take an unlimited budget and combine it with no limitations on the available animals, buildings, scenery and more. If the end result isn’t the perfect zoo, you did something wrong.

Tips and Tricks For Better Zookeeping

Currie recommends planning ahead for those large, mixed-species exhibits that are always crowd pleasers. “I may not always build the huge exhibit immediately,” she explains, “but I do try to plan for them in my layout. Not only do guests enjoy seeing a wide variety of animals, it’s also a big financial gain when you have one exhibit that houses multiple species.”
It’s also better to build a large enclosure and put one animal in it, knowing that you will add to the exhibit later, than to lay down a small perimeter fence and have to make changes once you realize that you want to include more animals.
Put the major attractions, such as giant pandas and gorillas, toward the back of the zoo so that guests have to walk past all the other exhibits on their way to them. This will enhance their enjoyment and increase your income, because the more time they spend at your zoo, the more money they will shell out.
Before you adopt an animal, click the Zookeeper Recommendations button to see what type of fencing, scenery, food, and environment you’ll need. You can place objects straight from that window, which is a handy way to lay out an exhibit before you drop your animals into it.
Make sure you put an ATM or two near the entrance, so that cash-strapped guests have one last chance to get more money and stick around, if they’re headed for the exit. Gift shops should also be placed by the entrance, since guests tend to buy trinkets with their last few dollars before they leave.
Place donation boxes everywhere, especially in the vicinity of popular exhibits. Guests like to make donations when they’ve seen animals that make them happy.
Currie notes that the ability to take care of the animals’ basic needs provides an easy way to save money by not hiring zookeepers, who are the most expensive employees. She says: “In the early stages of a campaign or challenge game, you can really use this feature to save some money on staff expenses while you’re building your fledgling zoo.”
You can also clean up trash, which eliminates the need for maintenance workers, if you can stay on top of it.
The terrain tools are your friends. Use them to modify the pre-existing geography as you see fit. You can level hills, raise flat areas, and even create a waterfall by building a cliff and placing a pool of water on its edge, as well as at the bottom, and connecting the two.

Free Downloads

Each time you open Zoo Tycoon 2, click the Downloads button on the main menu to see if there’s additional content for you to add to the game. You may find new animals, objects, scenery, and more.

Save money on fencing by joining exhibits with the perimeter walls, or with other exhibits’ enclosures.
Place toys and other objects the animals will play with close to the exhibits’ fences, so that guests have a clear view of such activity. This will increase how much they enjoy viewing the exhibits. It’s okay to put shelters farther back, so that animals have some privacy. Place binocular stands in strategic locations, so that guests can still view the animals as they lie in their shelters.
Guests also enjoy looking at fountains, flowerbeds, and other amenities, so liberally scatter such items throughout your zoo.
Pay attention to the little details. You can never have enough recycling bins and trash cans, and lamp posts ensure that your guests will always have a well-lit view of your animals.
Make sure each exhibit has more than one animal, if possible. Opposite sex pairs may mate, giving you offspring that you can keep or put up for adoption by another zoo. If you opt for the latter, make sure you wait until they’re older, since guests love cute baby critters. You can also release animals into the wild, which will increase your zoo’s fame score and make you eligible for an award or cash grant.
The offspring of more exotic and expensive animals, such as giant pandas, are not only of greater interest to guests but they also do more for your fame score.
Place paths that are at least two or three tiles wide, so that guest traffic can easily flow in both directions. Make them even wider around restaurants and other food areas, as well as around exhibits that you know will be popular.
Try pushing all your prices, from zoo admission to concessions, to the maximum and then gradually drop them until few guests complain.
Buy a compost building and earn recycling fees from your animals’ — um — waste byproducts. Just make sure you place it in an out-of-the-way area.

System Requirements

Mac OS X version 10.2.8
800MHz PowerPC G4 processor
256MB of RAM
32MB video RAM

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