What's new in Planet Zoo 2: aquatic & flying species, Wildlife Reserves

Frontier's official description of Planet Zoo 2 confirms two headline additions over the original:

#1. Fully aquatic and flying species

"Create distinctive zoos around the globe filled with awe-inspiring animals, including fully aquatic and flying species" — official Steam store description

Planet Zoo 1's DLC eventually added semi-aquatic animals (like the saltwater crocodile and penguins), but fully aquatic species and flying species are a first for the series. What this implies for gameplay:

• New habitat construction: fully aquatic animals need water volumes, not just water features — expect tank/pool building tools beyond PZ1's terrain-edited water.
• Flight containment: flying species historically mean aviary-style structures. How Frontier handles this is one of the big launch-day questions.
• New welfare dimensions: aquatic animals in other management games need water quality, temperature, and filtration management — watch for these systems.

#2. Wildlife Reserves

"taking your experience beyond the zoo to release your animals into expansive Wildlife Reserves" — official Steam store description

This is the bigger structural change. Planet Zoo 1's conservation loop ended at releasing animals to the wild via a menu button. Wildlife Reserves make release an actual place you manage — Frontier published a dedicated "Feature Focus - Wildlife Reserve" video (listed on the Steam page), which signals this is a core pillar, not a side feature.

What we do not know yet: how reserves generate income or conservation value, whether they connect to franchise mode, and how large "expansive" actually is. We will test all of this at launch.

#What has NOT been announced

• No multiplayer features (Steam page lists single-player only)
• No console version
• No confirmed species list — beware of sites claiming "confirmed rosters" without an official source

#Sources

• Planet Zoo 2 — official Steam store page
• Planet Zoo 2 — official site

As of 2026-10-04.