Zoo Tycoon How to make a profitable Zoo in ZT2

BigNate

BigNate

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Hey guys, so I've been a massive ZT2 fan for at least 12 years and I have multiple tricks I have up my sleeve. However, for this one particular zoo I'm on year 6, and have been 5 stars for more than 4 of those years. Yet my zoo is only a fourth to a third full. That's because I am only making around $10.000 a month, and I haven't been able to get it any higher

So I'm wondering, do u guys have any tricks or tips to making more money quicker? Is there an extremely popular animal that pulls in donations that I don't know about?

For as much as possible, i am trying to keep out extinct and marine animals

I already know about the whole fence and gate trick with the jeep paths, and I don't want to do that.

And final thing, I have managed to last all 12+ years without installing mods, and I don't see myself changing that now
 
I'm also having balance issues, I can't seem to get people to go to a particular half of the zoo, so any easy solutions to that would also be appreciated
 
Making money is extremely hard on ZT2, for one you have to pay thousands of dollars for an animal, yet receive nothing when you export it. Technically this is more accurate to how things would work in the real world (zoos don't buy or sell animals, but the receiving zoo pays the import costs).

My biggest tip would be with regards to breeding:

1. Buy a female animal and when she is ready to breed, 'buy' a male (don't do ANY actions)
2. Allow them to mate and once she is pregnant, press undo
The male will disappear (obviously) but you'll have your money back.

Don't think of this as cheating. It's just like a zoo doing AI in real life, without actually importing the male!
 
BigNate said:
I'm also having balance issues, I can't seem to get people to go to a particular half of the zoo, so any easy solutions to that would also be appreciated
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I have this issue to and there is apparently no solution. Guests will flock to see the zebra and peacocks near the entrance gate but nobody will wander over the other side of the zoo to see the Asian elephant herd, the Gorilla troop or the Giant Panda breeding centre.

Therefore, I cut my losses and put something wildly popular at the entrance to maximise donations. My 'go to' species is chimpanzee. I build a large exhibit for them near the entrance of the zoo and establish a large community, maintaining numbers between 20-40 by exporting surplus chimpanzee. At any given time there will be around 10 infants in the group, which attract even more guests (donations). The donations for this exhibit will be higher than anything else in my zoo.

Of course, chimpanzees aren't the only animal that will serve this function (any endangered or critically endangered baby animal will be popular) but as a social species that can fit into a relatively small space, I can have a large community of them which means multiple infants at any given time.

Red Pandas have also worked well, but are shorter lived and can require additional imports to sustain numbers so wouldn't reccomend them from a financial perspective.
 
ZooBinh said:
Is there an unlimited sandbox version on Zoo Tycoon 2?
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Yes there is. I always play in freeform/sandbox mode so I can concentrate on the animals/breeding as opposed to worrying about the money. I enjoy the challenge of making a finanically profitable zoo in ZT1 but not ZT2. It seems they've taken the negative aspects of reality (not being able to sell animals), while not encorporating the postive aspects of reality (sponsorship, benefactors, publicity etc.).
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes there is. I always play in freeform/sandbox mode so I can concentrate on the animals/breeding as opposed to worrying about the money. I enjoy the challenge of making a finanically profitable zoo in ZT1 but not ZT2. It seems they've taken the negative aspects of reality (not being able to sell animals), while not encorporating the postive aspects of reality (sponsorship, benefactors, publicity etc.).
Click to expand...
is there a limit on how much you can build?
 
Yes Zoofan15, I've figured out that breeding tip. Another one is after a baby is born u adopt it, but again don't do anything else. Eventually the mother will get pregnant again and then I undo the baby adoption.
 
I have figured out a way to fix the balance issue, but it is time extensive

You have to put the popular animals in crates, forcing visitors to visit the other attractions, then u eventually inbox them, but I was wondering if there was an easier solution
 
I don't really have issues with people not going to some parts of my zoo, maybe it's because I build double-wide paths. Granted, it still often takes time for people to get to the further corners, especially if I build the zoo very quickly. Maybe transportation would help. Instead of building one station, create two, one at the front of the zoo and one at the back. People will get on at the front and leave at the back. Tours are also a good way to get donations.

As for money, I often make it a point to create a few self-sustaining exhibits early on, if I can afford it. Basically means getting enough animals of a species to where they can breed for a long time without you needing to buy more animals. When you do this, make sure to get more females than males. Peacocks are a good species to do this with because they're inexpensive and popular.

I know you said you try to keep out marine animals, but for when you do get marine animals, not all of them actually need an enclosed exhibit. If it's exclusive to water and doesn't go onto land, you can just use the water tool and put the animal in with food and anything else it needs. And you can use the ditch tool in the water to make it deeper.

Personally I put a lot of priority on challenges. Good way to get more money and more animals.
 
Thanks guys, I really like the transportation idea especially, I think I'll try it.
 
BigNate said:
Yes Zoofan15, I've figured out that breeding tip. Another one is after a baby is born u adopt it, but again don't do anything else. Eventually the mother will get pregnant again and then I undo the baby adoption.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a good one. I figured it out by accident after a jaguar got into my gorilla cage and killed an infant and the mother conceived earlier than another female, who’s same age infant survived to adulthood.

It’s an excellent way to maximise breeding of a female. An Asian elephant will produce 4-5 offspring in her lifetime but if this cheat is used, she can have 7-8 offspring. For both elephants and giraffes, the next calf is usually ready to be born as the previous calf grows into an adult.

With animals like elephants, it’s incredibly time consuming so I usually do it to only one female, or If elephants are one of the first animals in my zoo and there’s nothing much else going on to require my attention.

I’d highly recommend this cheat for velociraptor. If you ‘sell’ a velociraptor baby, the mother will often mate again as little as 5 days after. The pregnancy is quick so you will soon have two similar age offspring from this parent, which then stay babies for ages (making it a long inter-birth gap otherwise). Velociraptors typically breed three times if left to their own devices so you can increase this output to six offspring.
 
Another benefit to a large chimpanzee community is lots of births of an endangered species = lots of mylar balloons. I've made thousands selling/recycling these!
 
Those balloons annoy me to know end. I always forget about them and build a cage there, and they infest the whole exhibit
 
BigNate said:
Those balloons annoy me to know end. I always forget about them and build a cage there, and they infest the whole exhibit
Click to expand...

I always have a path going around the wall so they usually clog the path with balloons. I spend time clearing them every so often but yes, it's a pain.

Another tip, to maximise productivity:

Trap keepers in the cage with the animals. Don't build a gate to the exhibit or at the first sign of there being no work to do, the zoo keepers will head off for the nearest bench (or staffroom) and be half way accross your zoo. By which time, the animals are rolling in their own filth.

If you're playing to make a profitable zoo, reducing staff numbers will no doubt be a priority so in that case, place the gate between exhibits (dividing fence between exhibits) so the keepers can only move between enclosures, never out of enclosures. Of course, remember to have strong fencing if you have predator and prey next to each other. Let's not forget my baby gorilla that was killed by a jaguar.
 
Yes, I agree with all those points. Are u sure the balloons follow the path line of the fence? For me they just envelope the the fence, just expand around it like it's not there
 
BigNate said:
Yes, I agree with all those points. Are u sure the balloons follow the path line of the fence? For me they just envelope the the fence, just expand around it like it's not there
Click to expand...

I always fill that side of the enclosure with vegetation to prevent that problem. A balloon will only go where there's space for it to go :)
 
Another breeding tip:

I’m not sure if anyone has noticed, but an old animal almost ready to die of old age is 10 times more likely to die if it is heavily pregnant.

For example, you can have ten females of any species, all ready to die of old age within the next month. If one is pregnant (and the other nine are not), you can almost guarantee the pregnant one will die first, even if it’s not due to die for another couple of weeks. This phenomenon is especially frustrating if you really want one last baby out of this animal.

To avoid this happening, monitor this pregnant animal and when it’s current activity changes to: Dying of old age, crate it and un crate it. This redirects its focus to another activity. Do this until it has given birth.

After it’s given birth, a curious thing happens. The animal that was attempting to die of old age every second minute of its life will invariably go to live for another month or so, without interference. Like seriously, a tigress that was pregnant and kept trying to die of old age was prevented from dying to deliver a litter of cubs. She then reared these cubs to adulthood without trying to die once, and even conceived another litter.
 
Hmm... that sounds familiar, but I don't usually worry about that kind of stuff
 
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