Getting started
How to Get Animals in Planet Zoo 2
You get animals by adopting them in Animal Trading, which opens once your zoo has a working Trade Centre. Each adoption costs Cash or Conservation Credits and waits in Animal Storage until a Caretaker carries it to its Habitat. Your accreditation tier decides which of the 136 animals are on offer.
Last updated Game version: Update 1.0.10 (November 9, 2026)
Quick answer: how to buy an animal
- Build a Trade Centre with power and a path to your main paths.
- Open Animal Trading in the Trading & Storage tab.
- Pick the species and select Adopt; the price is in Cash or Conservation Credits.
- In Animal Storage, choose its Habitat and a Caretaker carries it there.
The game calls buying an animal adopting it.
Look up an animal: when can you get it?
How to get the Lion
- Accreditation: Lion is on offer from tier 1 in Career and tier 5 in Franchise. Its tier is from Update 1.0.5.
- Edition: in the base game, so every edition has it.
- Adopt it: in Animal Trading at a Trade Centre, for Cash or Conservation Credits; it waits in Animal Storage until you move it in.
- Lives in: Terrestrial habitat. Check the space, temperature and barrier it needs in the habitat planner before you adopt.
How to adopt an animal, step by step
0 of 10 steps ticked. Your ticks stay in this browser.
ten steps from Frontier's player guides, from the Trade Centre to the Habitat. Your ticks stay in this browser.
Cannot get an animal? Pick the problem
No Animal Trading
Animal Trading only opens in a location with a working Trade Centre.
- Build a Trade Centre in the zoo you are playing; each location needs its own.
- Place it inside the radius of a working power source.
- Join it to the main path network.
Animal is locked
Your accreditation tier decides which species are on offer, and Career and Franchise each keep their own tier.
- Look up the tier the animal needs in your game mode.
- Deluxe animals need the Deluxe Edition or the Deluxe Upgrade Pack, whatever your tier.
- Career: raise the tier with medals from scenario zoos and Wildlife Reserves.
- Franchise and other modes: raise it with zoos that have a high Zoo Reputation and Wildlife Reserves with a high Biodiversity Rating.
Not enough Cash or Credits
Each adoption costs Cash or Conservation Credits, and you earn the two in different ways.
- Cash comes from tickets, shops and restaurants, donations and Quick Trading animals you do not need.
- Conservation Credits come from releasing Release Groups into Wildlife Reserves, Quick Releasing animals and Conservation Projects.
- In Franchise you also earn Credits by trading animals with other players and joining Community Challenges. Credits are shared by every zoo in a Franchise; Cash is not.
Few animals on offer
The species on offer grow with your accreditation tier. In Franchise, Animal Trading also lists animals other players put up for Conservation Credits.
- Raise your accreditation tier: each tier opens new species in Trading.
- Keep the game up to date: Update 1.0.4 put more animals on offer in Franchise's first animal trading, and Update 1.0.5 balanced males and females in the Franchise market.
- Check Gifts in Animal Trading for animals from finished Conservation Projects.
Storage is full
Animal Storage is shared by all your zoos and holds a limited number of animals.
- Move stored animals into Habitats, or Quick Trade, Quick Release or Rehome the ones you do not need.
- Raise your accreditation tier: a higher tier gives more storage.
Animal stays in Storage
Moving an animal out of Storage is an ordinary animal move, so it needs the Trade Centre on your main paths and someone free to carry it.
- The Trade Centre is joined to the main path network.
- The Habitat has a Staff Gate on the same network.
- A Caretaker is free, or a Vet when no Caretaker is, and no Work Zone keeps them away from the Trade Centre or the Habitat.
Cannot trade my animal
Only healthy, stable adults can be traded.
- The animal is not Juvenile, Gestating, Elderly, Sick or Injured.
- Send it to Storage first: select it and choose Send animal to Storage in Trade Centre.
- In Storage, choose Quick Trade for Cash, Quick Release for Conservation Credits or Rehome for a fee. In Franchise you can also list it for other players.
Where animals come from in Planet Zoo 2
Frontier's guides name four ways to add animals to a zoo:
- Adopt in Animal Trading: Browse the species on offer and adopt one for Cash or Conservation Credits. It waits in Animal Storage until you move it in.
- Adopt from other players (Franchise): In Franchise mode, players list Habitat animals in Animal Trading for Conservation Credits, and other players can adopt them for the price set.
- Gifts from Conservation Projects: Some partner institutions give Animals or Release Groups for a finished Conservation Project. Claim them under Gifts in Animal Trading.
- Breeding: Animals born in your zoo. Good welfare and fertility boosts from Research improve the chance of conception.
Breeding is covered in our Planet Zoo 2 breeding guide, and the Credits that pay for adoptions in our Planet Zoo 2 Conservation Credits guide.
What decides whether you can get an animal
Five separate things have to line up, and meeting one does not cover the others:
| What | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Accreditation tier | Whether the species appears in Animal Trading at all. Career and Franchise keep separate tiers. |
| Edition | The six Deluxe animals need the Deluxe Edition or the Deluxe Upgrade Pack; the other 130 are in the base game. |
| Cash or Conservation Credits | Whether you can pay. Each species is priced in one or the other; in Franchise, other players set their own prices. |
| Trade Centre | Whether Animal Trading and Storage open in the zoo you are in. It needs power and a path to the main network. |
| Habitat and staff | Whether the animal can be moved in: a Staff Gate on the same paths and a free Caretaker or Vet to carry it. |
Which Deluxe animals there are, and what the editions cost, is on our Planet Zoo 2 Deluxe Edition page.
How to unlock more animals: accreditation
Not every species is on offer from the start. Higher accreditation tiers open new species in Trading, along with more storage, better marketing and new Research Network types. There are five tiers, and Career and Franchise each keep their own: Career raises yours with medals from scenario zoos and Wildlife Reserves, while Franchise and the other modes use your zoos' Zoo Reputation and your Wildlife Reserves' Biodiversity Rating. Look up the tier any animal needs, in either mode, on our Planet Zoo 2 accreditation tiers page; how a Franchise works is in the Planet Zoo 2 Franchise mode guide. Not sure what to adopt first? Our Planet Zoo 2 starter animals finder compares every tier 1 animal by land, barrier and group size.
Animal Storage: where adopted animals wait
An adopted animal does not arrive in a Habitat straight away. It goes to Animal Storage, which every one of your zoos shares and which has a limited capacity that grows with your accreditation tier. From Storage you can move it into a Habitat in the zoo you are in, or travel to another zoo through the Planet Hub and move it in there, as long as that zoo has a Trade Centre too. Plan the Habitat first: our Planet Zoo 2 habitat planner gives the space, temperature and barrier each species needs, and new arrivals should go through Planet Zoo 2 quarantine before they meet the rest of the zoo.
The move itself is an ordinary animal move: a Caretaker or Vet boxes the animal at the Trade Centre and carries it along your paths to the Habitat's Staff Gate. If it never arrives, our Planet Zoo 2 No path to destination checklist walks through the Trade Centre, Staff Gate and paths one by one.
How to sell or move on animals you do not need
Only healthy, stable adults can be traded, so juveniles and gestating, elderly, sick or injured animals have to wait. Send the animal to Storage first, either with Send animal to Storage in Trade Centre at the bottom of its Info Panel or by moving it to the Animal Trading Centre. Then pick one of these:
- Quick Trade sells the animal for Cash, in any game mode.
- Quick Release releases it for Conservation Credits, in any game mode. Animals with a higher interest rating, in their prime and with high-rated genes earn more.
- Rehome moves it on to another zoo for a fee.
- List for adoption (Franchise) puts it up for other players at the price you set. If no one adopts it before the listing expires, it returns to Storage.
Quick Trading is one of the four ways to raise Cash, next to tickets, shops and restaurants, and donations. Releasing a whole Release Group into a Wildlife Reserve earns Credits too: see Planet Zoo 2 release groups.
Trading bugs Frontier has listed
- Animals sold by Quick Trade coming back into Storage. Fixed in 1.0.6.
- Animals arriving injured from trading in Sandbox: a new Sandbox setting turns injuries off for arriving animals. Fixed in 1.0.8.
- Animal storage entries not being removed after you sold the animals on the market. Fixed in 1.0.10.
- Shoals below breeding age that could not be sold on the trading market. Fixed in 1.0.10.
Everything else Frontier is fixing is on our Planet Zoo 2 bugs and known issues page.
Planet Zoo 2 animal adoption questions
How do you get animals in Planet Zoo 2?
Build a Trade Centre, open the Trading & Storage tab in the Browser and adopt a species for Cash or Conservation Credits. The animal goes to Animal Storage; select it there and choose a Habitat, and a Caretaker carries it in. The Trade Centre needs power and a path to your main path network.
How do you buy animals in Planet Zoo 2?
Open Animal Trading from the Trading & Storage tab in a zoo with a working Trade Centre, pick the species and adopt it: each one is priced in Cash or Conservation Credits. If you cannot buy it, one of three things is in the way: the animal needs a higher accreditation tier, you are short of that currency, or Animal Storage is full.
How do you unlock more animals in Planet Zoo 2?
Raise your accreditation tier: each tier opens new species in Trading and adds storage space. In Career mode the tier rises with medals from scenario zoos and Wildlife Reserves; in Franchise and other modes, with zoos that have a high Zoo Reputation and Wildlife Reserves with a high Biodiversity Rating.
How do you buy animals in Franchise mode?
The same way, through Animal Trading at a Trade Centre. Each species is priced in Cash or Conservation Credits, and in Franchise other players also list their Habitat animals there for Credits. Credits are shared by every zoo in your Franchise, but Cash is not. Earn more Credits by releasing animals into Wildlife Reserves, trading with other players and joining Community Challenges.
Where do adopted animals go in Planet Zoo 2?
To Animal Storage, which is shared by all your zoos and holds a limited number of animals. They stay there until you move them into a Habitat. A higher accreditation tier gives more storage.
How do you sell animals in Planet Zoo 2?
Send the animal to Storage, then choose Quick Trade for Cash, Quick Release for Conservation Credits or Rehome for a fee. In Franchise you can also list it for other players at your own price. Only healthy, stable adults can be traded: not juveniles, gestating, elderly, sick or injured animals.
Can you move animals between zoos in Planet Zoo 2?
Yes. Put the animal in Storage, go to the other zoo through the Planet Hub, make sure that zoo has a Trade Centre, then pick the animal from Storage and choose its new Habitat.
Sources
- Planet Zoo 2 player guide: Animals, on Animal Storage, moving animals and Animal Trading (official)
- Planet Zoo 2 player guide: The Basics, on Franchise mode and accreditation (official)
- Planet Zoo 2 player guide: Zoo Management, on Cash, Conservation Projects and Conservation Credits (official)
- Planet Zoo 2 player guide: Staff, on Staff Facilities (official)
Checked against the official pages on October 29, 2026. How adoption and trading work is official, checked October 29, 2026.
Continue reading
Next stepAnimal adopted? Check its habitat has the space, temperature and barrier it needs.Planet Zoo 2 Habitat Planner & CompatibilityCompare animal counts, checked space, shared temperature and barriers; see official relationship records and save your plan.Go there Related pages
Getting startedBest Starter Animals in Planet Zoo 2The easiest animals to start with: every tier 1 animal in Career and Franchise compared by land, group size, barrier, temperature and breeding, with starter mixes that share a Habitat.
AccreditationPlanet Zoo 2 Accreditation Tiers & UnlocksWhat each of the five accreditation tiers asks for in Career and Franchise, and which animals each tier unlocks in Trading, with a lookup by animal.
TroubleshootingPlanet Zoo 2 Quarantine: How It Works & FixesWhat quarantine does for new and sick animals, and a checklist of the power, path, staff and Vet Surgery it needs when animals will not go in or come out.