Planet Zoo 2 Money Guide: How to Make More Cash and Avoid Debt

Where Planet Zoo 2 money comes from

Cash pays for building and for your staff. It comes in from entrance tickets, shops and restaurants, donations and quick trading animals. Management > Finances shows income and expenses for this season and the last, which is the quickest way to see whether you need more guests, higher prices or lower costs. In Franchise each zoo keeps its own Cash, while Conservation Credits are shared across the Franchise; our Planet Zoo 2 Conservation Credits guide covers the second currency.

Tickets, shops and ATMs

You set adult and child ticket prices at the Zoo Entrance Gate or in Management. Guests pay more to enter a better zoo, but turn away if they think the ticket is too expensive, so raise prices in small steps and read Guest Thoughts after each change. Shop items have their own prices, and guests spend more on items with appealing extras.

Guests arrive with a fixed amount of cash and stop buying and donating once it runs out. ATMs let them take out more. An ATM needs a path and power, and you can charge a fee, but a high fee makes guests unhappy.

Donation Bins

A Donation Bin collects money for an animal guests have just seen. The better the view, the more likely they are to donate and the bigger the donation, so place bins on paths right by your best viewing points. Animals with higher appeal and Thriving animals bring in larger donations; the Planet Zoo 2 thriving relationships page shows which animals thrive together.

More guests: appeal, marketing and reputation

How many guests come depends mostly on the appeal of all your animals. Appeal starts with the species and changes with welfare, marketing and how often guests see the animal; every guest who gets a good look raises it, up to a maximum. A marketing campaign raises one animal's appeal for a seasonal cost, at Bronze, Silver or Gold level. Higher accreditation tiers add campaign slots, 9 in all:

Zoo Reputation matters too: the higher it is, the more guests visit. Our Planet Zoo 2 Zoo Reputation page has a checklist for its four ratings, and the accreditation tiers page shows what each tier needs.

Cutting costs

Frontier's advice is to hold back on planned expansions and remove scenery, facilities or rides with high running costs. Two costs are easy to miss. An aquarium costs more to run the further its set temperature is from the weather, so keep it at the cool end of the animals' range in cold weather and the warm end in hot weather. Solar panels and wind turbines cost more to build than generators but nothing to run. Staff wages can come down too, but unhappy staff may quit, and staff expect a raise after each training level.

Fines are a cost as well. Inspectors check up to five animals and can fine you for disease, injury or dead animals, and an escaped animal ends the inspection with the maximum fine. The Planet Zoo 2 habitat planner checks that barriers are tall and strong enough for each animal.

Loans and debt

A loan gives you a fixed amount of Cash straight away. Management > Finances > Loans offers up to three, from different providers with different amounts and interest rates, and you can hold one from each. Repayments come out every season at High, Medium or Low, and you can pay a loan off in full at any time. Interest is charged on the amount still owed, so the faster you repay, the less you pay overall. Update 1.0.4 lowered the interest rates on low level loans.

Frontier says it is fixing an issue that made some zoos fall rapidly into very large debt, and that it will look to reset the balance of every zoo, in every mode, that is in debt. (Frontier, October 20, 2026). Until that fix arrives, check Finances each season so a slide into debt does not go unnoticed. Our Planet Zoo 2 updates page shows when it ships.