Planet Zoo 2 Wildlife Reserves: Complete Guide & Full Release Lists

Planet Zoo 2 launched on October 13, 2026 with 130 animals, full aquatic exhibits, walk-through aviaries, and one system that ties everything together: Wildlife Reserves. Instead of ending at your zoo gates, the game asks you to rebuild entire ecosystems in the wild. This guide covers how the system works and lists every animal you can release at all six reserves.

What Are Wildlife Reserves in Planet Zoo 2?

Wildlife Reserves are wild landscapes that sit alongside your zoo. Frontier describes the system as a loop where players “restore damaged wilderness tracts, prepare genetically viable release cohorts, reintroduce animals into wild biomes, and deploy scientific research networks.” Each reserve is a real-world location — from the Great Rift Valley to the Scottish Highlands — with its own biome, its own species pool, and its own restoration goals.

Your zoo is the engine that powers all of it. Every animal you breed, every genetic line you manage, and every research outpost you fund feeds directly into rewilding these landscapes.

How Does the Release Cycle Work?

The reserve loop runs in five repeating steps:

1. Breed animals in your zoo. Run managed breeding programs across your habitats, aquariums, and aviaries.
2. Build viable release cohorts. Frontier specifically frames this around genetic viability — you assemble groups of animals with healthy, diverse genetics rather than releasing whatever you have spare.
3. Transfer animals to the reserve. Move your cohort from the zoo to the matching wild biome.
4. Reintroduce them into the wild. The animals join the reserve’s free-ranging population and begin restoring the ecosystem.
5. Deploy a research network. Research outposts, camera traps, and acoustic monitors track the reintroduced population and confirm the restoration is taking hold.

What Do You Earn for Releasing Animals?

Every successful release pays out Conservation Credits. Frontier has confirmed these feed three progression tracks: unlocking new zoo technology, accessing rare genetic lines for your breeding programs, and climbing a global conservation ranking that compares your reserve output against other players. Pure single-player players can ignore the leaderboard entirely — the tech and gene unlocks work the same.

How Many Wildlife Reserves Are There in Planet Zoo 2?

There are six Wildlife Reserves at launch, spread across three continents:

Reserve	Continent	Biome	Releasable Species
Great Rift Valley	Africa	Grassland/Savanna	27
Tanzania	Africa	Grassland/Savanna	28
Sumatra	Asia	Tropical	15
Sweden	Europe	Temperate/Taiga	12
Poland	Europe	Temperate	12
Scottish Highlands	Europe	Taiga	11

Which Animals Can You Release at Each Reserve?

Every reserve accepts only species native to its biome. Here is the complete launch list, cross-checked against the full Planet Zoo 2 animal roster:

Great Rift Valley (27): Aardvark, African Leopard, African Savannah Elephant, African Tigerfish, African Wild Dog, Black Rhinoceros, Black Wildebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Blunthead Cichlid, Cape Buffalo, Common Hippopotamus, Common Warthog, Gemsbok, Greater Flamingo, Lion, Masai Giraffe, Meerkat, Nile Monitor, Nyala, Plains Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Sable Antelope, Secretarybird, Shoebill, Spotted Hyena, Springbok, White-Backed Vulture.

Tanzania (28): Aardvark, African Leopard, African Savannah Elephant, African Tigerfish, African Wild Dog, Black Rhinoceros, Black Wildebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Blunthead Cichlid, Cape Buffalo, Common Hippopotamus, Common Ostrich, Common Warthog, Gemsbok, Greater Flamingo, Lion, Masai Giraffe, Nile Monitor, Nyala, Plains Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Sable Antelope, Secretarybird, Shoebill, Spotted Hyena, Springbok, Thomson’s Gazelle, White-Backed Vulture.

Sumatra (15): Asian Elephant, Asian Small-Clawed Otter, Binturong, Clown Loach, Giant Gourami, Great Hornbill, Long-Tailed Parakeet, Malayan Tapir, North Sulawesi Babirusa, Saltwater Crocodile, Siamang, Sumatran Orangutan, Sumatran Tiger, Sun Bear, Sunda Pangolin.

Sweden (12): Brown Trout, Common Rudd, Eurasian Beaver, Eurasian Brown Bear, Eurasian Lynx, Golden Eagle, Grey Wolf, Long-Eared Owl, Mountain Hare, Red Deer, White-Tailed Sea Eagle, Wild Boar.

Poland (12): Brown Trout, Common Rudd, Eurasian Beaver, Eurasian Bittern, European Bison, Golden Eagle, Grey Wolf, Long-Eared Owl, Red Deer, White-Tailed Sea Eagle, Wild Boar.

Scottish Highlands (11): Brown Trout, Common Rudd, Eurasian Beaver, Eurasian Lynx, Golden Eagle, Grey Wolf, Long-Eared Owl, Mountain Hare, Red Deer, White-Tailed Sea Eagle, Wild Boar.

The African reserves dwarf the rest — Tanzania’s 28 species make it the largest pool at launch, while the Scottish Highlands reserve is the smallest at 11. Note how the fish, bird, and reptile entries lean on Planet Zoo 2’s new aquatic and aviary systems: you will be breeding sharks-style aquarium stock and walk-through aviary species to fill release cohorts, not just big mammals.

How Should You Prepare Your Zoo for Releases?

A few principles hold across every reserve:

• Treat genetics as the bottleneck. Release cohorts must be genetically viable, so long-term, well-documented breeding lines matter more than rapid one-off births. Plan pairings generations ahead.
• Diversify your exhibit types. Because cohorts include fish and birds, a zoo that only builds mammal habitats will stall. Our aquatic animals guide and aviary guide cover the new systems.
• Follow the money. Credits unlock tech and rare genes, so reserves feed back into zoo progression — pair release planning with the strategies in our money-making guide.
• Start where Career starts. Frontier has confirmed Career mode opens at the Great Rift Valley reserve, making it the natural first classroom for the whole loop.

Wildlife Reserves FAQ

Do I need to own a reserve to release animals? The six reserves are part of the base game; each accepts only its native species, so progress is gated by which animals you can breed, not by paid access.

Can released animals come back to my zoo? Releases are one-way — animals join the wild population of the reserve and are monitored by your research network from that point on.

Is there a multiplayer or online component? No. Planet Zoo 2 is a single-player game; the global conservation ranking is an asynchronous leaderboard only.

Keep your breeding programs tight and your research networks funded, and your zoos will end up doing what real zoos aspire to: putting animals back where they belong. For a head start, read the Great Rift Valley, Sumatra, and Scottish Highlands deep-dives next.