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Planet Zoo 2 Barrier Grades, Heights and Water Barriers

Grade and minimum height together

Every habitat animal's Zoopedia page lists four barrier fields: a grade, a minimum height, whether the barrier must be climb-proof, and whether a water barrier is allowed (with its width and depth). This site shows those fields for habitat animals only. The table counts the 69 habitat animals by grade and height.

The most common combination is grade 2 at 1.25 m, shared by 19 species. Heights cluster on three values, 1 m, 1.25 m and 3 m, which together cover 63 animals. Only 5 species list 2 m, and one, the Nile Monitor, lists 0.5 m.

Grade and height are separate settings. Grade 3 and 4 animals average 2.54 m and 2.33 m, against 1.36 m and 1.48 m for grades 1 and 2, but the exceptions are large. The Golden Lion Tamarin is grade 1 and needs a 3 m barrier; the Saltwater Crocodile is grade 3 and needs only 1 m. Always read both numbers.

What the grade number does and does not say

The Zoopedia publishes the grade as a number from 1 to 4 and does not describe the scale. When this site combines barriers it treats a higher number as the stricter requirement; check the scale in game before you build. Nothing in the data links grade to cost or to any other setting.

The grade 4 and grade 1 animals

Only 6 species sit at grade 4, and 7 at grade 1. Between them they mark the edges of the scale, and the table shows how much the other fields still vary at each end. Two of the grade 1 animals, the tamarin and Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo, still need a climb-proof barrier.

Flying habitats

The 12 flying habitat animals are the most uniform group in the data. All of them list a 1 m minimum height, none needs climb-proofing and none allows a water barrier. 10 are grade 2 and 2 are grade 1: Greater Flamingo and Javan Green Magpie. Terrestrial animals are far more varied; only 7 of the 57 share that 1 m height.

By class, all 6 grade 4 species are mammals. The 50 mammals spread across every grade (4 at grade 1, 27 at grade 2, 13 at grade 3, 6 at grade 4), the 14 birds stay at grades 1 and 2, and the 5 reptiles run from the grade 1 Galápagos Giant Tortoise to the grade 3 crocodile.

Climb-proof barriers

18 species need a climb-proof barrier. 15 of them also need the full 3 m height, so for most climbers the two requirements come together. Giant Panda and Grizzly Bear pair climb-proofing with a 2 m height at grade 4, and Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo needs climb-proofing at just 1 m.

The reverse does not hold: 6 species need a 3 m barrier without climb-proofing, among them African Savannah Elephant, African Wild Dog, Asian Elephant, and Grey Wolf.

Water barriers

8 species allow a water barrier in place of a wall, split evenly between two sizes. The smaller, 3 m across by 1 m deep, applies to Golden Lion Tamarin, Mountain Hare, Red Panda, and Ring-Tailed Lemur. The larger doubles both numbers to 6 m by 2 m and covers Siamang, Sumatran Orangutan, Western Chimpanzee, and Western Lowland Gorilla. All but the Mountain Hare and Red Panda are also flagged climb-proof.

The strictest barrier when you mix species

When species share a habitat, this site combines their barriers with a simple rule: the highest grade, the tallest minimum height, climb-proofing if any species needs it, and a water barrier only if every species allows one. The animal comparison applies it to any two species and the habitat planner to up to four.

Applied to the 154 pairs of habitat animals the Zoopedia lists as compatible, the rule changes something in most of them. In 68 pairs both species already have the same requirements. In the other 86, at least one species ends up behind a stricter barrier than its own page asks for. 57 pairs differ on grade, 64 on height and 16 on climb-proofing. Even among the 90 thriving pairs, 35 raise the barrier for one side.

The most common combined result is grade 2 at 1.25 m, which covers 95 of the 154 pairs. The strictest listed pairs are below; the last column names the species whose own barrier is lower than the combined one.

A savanna example shows how much one species choice matters. Plains Zebra lists grade 2 at 1.25 m, and both giraffes are listed as thriving with it. Add the Masai Giraffe and the combined barrier stays at grade 2, 1.25 m. Add the Reticulated Giraffe instead and it rises to grade 3, 2 m. Across the 14 species in that thriving savanna group, only Cape Buffalo and Reticulated Giraffe list more than grade 2.

Giant Panda with Red Panda tops the list. On its own the red panda needs grade 2 at 3 m without climb-proofing; next to the giant panda it needs grade 4, 3 m and climb-proofing, and it also loses its water barrier option.

Water barriers rarely survive a mix. Of the listed pairs where at least one species allows water, 16 lose the option because the partner does not, and only 3 keep it. In all three, both species list the same width and depth:

For every habitat animal's barrier in one sortable table, open habitat requirements. Barrier fields are taken from the official Zoopedia (checked 2026-10-14); the cross-tabs and pair results were computed on this site, as set out in how the data is collected.