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Planet Zoo 2 Shelter Size for Every Habitat Animal

What the shelter number means in the data

Each habitat animal's Zoopedia page gives one shelter value: the minimum shelter area per animal. Land, water, flight and climbing space are listed as a figure for the first animal plus a figure for each extra one. Shelter has no such split. Every animal in the group counts the same, so the total is the per-animal value times your head count.

65 of the 69 habitat animals carry a value: all 12 flying habitat species and 53 of the 57 terrestrial ones. The four without one are Bactrian Camel, Gharial, Nile Monitor, and Saltwater Crocodile. Their pages leave the field empty, and this guide does not fill the gap with a guess. Aquarium and exhibit species have no shelter field at all.

Owl, otter and hare: the 5 m² group

Owls, otters and hares share one value. 8 species list exactly 5 m² per animal, and their totals differ only because their group sizes do. The table adds the land minimum for the first animal so you can see how small the shelter figure is next to it.

A pair of Long-Eared Owls, the largest group its page allows, needs 10 m² of shelter. The Asian Small-Clawed Otter starts at 2 animals and can go up to 15, so its shelter runs from 10 m² to 75 m². The Mountain Hare can live alone or in a group of up to 5, which puts it between 5 m² and 25 m².

The other five species on 5 m² are Eurasian Beaver, Great Hornbill, Red Panda, Shoebill, and Sunda Pangolin. Among all eight, the otter allows the biggest group, which is why its 75 m² total is the highest of the set. Long-Eared Owl, Red Panda, Shoebill, and Sunda Pangolin cap their groups at two animals, so none of them ever needs more than 10 m² of shelter. Next to the land column these are small numbers: for the first animal, land is 7 to 60 times the shelter value.

Largest shelter per animal

10 species need 20 m² or more for each animal. The two elephants lead by a wide margin, and 9 of the 10 are mammals; the exception is the Komodo Dragon.

The African Savannah Elephant lists 56 m² and the Asian Elephant 55 m², a single square meter apart. Their totals split much further, because the Asian Elephant's group can reach 30 animals against 16 for the African species.

Smallest shelter per animal

At the other end, 8 species list 4 m² or less. The Long-Tailed Parakeet is the only one at 1 m².

Low per-animal values do not always mean a small total. The African Penguin and Greater Flamingo both list 2 m² per bird, yet both pages allow groups of 500, which works out to 1,000 m² of shelter each.

How the values are spread

10 m² is by far the most common figure: 29 of the 65 species use it, and it is also the median. Terrestrial animals have a median of 10 m². Flying habitat animals sit lower, with a median of 7.5 m², and none of them goes above 10 m². The 49 mammals cover nearly the full range, from 2 m² to 56 m².

Most values are whole numbers. The exceptions are Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo and Sable Antelope, which is worth knowing if you round your totals.

Shelter at the smallest group you can keep

34 of the 65 species have a minimum group above one, so even the smallest legal group needs more than the per-animal figure. Ranked by shelter for that minimum group, the order looks like this:

The White-Backed Vulture is the one flying species near the top: 6 birds at 10 m² each. For scale, compare the first animal's shelter with its first-animal land figure. The median species needs shelter equal to 2.6% of that land figure. The highest share belongs to the Eurasian Bittern (25%) and the lowest to the Grey Wolf (under 1%).

Shelter for a full group

Multiply each value by the largest group its page allows and the ranking changes. Only 4 of the per-animal top ten stay in it, and 2 of the new top ten list just 2 m² per animal.

The Asian Elephant tops the list with 1,650 m² for 30 animals. At the bottom of the full-group ranking is the Javan Green Magpie, which needs only 4 m² for its largest group of 2.

Work out shelter for your own group

The sum is the same for any mix of species: take each species' per-animal value, multiply by how many of that species you keep, then add the results. Three examples using real figures:

• Six otters. 6 × 5 m² = 30 m².
• A zebra and giraffe habitat. Plains Zebra and Masai Giraffe are listed as thriving together. A full group of 6 zebras needs 6 × 10 m² = 60 m², and 5 giraffes need 5 × 25 m² = 125 m². The habitat total is 185 m².
• Elephants at both ends of the group range. The smallest Asian Elephant group of 3 needs 165 m². Grow it to 30 and the same 55 m² per animal becomes 1,650 m².

To skip the arithmetic, enter species and head counts in the habitat planner; it adds shelter alongside area, barrier and temperature for up to four species. The habitat requirements table lists the other minimums for every habitat animal, and each species page carries its own shelter line.

Shelter figures come straight from the official Zoopedia (checked 2026-10-14). The totals and rankings are this site's arithmetic, explained on how the data is collected.