Planet Zoo 2 gives you the chance to build and run your very own zoo, but you can’t do it alone. Meet the staff who keep your zoo running, learn what they do, and find out how to keep them happy and working efficiently.

Vets

Vets have some of the busiest jobs in your zoo, making them invaluable employees. Vets carry out routine checks on your habitats to make sure the animals are healthy and happy, or you can call one to a habitat when an animal needs urgent attention.

If an animal becomes sick or injured, vets can take it to a Veterinary Surgery for treatment. They’re also responsible for tracking down escaped animals, moving animals around your zoo, and disposing of deceased animals. They don’t shy away from getting wet, either. Vets will put on diving equipment and enter aquariums to check on your aquatic animals.

As if that weren’t enough, vets are also solely responsible for all four types of research. However, they’ll only work on research when they’re not busy with their other responsibilities.

Keepers

Keepers feed your animals and clean their habitats. They need to travel between enclosures and Keeper Huts to prepare food, so make sure they don’t have too far to walk. Otherwise, your animals could be left hungry while their habitats become increasingly dirty, encouraging disease.

Mechanics

Mechanics keep your zoo’s infrastructure functioning, repairing habitat barriers and maintaining facilities and equipment. Without them, your zoo can quickly fall into disrepair.

Caretakers

Caretakers keep your zoo clean by emptying bins and picking up litter. They also help transport animals around your zoo and may be the happiest employees I’ve ever seen.

Vendors

Vendors operate your shops and restaurants. Placing a shop automatically hires a vendor, but they’ll still need breaks. Hiring additional vendors to cover those breaks will help keep your shops open and your guests happy. Just make sure you’ve got enough staff rooms to keep them rested and rotating between breaks and working.

Educators

Educators improve the educational experience of your guests. When they’re not assigned to specific activities, they’ll roam the zoo giving impromptu talks, but they’re much more effective when assigned to animal talks or tours.

What Are Staff Buildings For?

Staff buildings are essential to keeping your employees working efficiently. Make sure they’re reasonably close to where your staff works, or they’ll waste time travelling between them.

As your zoo grows, you can build additional facilities or assign work zones to stop employees spending half their working day wandering from one side of the zoo to the other.

Staff Rooms

All staff members use these to recover their energy between jobs. Employees also complete assigned training when they next visit a Staff Room, so you’ll want several as your zoo expands.

Keeper Huts

Keepers use these to prepare food for your animals. Placing them close to habitats reduces unnecessary travel time.

Veterinary Surgeries

Vets use these to treat sick and injured animals. While vets can also perform research, they don’t use a veterinary surgery to unlock new research.

Quarantine

Animals can be sent here to recover or be kept separate from the rest of your zoo. Once they’re ready to return, they’ll be fed and healthy.

Research Centers

Vets use these to complete research, provided you’ve assigned them a research task.

Trade Centers: These are used when transporting animals into and out of your zoo. Animals that aren’t currently in a habitat can be stored here, and you only need one Trade Center.

How to Make Your Staff More Efficient

Your staff will get on with their jobs automatically, but there are several things you can do to help them work more efficiently.

First, make sure they have somewhere to rest. Staff Rooms aren’t really optional, as employees will become tired and struggle to complete their duties without them. You can also customize Staff Room perks to prioritize different benefits, such as faster energy recovery.

Along with staff energy, staff happiness needs to be kept high. Employees need to be paid fairly and enjoy their surroundings, so don’t forget to decorate staff areas, even if they’re tucked away from the main zoo, as unhappy employees may eventually quit.

You can also train staff to improve their performance, although better-trained employees will expect higher wages. Make sure you increase their pay as they progress to keep them happy. If you need someone to prioritize a particular job, you can toggle their individual responsibilities on or off.

Finally, one more thing you can do which won’t actually make your employees any better at their jobs, but is quite fun, is customizing the colors of their uniforms.