Planet Zoo has 29 gameplay achievements (excluding the Career Mode ones), which I will explain below.

As general advice:

• Play on the EASY difficulty, as there are many perks to take into consideration, such as: animal welfare is easier to maintain, animals don't get bored, guests will be happier, and staff can work more efficiently and for longer periods of time.
  
• The achievements can be unlocked ONLY in Career mode and Franchise; the achievements will NOT unlock in Sandbox mode!

Welcome to Planet Zoo
Create your avatar and place them on the globe


This achievement is self explanatory: once you start playing the game for the first time, you'll be prompted to create an avatar and then place it anywhere on the globe. For now, avatar customization is limited to a small selection of clothes, accessories, hairstyles, and colors. In addition, you have the option to choose your body type, gender, and skin color.


You can choose any place you want and you can also modify your avatar and move it later, if you wish. To do that, simply click your steam icon on the top-left side of the main menu screen.


Once you finish your avatar and place it on the globe, the achievement will be unlocked.

Franchise Zoo
Open your first Franchise zoo


Franchise zoos are an online sandbox that allows you to trade animals with other players. Your entire progress is stored on a server, and there are no manual saves available, making it impossible to return to an earlier phase of your zoo. Therefore, it's important to plan ahead and be cautious when it comes to finances.

The Franchise game mode can be found on the left side of the main menu page.


In order to start up a new zoo, you will require 100 conservation credits. The credits are farmable, and they can be obtained in different ways: logging in daily will reward you with 100 conservation credits, completing community challenges and tasks, releasing animals into the wild or selling them to other players.


Your first franchise zoo will come with 100 conservation points automatically, so there's no need to worry about getting them now. When creating a zoo for the first time, you will have to choose a Biome and a Continent. After that, select your preferred difficulty level, Terrain Type, and finally pick a name for your zoo.

As soon as you create your first franchise zoo and start playing it, the achievement will be unlocked.

Global Zoo
Open 25 Franchise zoos


You can open as many franchise zoos as you want. There is no limit regarding the number of owned zoos. The only requirement for doing this is to have 100 conservation credits for each of them. A total of 2500 conservation credits are necessary for the Global Zoo achievement.

An easy way to do this is to create your first franchise zoo and expand it until you have enough points. Each point earned within a single zoo can be used to establish a new franchise zoo. For instance, if one of your zoos has achieved 1000 conservation credits, you can use them to establish another 10 zoos. The current amount of conservation credits is visible on your franchise banner, located directly under your username.


As soon as you have enough points to open more franchises, proceed to open 24 more zoos. Begin by opening one zoo, then exit it, then start opening another, and so on until you have 25 franchises in total. You only need to open the zoos, you don't actually have to build anything in them.

Of course, you can open 25 zoos and play them all, you don't have to rush through the game. It's up to you how you open them, as long as you have 25 franchise zoos and have a good time doing it.

The "Edit" button on your franchise banner in the right corner allows you to keep track of your opened zoos. This is where you can find information on the number of zoos owned, all the animals that have been adopted, sold, released, or born at your zoos, the total amount of money, the conservation credits that have been acquired and used, and the current number of guests.


When you open the 25th zoo, your achievement will be unlocked.

Planet Zoo
Open a zoo on every continent


Similar to the "Global Zoo" achievement, the "Planet Zoo" achievement requires that you establish a zoo on every continent, regardless of its Biome. There are 7 continents where zoos need to be opened:

• Africa
  
• Antarctic
  
• Asia
  
• Oceania
  
• Europe
  
• North America
  
• South America

This achievement can be done while you attempt to unlock the "Global Zoo" achievement and can be combined with the "Diversity" achievement. Simply open a zoo on each continent and after you have a zoo in each of the 7 continents, the "Planet Zoo" achievement will unlock.

Diversity
Open a zoo in every biome


You can unlock this one along with the "Planet Zoo" achievement and "Global Zoo" achievement. For the "Diversity" achievement you will need to open a zoo in each Biome. There are 6 Biomes in which you will need to open the zoos:

• Desert
  
• Grassland
  
• Tropical
  
• Temperate
  
• Taiga
  
• Tundra

Simply open a zoo in each Biome and after having a zoo in each of the 6 Biomes, the "Diversity" achievement will unlock.

Tour Guide
Build 1km of a tracked ride


As stated in the achievement's description, you must build a tracked ride that is a total of 1 km. This achievement is likely to be unlocked in career mode, particularly during the GREAT CALDERA SAFARI PARK scenario, as one of the requirements for the Bronze level is to build a Transport Ride.


It's no secret that this achievement can be unlocked while playing the Franchise mode as well. You can find the Transport rides under the Facilities tab. The variety of rides varies depending on the research you have conducted within your zoo. Therefore, in order to build a boat, a gondola, or train ride, you'll need to finish all four levels of the "Transport Rides" mechanic research.

Once you have unlocked your desired ride, you can start building the track around your zoo. After constructing 1 km of the track, the achievement will be unlocked.

To speed up the process, you can simply start any zoo and start building the track until the achievement is unlocked.

NOTE: If you wish to keep the track, don't forget to "Open" it so that tourists can ride it!

Barrier Builder
Build 10km of barrier


Building habitat barriers is the only requirement for unlocking this achievement. The type of barrier used is irrelevant, and the default barrier can be utilized without any research. Most importantly, this achievement is shared across all saves. It's a simple achievement to obtain because you'll need to construct many enclosures in career mode. For example, if you build 3 km of barrier on one save and then continue with another save where you build another 7 km of the barrier, the achievement will unlock.

If you're in a hurry, you can start any zoo and begin to create barriers until the achievement is unlocked, as shown in the screenshot below.


NOTE: This achievement does not require the construction of a habitat (barriers with habitat gates), only the construction of walls.

Life finds a way
Have your first baby animal born in your zoo


This one is quite straightforward: after having a male and female animal, they are bound to mate and produce offspring. You shouldn't have trouble unlocking this achievement in your first Career zoo, since it's also part of the tutorial.

If you choose to play freely in Franchise mode instead, you need to build your first habitat and place two animals of the opposite sex in it. This one only requires a bit of patience.

Baby Boom
Have 73 baby animals born


This achievement can be unlocked by having baby animals born in different zoos, as it is shared across saves.

Having healthy and happy parents is the first step to having a lot of babies born at your zoos. Animal welfare must be kept at above 90%, and the stress level of animals must not be low, otherwise their ability to produce offspring is greatly decreased. The second step is to ensure that your zoo has enough keepers to take care of the animals and ensure that the habitat is clean and repaired at all times.

As you advance and finish the scenarios in Career mode, you will eventually unlock this achievement. Alternatively, if you prefer playing in Franchise mode, you can obtain this achievement by having fun over time or grinding for it.


The Common Warthog and the Common Ostrich are the fastest to produce babies. Their litter consists of around 4 to 5 babies and they also grow up quickly, therefore if you take care of these animals correctly, you could have a lot of babies soon.

Ghost
Have an albino breed


This achievement is pretty tricky to achieve within the career mode, so I strongly recommend trying it in a Franchise zoo.

To unlock it, you must have an albino animal BORN in your zoo. Hence, buying one from the market and placing it in your zoo does not count towards the achievement.

To determine if an animal is albino, you can select the "Genetics" tab in their profile card and review the last GENETIC MAKEUP category. There you will find information about the animal's coat, which is the color of their fur/hair. Animals that are albino are referred to as "Leucistic" and tend to be white. For example, if a lion is white, it's most likely an albino animal. If the animal doesn't have the Leucistic trait, then it means it is not albino but instead it simply has a white coat.

Albinism is a naturally occurring phenomenon, although it's not as common as you would think. The choice is either to wait and breed animals until one of them is born albino (it will take a considerable amount of time) or you can simply load your save in Franchise mode and head to the animal market. Search for your preferred animal until you come across an albino specimen and then buy it.

Note: Albino animals are known to be expensive and can only be purchased with conservation credits from other players, therefore before attempting this achievement, make sure you have enough conservation credits.

Ensure that the animal has a fertility above 50% before purchasing it, otherwise it could mate poorly or not at all. You can either pair this animal with a regular-coated partner or purchase two of the same albino specimens and put them in your habitat. By doing the latter and having two albino parents, you can increase your chances of having an albino baby born in your zoo.


Once the two albino parents mate and give birth to a baby albino in your zoo, the achievement will be unlocked.

Say Goodbye
Release your first animal


To achieve this, all you need is to release an animal into the wild. Performing this action will give you conservation points and raise your zoo's Conservation Rating (your rating can be seen on the Overview page of your zoo, in the Zoo Reputation category).

Before you can release an animal you need to build at least ONE Animal Trading Centre in your zoo. You can only release ADULT animals that were previously bought using conservation points or that were born in your zoo.


To release animals to the wild, there are two options: from the ANIMALS panel, select the animal you want to release, and then click on the "Release to Wild" button.


The second way is to release them from the Trading Center; any animal placed in the Trading Center can be found under the Animal Storage tab. From there, simply select the desired animal and then choose the option to "Release to Wild".


NOTE: This action is final and cannot be reversed! This animal will be lost forever!

Welcome to the Family
Adopt your first animal


This achievement can easily be obtained because it's necessary to adopt an animal at the start of Career mode.

If you want to start playing the Franchise mode first, simply go to the Animal Trading and buy an animal or an exhibit animal. Once you have bought and placed the animal in your zoo, the achievement will be unlocked.

Trainer
Fully train a member of staff


Each staff member has 5 levels of training available, with Trainee (1 star), Capable (2 stars), Skilled (3 stars), Expert (4 stars), and Master (5 stars). Unlocking this achievement requires you to train one of your available staff members until they reach the master level.


As a result, the staff member will be more effective in their job and will require less time to recover their energy. This means that his/her salary will be much higher, so it's important to take this into account when training staff members.


Sending a staff member to train will also cost from $150 to $300, depending on their mastery level. Also, staff members cannot be trained consecutively. You need to wait a couple of months before training the same staff member again.


Once a staff member reaches 5 stars/mastery levels, the achievement will be unlocked.

Animal Research
Complete the research on one animal in Franchise mode


This can be obtained ONLY IN FRANCHISE mode!

For this achievement you will need to obtain the gold medal for researching any animal. Their research levels depend on the type of animal: level ranges from 5 for small animals, like exhibits, to 8 for larger animals, like elephants.


In order to speed up the research, you can train a Vet until he/she reaches the Master level (5 stars), then have Vet make the research on your preferred animal. Keep playing until the research is finished and you receive the golden medal for the researched animal.

Zoologist
Complete the Zoopedia


By far this is the most difficult achievement to unlock, because you need to spend a lot of time grinding and make use of your skills as a zoo-master in the long run. Most importantly, you need to research all the animals within A SINGLE ZOO, as the research status resets with each new zoo if you are trying to obtain the achievement in the Career Mode. If however you are playing the Franchise mode, you can research the animals across multiple zoos, as knowledge is shared between franchise zoos.

To unlock this achievement you need to complete the Zoopedia. What does this mean? It means that you will need to achieve the maximum research level for ALL the animals existent in the game (exhibits included). As long as you have a number of animals available/existent in your Zoopedia, you must research them all. The achievement can be more easily unlocked without owning any DLCs, as those animals will also count towards it!


There are 170 animals in total with all the DLCs included, as it follows (the DLCs are listed in the order of their release date):

• Base game: 74 animals
  
• Deluxe Upgrade: 3 animals
  
• Arctic Pack: 4 animals
  
• South America Pack: 5 animals
  
• Australia Pack: 5 animals
  
• Aquatic Pack: 5 animals
  
• Southeast Asia Animal Pack: 8 animals
  
• Africa Pack: 5 animals
  
• North America Animal Pack: 8 animals
  
• Europe Pack: 5 animals
  
• Wetlands Pack: 8 animals
  
• Conservation Pack: 5 animals
  
• Twilight Pack: 5 animals
  
• Grasslands Animal Pack: 12 animals
  
• Tropical Pack: 5 animals
  
• Arid Animal Pack: 8 animals
  
• Oceania Pack: 5 animals

If you own all the DLCs, then buckle up, because you will have to research all the animals available in the game.

To fully research an animal you must obtain the gold medal and have all the information under the "FUN FACTS", "DIET", "HABITAT ENRICHMENTS" and "FOOD ENRICHMENTS" unlocked (you can easily check the research status on the Zoopedia). If you are missing any enrichment or fun fact (marked by a question mark), that means that the animal has not been fully researched.


It could be difficult to manage a very large zoo. I advise against keeping more than 10 different species in your zoo at any given time. Have 2-3 Vets fully upgraded (Master level - 5 stars) who are not assigned to any habitat and only research the animals. To make things easier, create a new Workzone for the researchers and assign a Research Center and a Staff Room (which will allow the vets to rest) to it. Once you have fully researched an animal, you can either sell or release it to the wild (or send it to the trade center if you want to keep it for later but don't want to worry about taking care of it). Then purchase another unstudied animal and place it in the currently empty enclosure.

Once the last animal is fully researched, the achievement will be unlocked.

Nerd
Achieve an Education Rating of 5 Stars


In order to receive 5 stars for the Education Rating, you will need to have fully researched all the animals currently present in your zoo. It is highly recommended to do this because it will result in a greater education bonus.


Now, this knowledge must be brought to the guests. To do so, navigate to the "Media Devices and Education" category within "Facilities" and choose any device you prefer to teach guests about the animals at your zoo. I recommend using the "Habitat Education Board Set" and the "Educational Speaker". Place as many as you want around each habitat, but make sure not to overlap them.


Furthermore, the "Vista Point" can be used to promote habitats and become the main attraction for guests.


To further improve the education rating, you can add the "Conservation Education Board" throughout the zoo, to promote various topics related to the animal world and raise awareness of problems that affect nature, such as deforestation, ecotourism, and the decline of bee populations.


You might not need to hire Educators for this achievement (personally, I have never used them). But if you find yourself struggling to reach 5 stars, then you can hire Educators and train them so that guests can learn more about animals.


By doing these things correctly and having a bit of patience over time, you should have no trouble obtaining this achievement.

Loaner
Repay $50,000 in loans


In order to obtain this achievement, you first need to take loans. Taking the $50.000 Loan will make it easier to repay compared to taking multiple loans. Be aware that the interest rate is 10% and it can have a significant impact on your long-term finances. I suggest trying this achievement only if you have enough cash, as it can quickly bankrupt you if your finances are not well-managed.


Take a look at your Finances and make sure that the Total Profit is always positive (green) and there are no negative expenses (red). First, figure out how to maintain a constant balance between your expenses, income, and cash flow so that you won't quickly go into debt if you take a loan.

For instance, my current zoo has a profit of approximately $37k. Given that the annual cost of repayment for the loan can be anywhere from $6k to $20k, I can take the loan without any worry and make an overall $17k profit. My advice is to only take out a loan if your profit is significantly higher than the highest interest rate on the loan. Take a look at the screenshot below to gain a better understanding.


It's important to have raised enough money to survive in the event that your profit decreases and things go sideways, so that you can avoid going bankrupt or closing the zoo.

The achievement will be unlocked when you have fully paid back your loan(s).

NOTE: This achievement is shared across all saves, so you can try to take a small loan of $5k in 10 different zoos, for example. If you don't want to take a significant loan for one zoo, feel free to go with whatever you feel comfortable with. As long as you repay $50k in loans overall, the achievement will unlock.

Community
Take part in a community challenge


The community challenge is an online event that brings players together to achieve specific goals every week. You'll have a couple of days to work on completing the challenge(s).

The community challenges are located on the right side of the main menu. There will be specific requests that are based on mating, releasing, or owning specific animals.


On the Personal Contribution card, you can see how far you have come with the challenge and claim your prizes after passing certain milestones.


You don't need to do anything except wait for a community challenge to begin, then start accomplishing the goals and getting your prizes.


Once you claim your first reward as part of the community challenge, the achievement will unlock.

Note: Participating in the community challenge doesn't mean you'll unlock the achievement unless you claim the first reward! Unlocking the achievement requires receiving the prize that is given upon completion of the challenge milestones.

Enriched
Place 25 different Enrichment Items


This achievement is both self-explanatory and pretty easy to get and you will most likely unlock it during Career Mode as you progress through the game. Once you've researched an animal enough to have some enrichment items available, start purchasing and putting them in the habitats until you've placed more than 25 items.

This one’s a Keeper
Have at least 3 Keepers, each with a different work zone, in a Sandbox, Franchise or Challenge zoo


The description and unlock conditions for this achievement have been altered slightly since the game's initial release. Obtaining it is now easier, as you only need to have three different Workzones and assign one keeper to each Workzone.

The fastest way to achieve this, is to start a game in Franchise mode, create 3 Workzones, hire 3 keepers, and assign each one to a work zone. The achievement can be unlocked at any moment you have 3 keepers assigned to their own zone.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This achievement can NOT be obtained in the Career Mode anymore! This achievement can only be unlocked by playing in Sandbox mode, Franchise mode, or Challenge Zoo.

Circle of Life
Have a Juvenile Lion be born in a Zoo containing at least 10 species


You will most likely unlock this achievement during Career mode, when playing the first tutorial scenario "Stately Home Schooling". Continue expanding your zoo until you have 10 different species, and then continue playing until a baby lion is born.


If you haven't yet played Career mode, you can easily get it in Franchise mode by doing the same thing: build 10 habitats and purchase different animal species to put in the empty habitats. Once a baby lion is born, the achievement will be unlocked.

Oh My!
Have a Lion, a Tiger and a Bear in your Zoo at any one time


As stated in the achievement description, you must have a Lion, a Tiger, and a Bear in the same zoo at the same time. This can be easily achieved during the first tutorial scenario "Stately Home Schooling", since the zoo already has Grizzly Bear and West African Lions, you will only need to adopt two Bengal Tigers for the Silver Medal.

Alternatively, you can try this in Franchise mode. Build three habitats, purchase the required animals from the market, and place them inside the empty habitats.

Any combination of the specified types of animals will be counted towards the achievement. To give you a better idea of the combinations possibilities, here's a list of all the eligible animals:

- Bear

• Formosan Black Bear
  
• Grizzly Bear
  
• Himalayan Brown Bear
  
• Polar Bear (Arctic Pack DLC)
  
• Sun Bear (Southeast Asia Animal Pack DLC)

- Lion

• West African Lion

- Tiger

• Bengal Tiger
  
• Siberian Tiger

The achievement will be unlocked once all animals have been delivered to their habitats.

The Elephant in the Room
Have two different breeds of Elephant born in your Zoo


Planet Zoo currently has two elephant species:

• The Indian Elephant
  
• African Savannah Elephant

Both types of animals get along well together, thus you can build a habitat large enough for both of them (approximately 4600m2) and adopt one female and one male of each species. Keep in mind that elephants can be quite expensive and can only be acquired with conservation credits.

This achievement can be unlocked in the Career mode as well, during the 7th scenario "Myers Animal Entertainment Park". Since the zoo will already have Indian elephants, after you finish the scenario and enter free building mode, you can acquire a pair of African Savannah Elephants and put them in the zoo. As previously mentioned, elephants are costly and it may take some time to acquire enough conservation points.

I recommend doing this achievement in Franchise mode, as there are greater opportunities to gather conservation points by selling animals to other players and/or releasing them into the wild.

When you have a pair of both types of elephants, continue playing until both pairs have babies. When a baby from each species is born, the achievement will be unlocked.

An Elephant Never Forgets
Adopt the retiring Indian Elephants in Scenario 7


This is a career related achievement that can be done at the beginning of the "Power Struggle" scenario, as you need to adopt the 5 Indian Elephants in order to complete the bronze level.


Build a proper habitat for the 5 elephants then retrieve them from the "Rewards" section of the Animal Trading and place them in the empty habitat.

Natural Selection
Have an animal in your zoo with a genetic makeup of over 90% in all categories


Arm yourself with a lot of patience as this achievement will take a while to complete if you're attempting to do this on your own without buying an animal from the market!

The genetic makeup refers to the stats found under the "Genetics" card:

• Size
  
• Longevity
  
• Fertility
  
• Immunity

In order to unlock this achievement you need to have an animal in your zoo that has over 90% of each of the 4 genetic makeups, whether it's born in your zoo or you have the chance to find and buy such a rare animal on the market.

Keep a close eye on the market. Be sure to refresh it frequently, as you may come across an animal that meets the requirements for this achievement. The search can be filtered to only show animals with specific traits, and in this instance, those with a genetic markup greater than 90%. In order to unlock the achievement, you must buy the animal and then send it to your zoo. The achievement will be unlocked once the animal is brought to the enclosure, not just after it is purchased.

If you don't find any animal with a genetic makeup above 90%, you'll have to grind manually for the achievement. Find suitable parents on the market and keep breeding them until you get better and better offspring. To be safe, it's best to buy four animals at first, breed the two pairs separately, and then breed their offspring together until one of their offspring is nearly perfect.


Note: Inbreeding can cause serious damage to the genetic makeup, such as low or 0% stats for the fertility and immunity makeups.

A superstar comes along
Have an animal reach a 5 star Animal Rating


This one can be done while grinding for the “Natural Selection” achievement. Unfortunately it is a bit of luck based, as a perfect animal (e.g. with 100% genetic makeup) can not always have the 5 star rating.


You can always attempt to buy one from the market, but they are extremely rare and they don't come cheap.

The perfect recipe for having such an animal born in your zoo depends on how good care you take of the animals overall. You should focus on buying only animals that have a Gold Appeal, with as many stars as you can get (3 or more are preferable). Maintaining the animals’ welfare close to 100%, serving them high quality food and most importantly, taking care of the guests needs so that they are happier, will most likely result in higher rating for your animals. And as usual, having parents with higher ratings, will result in better or perfect offspring.

Redecorating
Enable all enrichment items in an exhibit


For this achievement, first you will need to complete research on any exhibit animal. There are only 5 levels of research for an exhibit animal. Each exhibit animal has 3 levels of enrichment that are unlocked once the research level increases. Each enrichment level offers three items that can be added to the exhibit layout, for a total of 9 items that will make your animal happier.

Once you have completed the research on your exhibit, you can enable any enrichment you desire. Be sure to check all 9 of them and the achievement will unlock.

Rebuilding
Release 20 critically endangered animals to the wild


This achievement is obtainable across all saves, so you don't need to grind for it in just one zoo Note that only ADULT animals that were bought using conservation points or born in your zoo previously can be release into the wild.


Each animal's conservation status can be viewed in the Zoopedia on the "General Information" panel. Here is a list of each animal that is critically endangered (20 different species in total):

• Aardvark
  
• Addax (Arid Animal Pack DLC)
  
• Amur Leopard (Conservation Pack DLC)
  
• Antillean Iguana
  
• Asian Small-Clawed Otter (Wetlands Animal Pack DLC)
  
• Axolotl (Conservation Pack DLC)
  
• Black Rhinoceros (Arid Animal Pack DLC)
  
• Black-And-White Ruffed Lemur
  
• Bornean Orangutan
  
• Chinese Pangolin
  
• Dama Gazelle (Arid Animal Pack DLC)
  
• Gharial
  
• Himalayan Brown Bear
  
• Lehmann’s Poison Frog
  
• Red Ruffed Lemur
  
• Scimitar-Horned Oryx (Conservation Pack DLC)
  
• Somali Wild Ass (Arid Animal Pack DLC)
  
• West African Lion
  
• Western Chimpanzee
  
• Western Lowland Gorilla

Once 20 critically endangered animals are released into the wild, the achievement will be unlocked.

Wow, that's a lot!
Build a habitat with 30 animals in it that all have welfare over 75%


Although it may seem difficult, this achievement can actually be achieved easily.

Build a large enclosure and adopt a lot of herbivores (as carnivores are usually solitary and only prefer one adult carnivore of the opposite sex). It's not necessary to have a large number of different species, as you only have to shelter 30 animals within a single habitat. You can also try to breed only one species until you have filled the entire habitat with their offspring, such as Common Warthog and/or Common Ostrich. It's easy to manage these two species, and you can have as many as you want. They also mix well together when they're in the same enclosure. Another animal that you can quickly breed and take care of is the Indian Peafowl, as they often have more than 4-5 babies born at a time. You can quickly breed and raise 30 birds in one enclosure.


Next, fill the habitat with the appropriate enrichment items and ensure that they have proper sheltering and terrain in order to boost the overall welfare percentage. Otherwise, the animals risk getting sick, dying, or even breaking down the barriers and escaping!

Once the 30th animal is born or added to the habitat, the achievement will be unlocked.

I hope this guide will help some of you guys! If there's anything you'd like to add or you have any questions about anything that's unclear, please let me know in the comments.

If you found this guide helpful, feel free to give it a rating and add it to your favorites!

Thank you!

P.S. Once again, many thankies to MrDEADX for his help! Without him I would have never discovered this amazing game <3