Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species

Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species
File:Zoo Tycoon Endangered.jpg
Developer(s)	Blue Fang Games
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Series	Zoo Tycoon
Engine	Gamebryo
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	October 2005
Genre(s)	3D Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player

File:Sable Antelope.JPG

Elavated paths looking down over a pair of giant sable antelope.

Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species is the first of the Zoo Tycoon 2 expansion packs (The others are African Adventure, Marine Mania, the downloadable Dino Danger Pack and the newest expansion Extinct Animals). It gives the player 20 new animals, some of them are rare, such as the caribou and the koala, as well as giving the player new innovations such as sky trams, Jeep rides, elevated paths and several new campaigns and challenges.

Gameplay

Tour possibilities

With the addition of this expansion pack, the player can create a Jeep Wrangler or Jeep Commander tour through the zoo's exhibits. The new sky tram routes allow the guests to get a bird's eye view of the animals. Wooden and rock elevated walkways can be build over exhibits and large bodies of water, allowing visitors and players alike to walk right above the exhibits. These even allow food courts to be built above enclosures. Both the elevated paths and sky trams will give the guests a good view of the animals, while still keeping their privacy levels content, creating a win-win situation.

Various tour objects are available to the player; interesting, mechanical objects that move and improve the guest's overrall rating of the tour. This includes machines that spurt snow and giant sequioa tunnels.

As a bonus, guests can now toss coins into fountains, and pay for face painting featuring endangered species like pandas and tigers.

Animals & plants

As well as twenty new endangered animals, a feature called 'variant skins' allows certain animals to have variation in their skin colour - a herd of zebra can have multiple different stripe patterns – moose can be dark brown, tigers can be white and so on ('Marine Mania later included this feature). Not only are there exotic animals, but also exotic plants like golden barrel cactus and scythian lamb and trees such as the bur oak and durian tree.

Graphical enhancements

Endangered Species introduces some much needed graphics updates and patches. Players can set the water in Zoo Tycoon 2 reflective by changing water detail to "very high". Trees, food and all of the 2D objects in the original game have been updated to be 3D.

Animals

Endangered Species contains 20 brand new animals from various countries and habitats. The expansion focuses on endangered animals like the orangutan and giant sable antelope. Zoo Tycoon 2's first expansion, Endangered Species updates most of the animal behaviors; basic herding behaviors were added (more advanced herding and pack behavior came out in African Adventure) and animals can no longer breed with their siblings and parents. Animal models and skins are also more realistic than the animals from the original game.

File:Endangered Species Galapagos Giant Tortoise.jpg

Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Animal	Biome	Conservation status	Star rating required
African wild dog	Savannah	Endangered	3.5
American bison	Grassland	Lower risk	0.5
Baird's tapir	Tropical rainforest	Endangered	1.5
Caribou	Tundra	Vulnerable	0.5
Crested gibbon	Tropical rainforest	Endangered	4
Fennec fox	Desert	Lower risk	2
Florida panther	Wetlands	Critical	5
Galapagos giant tortoise	Scrub	Endangered	1.5
Giant sable antelope	Savannah	Critical	2
Gray wolf	Boreal forest	Lower risk	2.5
Javan rhinoceros	Tropical rainforest	Critical	3.5
Koala	Temperate forest	Lower risk	2.5
Komodo dragon	Scrub	Vulnerable	2
Markhor	Alpine	Endangered	2
Orangutan	Tropical rainforest	Endangered	4.5
Przewalski's horse	Grassland	Endangered	3
Scimitar-horned oryx	Desert	Critical	1
Spanish lynx	Temperate forest	Critical	3.5
Spectacled bear	Temperate forest	Vulnerable	4
Wolverine	Boreal forest	Vulnerable	3

Ambient animals

These animals run or fly around freely in the zoo environment.

Animal	Biome 1	Biome 2	Notes
American bullfrog	Wetlands		A larger, selectable version titled "giant bullfrog" is available in Extinct Animals.
American crow	Scrub	Temperate forest
Arctic tern	Tundra
Kookaburra	Scrub	Temperate forest
Toco toucan	Tropical rainforest

See also

• Zoo Tycoon franchise

External links

• Endangered Species - Zoo Tycoon.com
• Endangered Species - Microsoft.com