One of the most essential pieces to a successful zoo. From taking care of the animals to keeping your zoo in tip top shape, your staff will do it all. As a Zoo Tycoon 2 player, I enjoyed going from exhibit to exhibit, cleaning the habitats and animals, and filling food and water bowls myself. In my beginning zoos I saved a bunch of money by doing all the work myself. Without this functionality in Planet Zoo, you will need to rely on your staff to keep things running. This post might be on the long side, but it includes everything you need to know about staff all in one place.
Staff Types
Caretaker
The primary responsibility of caretakers is cleaning up the zoo. They will clean up litter and
vomit, empty bins, clean the bathrooms, and clean the bathrooms and benches. Caretakers will walk around the zoo cleaning as they go. A secondary task is to transport animals from the trade center or quarantine to the habitats or vice versa. They will also transport them between habitats.
Keeper
When you think of zoo staff, zookeepers are probably the first thing that come to mind. The keepers in game have much the same responsibilities as real life keepers, feed animals and clean habitats. Planet Zoo keepers will walk into the exhibit and analyze what needs to be done. They will then use their waste vacuums to clean up any dirty bedding, spoiled food, and/or poop in the habitat. They will store their vacuums in their magical pockets and head to the keeper hut to prepare food and return to the habitat to refill any food dishes, water bowls, and enrichment items.
Keepers will only fill as much food as all the animals in the habitat need for one year, starting with enrichment items. If the enrichment items hold enough food for all the animals, the other food dishes will not be filled. If there are not enough items to hold the required amount of food, the keepers will place food on the ground. You will want to check enrichment requirements as populations increase. If you find that your animals are getting hungry in
between keeper visits it could mean that the keeper hut is too far away, too many keepers are trying to use the same hut, or that they are assigned to too many habitats.
Keepers are also responsible for tending to exhibits where they will feed and water the animals and clean the glass on the exhibits. No additional food or water items are required for exhibits. Keepers will prepare a single batch of food for all exhibits in their work zone.
Mechanic
Mechanics keep your zoo functioning. In addition to repairing habitat fences, rides, facilities (bathrooms, ATMs, power sources, water treatment) and vandalized objects, mechanics do the research required to make your zoo beautiful and unique.
Security
Security are probably the least needed staff member for your zoo. While they will chase and catch pickpockets, eject vandals, or eject any person/group that you want to leave, their workload can be minimized by the use of security cameras and happy customers
Vendor
Vendors jobs are fairly simple...serve the customers. They also have the heaviest workloads. A vendor will automatically be hired when a shop is placed. If the shop is then removed, the vendor won't be so be careful not to end up with way more vendors than you need.
Veterinarian
Next to keepers, vets are the next most important staff member for keeping animals happy. While you may not have sick or injured animals right off the bat (although it is possible), you will want a vet as soon as you have an animal in the zoo to start researching the animals. This is not necessary in sandbox however you may find yourself hiring one before too long as vets are also responsible for transporting animals, retrieving escaped animals via tranquilization, and disposing of your deceased furry, scaly, or feathered, friends.
How Many Staff Do I Need?
You will find many different answers on this topic. It seems everyone has their magic numbers. While you have to figure out what works for you, I will give you my numbers as a starting point.
Caretakers – 1 to start, add more when workloads reach high
Keepers – 1 per habitat and 1 per group of exhibits
Mechanics – 1 per work zone
Security – 1 to start, add more when workloads reach high
Vendors – 1 per shop plus an additional 1-2 for each area
Veterinarian – 1 to start, add more when workloads reach high.
Keep an eye on staff workloads. For large habitats, 1 keeper may not be enough, or for smaller habitats you may be able to get 2-3 per keeper. If staff workloads are low, you could save some cash by reducing staff. Before hiring new staff to reduce workload, train your current staff.
Training
You may be tempted to skip training your staff as it costs money to train and the further you train staff the more money they will expect. However, training your staff could actually save you money by reducing the amount of staff you need. Training staff will make them more efficient and happier so they need breaks less often. You can easily train staff from the staff tab on the zoo menu and clicking on the green up arrow. You can also choose training from the individual staff members menu. Once you select for a staff member to be trained, they will be given a training date for when they will receive the training. You will not be able to train a staff member again for a period of time after they complete their training.
Staff Buildings
Keeper Huts
Keeper Huts are used solely by keepers. This is where all the food is prepared for your
animals. The closer a keeper hut is to your habitats, the quicker they will be fed and avoid starvation. You will want a keeper hut for every 1-2 habitats.
Staff rooms
Even computerized staff need to rest from time to time. Staff rooms are where staff will go when they are low on energy. All types of staff will need to use staff rooms so this will likely be your most placed staff building. Each staff room has “perks” that will benefit your staff while they use the staff room. While these seem like a good idea, they do increase the running cost of the staff rooms and I have not found that their benefits are worth the cost.
Trade Center
Trade centers are where you will buy, sell and store your animals. You will be required to place a trade center in your zoo before buying any animals however one trade center is really all you need. You do not gain additional storage by having more than one trade center.
Quarantine
The quarantine is pretty self explanatory. This is where you will send sick animals so their illnesses don't spread. You can often get away without a quarantine for quite awhile, however there is a chance that animals purchased can be sick or injured and you will need it right away. If you have one, sending animals from the trade center to quarantine before putting them in their habitats is a good precaution to avoid all your animals getting sick. You can also send starving or dehydrated animals to quarantine to recover while you figure out what is causing them not to be fed/watered.
Veterinary Surgery
The veterinary surgery is where vets will take animals to be treated when they are sick or injured. You can usually get away without one for awhile when starting your zoo until you have an injury or illness that needs treated.
Research Center
The research center is where your veterinarians will research enrichment, education increases, food quality, and breeding chance increases for your animals. Only one veterinarian can use the research center at a time, however veterinarians will spend half their researching time in the habitats with the animals. You can generally get away with one research center for every 2 veterinarians you want researching.
Workshop
Much like the research center for the vets, the workshop is where mechanics will research
theme items, additional shops, improved staff buildings and facilities, and improved habitat items (barriers, prefab climbing structures and shelters, prefab habitats). And same as the research center, the workshop can only house one mechanic so you will want one workshop per mechanic you have doing research.
Work Zones
Work zones are very important in getting your staff to do their jobs efficiently. Without a work zone, staff will wander your zoo and may end up spending more time commuting than feeding animals which can become a problem. This is another area in which there is no one
right answer. The important thing is that you have a staff room in every work zone and that staff don't have to walk too far to get to a staff room.
I usually include in my work zones: 1-2 habitats, any nearby keeper huts, staff rooms, and facilities, 1 keeper per habitat or group of exhibits, 1 mechanic. I use a separate work zone for vendors, including their shops and a staff room.
Things I don't add into work zones: caretakers, security, veterinarians, workshops, veterinary surgery, research centers, quarantines, and trade centers.
That should cover everything needed for a smoothly running zoo staff. If you have any other tips you have found, let me know in the comments.
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