Planet Zoo 2 Common Hippopotamus — habitat, biome, size & which animals it can live with

Common Hippopotamus is one of the 130 Planet Zoo 2 launch species. It is housed in a Habitat habitat, accepts the Lakes & Rivers / Savannah / Wetlands biome, carries a Grade 4 · 2m barrier requirement and is listed at 4.50 m (length). It shares a biome and an enclosure type with 35 other species, but the official species data rules out every one of those pairings, so it needs a habitat of its own.

Common Hippopotamus

Every figure on this page comes from the official Planet Zoo 2 Zoopedia export rather than trailer footage: biome, enclosure type, barrier grade, size and the compatibility verdicts are all taken from the game's own data.

Size (M)4.50 m

Weight (M)1750 kg

BarrierGrade 4

EnclosureHabitat

BiomesLakes & Rivers / Savannah / Wetlands

StatusVulnerable

Where it lives in the wild
Africa

Common Hippopotamus at a glance

Source: official Planet Zoo 2 Zoopedia export (130 species). Also on the searchable animal list.

Enclosure and barrier requirements

Common Hippopotamus needs a Habitat enclosure and accepts the Lakes & Rivers / Savannah / Wetlands biomes. The barrier requirement is Grade 4 · 2m, and that is the number to check before building: a Grade 4 animal behind a Grade 1 wall is the most common way a first zoo stalls.

Which animals can live with the Common Hippopotamus?

Common Hippopotamus shares a biome and an enclosure type with 35 other species, but every one of those pairings is ruled out by the official data, because one side of each pair is officially solitary.

Same biome, but not compatible

35 of the species that accept the Lakes & Rivers / Savannah / Wetlands biome cannot share an enclosure with the Common Hippopotamus, because one side of the pair is officially solitary. These are the pairings people ask about most, so they are spelled out rather than left as an unexplained gap.

Species	Biome	Enclosure	Why not
Aardvark	Savannah	Habitat	Aardvark is solitary “With the exception of a mother and her cub, aardvarks are solitary in nature. They only interact when mating or competing over mates.”
African Leopard	RainforestSavannah	Habitat	African Leopard is solitary “African leopards are solitary except for a mother raising her cubs.”
African Penguin	Open SeaSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
African Savannah Elephant	DesertSavannahWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
African Wild Dog	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Asian Elephant	RainforestSavannahWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Bactrian Camel	DesertSavannahTemperate	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Black Wildebeest	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Blue Wildebeest	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Cape Buffalo	SavannahWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Common Ostrich	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Common Warthog	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Eurasian Beaver	Lakes & RiversTaigaTemperate	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Gemsbok	DesertSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Gharial	Lakes & RiversRainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Grey Wolf	DesertRainforestSavannahTaigaTemperateTundra	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Grizzly Bear	TaigaTemperateTundraWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Komodo Dragon	MangroveRainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Lion	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Malayan Tapir	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Masai Giraffe	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Meerkat	DesertSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Nile Monitor	SavannahWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Nyala	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Plains Zebra	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Przewalski's Horse	DesertSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Reticulated Giraffe	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Sable Antelope	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Spotted Hyena	DesertSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Springbok	DesertSavannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Sumatran Tiger	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Sun Bear	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Thomson's Gazelle	Savannah	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Western Lowland Gorilla	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”
Wild Boar	RainforestSavannahTemperateWetlands	Habitat	Common Hippopotamus is solitary “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a str…”

Close, but ruled out by enclosure type

35 species share at least one biome with the Common Hippopotamus but use a different enclosure type — a land habitat against an aquarium or a flying aviary — so they cannot be mixed however well the biomes line up.

African Tigerfish, American Bullfrog, Axolotl, Blunthead Cichlid, Boa Constrictor, Boeseman's Rainbowfish, Brown Trout, Cloudless Sulphur, Clown Loach, Common Bluetongue, Common Rudd, Danube Crested Newt, Diamondback Terrapin, Eastern Brown Snake, Eurasian Bittern, European Peacock, Fire Salamander, Giant Gourami, Giant Slippery Frog, Giant Tiger Land Snail, Golden Eagle, Goliath Beetle, Greater Flamingo, Long-Eared Owl, Menelaus Blue Morpho, Monarch, Old World Swallowtail, Secretarybird, Shoebill, Toco Toucan, West Indian Manatee, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, White-Backed Vulture, White-Tailed Sea-Eagle, Yellow Anaconda

Behaviour, size and weight

Common Hippopotamus is classed as Solitary in Frontier's Social & Reproduction notes: “Hippos interact with each other, but do not form close groups or bonds. Mature males are semi-solitary and territorial, presiding over a stretch of river and allowing groups of females (and non-challenging males) to live there.” On size the game lists 4.50 m (length) for the male and 3.75 m for the female. Size and weight together decide the minimum habitat footprint, so use the female figure when you are sizing a breeding pair rather than a display animal.

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Related

All 130 animals · Full compatibility chart for Common Hippopotamus · Aquarium animals · Aviary birds · Deluxe edition animals · System requirements