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

Gharial is one of the 130 Planet Zoo 2 launch species. It is housed in a Habitat habitat, accepts the Lakes & Rivers / Rainforest / Wetlands biome, carries a Grade 2 · 1m barrier requirement and is listed at 4.40 m (length). It shares a biome and an enclosure type with 25 other species, so it can be mixed into a shared enclosure — 10 of those pairings are confirmed by Frontier's own text.

Gharial

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)4.40 m

Weight (M)300 kg

BarrierGrade 2

EnclosureHabitat

BiomesLakes & Rivers / Rainforest / Wetlands

StatusCritically Endangered

Where it lives in the wild
Asia

Gharial at a glance

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

Enclosure and barrier requirements

Gharial needs a Habitat enclosure and accepts the Lakes & Rivers / Rainforest / Wetlands biomes. The barrier requirement is Grade 2 · 1m, 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 Gharial?

11 launch species share both a biome and an enclosure type with the Gharial, so they are the only candidates for a mixed habitat. Of those, 10 are confirmed group-living by Frontier's own text and 1 are unverified — both are listed rather than presented as equally safe.

Species	Biome	Enclosure	Verdict	Evidence
African Savannah Elephant	DesertSavannahWetlands	Habitat	Likely OK	African Savannah Elephant “Elephants are social animals, the exception being mature males who usually live alone. Females live in closely bonded family herds…”
Asian Elephant	RainforestSavannahWetlands	Habitat	Likely OK	Asian Elephant “Elephants are mostly social animals, with females living, travelling and foraging in tight-knit herds with their calves. They will…”
Cape Buffalo	SavannahWetlands	Habitat	Likely OK	Cape Buffalo “Cape buffalo live in herds made up of related female groups, with bachelor groups and solitary dominant males on the periphery of the female group.”
Golden Lion Tamarin Deluxe	Rainforest	Habitat	Likely OK	Golden Lion Tamarin “Golden lion tamarins are highly social primates. They live in family groups of 2 to 8 individuals, usually consisting of a breedin…”
Grey Wolf	DesertRainforestSavannahTaigaTemperateTundra	Habitat	Likely OK	Grey Wolf “Wolves are very social animals that live in family packs. An average pack contains one alpha male, one alpha female, their young a…”
Ring-Tailed Lemur	Rainforest	Habitat	Likely OK	Ring-Tailed Lemur “Ring-tailed lemurs live in family groups of up to 30 individuals called 'troops' that will travel and forage together. The females…”
Siamang	Rainforest	Habitat	Likely OK	Siamang “Siamangs live in family groups made up of a monogamous breeding pair with their immature offspring, usually 2 to 3 juveniles. They…”
Sumatran Orangutan	Rainforest	Habitat	Likely OK	Sumatran Orangutan “Occasionally, a male and female may travel together for a time, but orangutans generally live alone, except for a mother and her young.”
Western Chimpanzee	Rainforest	Habitat	Likely OK	Western Chimpanzee “Chimpanzees are very social animals, living in large groups in the wild. Males are dominant in chimpanzee society, with their age…”
Western Lowland Gorilla	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Likely OK	Western Lowland Gorilla “Gorillas are social animals, living in small groups with an approximately even split of male and females. There will usually be on…”
Eurasian Beaver	Lakes & RiversTaigaTemperate	Habitat	Unverified	Frontier has not stated a social structure for this species.

Rule: two animals can share an enclosure only when they share a biome and an enclosure type. Likely OK means Frontier's own Social & Reproduction text says both species live in groups; Unverified means the data does not say, so we do not guess. Pair-by-pair table: compatibility chart.

Same biome, but not compatible

14 of the species that accept the Lakes & Rivers / Rainforest / Wetlands biome cannot share an enclosure with the Gharial, 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
African Leopard	RainforestSavannah	Habitat	African Leopard is solitary “African leopards are solitary except for a mother raising her cubs.”
Common Hippopotamus	Lakes & RiversSavannahWetlands	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…”
Galápagos Giant Tortoise	Rainforest	Habitat	Galápagos Giant Tortoise is solitary “Giant Galápagos tortoises are solitary but do tolerate each other. Saddleback males are particularly aggressive towards each other during the mating season.”
Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo	Rainforest	Habitat	Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo is solitary “Goodfellow’s tree-kangaroos are largely solitary, except for a mother and her joey, and when brief pair bonds form between males and females during breeding.”
Grizzly Bear	TaigaTemperateTundraWetlands	Habitat	Grizzly Bear is solitary “Grizzly bears are solitary, the only exception being a mother with her cubs. They only interact with each other to mate or fight over mates.”
Komodo Dragon	MangroveRainforestWetlands	Habitat	Komodo Dragon is solitary “Komodo dragons are solitary creatures, but they will group together to feed and mate. When in groups, the largest male is dominant; he will…”
Malayan Tapir	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Malayan Tapir is solitary “Malayan tapirs are often solitary but may also be found in monogamous pairs with their young offspring or in temporary feeding groups. They are tolerant of other individuals.”
Nile Monitor	SavannahWetlands	Habitat	Nile Monitor is solitary “Nile monitors are solitary animals and prefer to be alone.”
North Sulawesi Babirusa	Rainforest	Habitat	North Sulawesi Babirusa is solitary “Babirusa females tend to live in small groups made up of sisters and their offspring under two years old. Mature males live alone but will c…”
Saltwater Crocodile	EstuarineMangroveRainforest	Habitat	Saltwater Crocodile is solitary “Saltwater crocodiles are solitary, territorial and extremely aggressive. Males will tolerate females living on their territory, and females…”
Sumatran Tiger	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Sumatran Tiger is solitary “Sumatran tigers are solitary animals. They only interact with each other to mate, with the exception of a mother with her cubs.”
Sun Bear	RainforestWetlands	Habitat	Sun Bear is solitary “Sun bears are solitary, with the exception of a mother with her cubs. They only interact to mate.”
Sunda Pangolin	Rainforest	Habitat	Sunda Pangolin is solitary “Pangolins are solitary animals and spend their time alone, except during the mating season and when a mother is with her infant.”
Wild Boar	RainforestSavannahTemperateWetlands	Habitat	Wild Boar is solitary “Female wild boars live in sounders led by an old matriarch, consisting of non-breeding females and mothers with their offspring. Adult males…”

Close, but ruled out by enclosure type

38 species share at least one biome with the Gharial 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, Amazonian Giant Centipede, American Bullfrog, Axolotl, Blunthead Cichlid, Boa Constrictor, Boeseman's Rainbowfish, Brown Trout, Clown Loach, Common Bluetongue, Common Rudd, Danube Crested Newt, Diamondback Terrapin, Eurasian Bittern, Fire Salamander, Giant Forest Scorpion, Giant Gourami, Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect, Giant Slippery Frog, Giant Tiger Land Snail, Golden Poison Frog, Goliath Beetle, Great Hornbill, Greater Flamingo, Javan Green Magpie, Lehmann's Poison Frog, Long-Eared Owl, Long-Tailed Parakeet, Menelaus Blue Morpho, Mexican Redknee, Monarch, Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Shoebill, Sri Lankan Rose, Toco Toucan, West Indian Manatee, White-Tailed Sea-Eagle, Yellow Anaconda

Behaviour, size and weight

Gharial is classed as Social in Frontier's Social & Reproduction notes: “While gharials may live in close contact with each other – as well as compete for sandy riverbanks to use as basking sites – they are not social animals. Despite this, they are unlikely to f…” On size the game lists 4.40 m (length) for the male and 2.70 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.

FAQ

Related

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