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

Shoebill is one of the 130 Planet Zoo 2 launch species. It is housed in a Aviary habitat, accepts the Wetlands biome, carries a Grade 2 · 1m barrier requirement and is listed at 2.50 m (legspan). It shares a biome and an enclosure type with 5 other species, but the official species data rules out every one of those pairings, so it needs a habitat of its own.

Shoebill

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)2.50 m

Weight (M)—

BarrierGrade 2

EnclosureAviary

BiomesWetlands

StatusVulnerable

Where it lives in the wild
Africa

Shoebill at a glance

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

Enclosure and barrier requirements

Shoebill needs a Aviary enclosure and accepts the Wetlands biome. 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 Shoebill?

Shoebill shares a biome and an enclosure type with 5 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

5 of the species that accept the Wetlands biome cannot share an enclosure with the Shoebill, 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
Eurasian Bittern	TemperateWetlands	Aviary	Eurasian Bittern is solitary “Eurasian bitterns are solitary birds, although will tolerate other individuals outside of the mating season. Unlike many bird species, they…”
Greater Flamingo	EstuarineTemperateWetlands	Aviary	Shoebill is solitary “Shoebills are solitary animals. They form seasonal pairings for breeding but otherwise live alone.”
Long-Eared Owl	SavannahTaigaTemperateWetlands	Aviary	Long-Eared Owl is solitary “For most of the breeding season, long-eared owls are territorial and solitary, with pairs viciously defending their nesting areas from other owls.”
Toco Toucan	RainforestSavannahWetlands	Aviary	Shoebill is solitary “Shoebills are solitary animals. They form seasonal pairings for breeding but otherwise live alone.”
White-Tailed Sea-Eagle	TaigaTemperateTundraWetlands	Aviary	Shoebill is solitary “Shoebills are solitary animals. They form seasonal pairings for breeding but otherwise live alone.”

Close, but ruled out by enclosure type

19 species share at least one biome with the Shoebill 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 Savannah Elephant, American Bullfrog, Asian Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Common Hippopotamus, Danube Crested Newt, Diamondback Terrapin, Fire Salamander, Gharial, Grizzly Bear, Komodo Dragon, Malayan Tapir, Nile Monitor, Sumatran Tiger, Sun Bear, West Indian Manatee, Western Lowland Gorilla, Wild Boar, Yellow Anaconda

Behaviour, size and weight

Shoebill is classed as Solitary in Frontier's Social & Reproduction notes: “Shoebills are solitary animals. They form seasonal pairings for breeding but otherwise live alone.” On size the game lists 2.50 m (legspan) for the male and 2.40 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 Shoebill · Aquarium animals · Aviary birds · Deluxe edition animals · System requirements