Warthogs are one of the best starter animals in Planet Zoo 2. They're cheap to buy, they breed quickly, and their babies go straight into release groups for conservation credits. A good warthog habitat is also a nice place to practise the building tricks you'll use on every other habitat.
Why start with warthogs
- Cheap and available early. In Franchise mode they're one of the low-tier animals you can buy straight away, alongside beavers and wild boar.
- Fast breeding. Piglets arrive regularly, so you'll always have animals for release groups.
- Good credits. A female sounder release group (four females) sent to the Great Rift Valley reserve earned me 58 conservation credits in one go. Young males go out as a male bachelor herd of three.
- Reserve role. They count as a soil rooter, which helps grassland and savanna ecosystems.
Gold-rated animals cost more on the market (a gold male was 120 credits, gold females around 70), but for a starter group, ordinary animals with no red traits are fine.
Barrier: 1.25 m, with a trick
Warthogs jump, so the barrier has to be at least 1.25 m. That's high enough to block a lot of the view for guests. The fix I use everywhere:
- Draw paths around the habitat first, hugging the walls.
- Lower the terrain on the animal side of the barrier.
- Now the wall is 1.25 m tall for the warthogs but only about 80 cm from the guest side, so people can see straight in.
Use the curved barrier tool so the habitat has soft, flowing edges instead of square corners.
Ground and plants
The game is happy to accept quite a lot of grass in a warthog habitat, but a pig pen covered in neat lawn looks wrong. Here's what I do:
- Paint the visible part of the habitat with muddy, mixed soil.
- Warthogs still want some short grass. Paint a strip of short grass behind the habitat where guests can't see it, then extend the barrier (an invisible "null" barrier works) to include that strip. The animals get their grass and the habitat still looks muddy.
- Add some water inside the habitat. The muddy water preset looks great here.
Enrichment
The mud bath is the warthog enrichment everyone wants, but it's locked behind vet research at first. Get a vet researching warthogs early. In the meantime, use the standard feeders and toys the welfare tab asks for.
A termite mound makes a great prop and doubles as an education point for guests.
Shelter
Warthogs need covered space. Stilted huts work brilliantly: in the rain the warthogs walk under the buildings to stay dry, and it looks fantastic. A small rock shelter does the same job if you're not doing a village theme.
Group and breeding
One male with up to seven females is the standard group. When piglets grow up:
- Young females → a female sounder release group.
- Young males → a male bachelor herd of three.
Remember that animals you bought can't be released, only animals born in your zoo. So keep your purchased adults as breeders and release their offspring.
Mixing warthogs
Warthogs mix with a lot of African species. Aardvarks are a great match because they're nocturnal: the warthogs keep the habitat lively during the day while the aardvarks sleep.