Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo entrance gate
Date opened	1882[1]
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates	35°43′03″N 139°46′17″E / 35.7175°N 139.77139°E / 35.7175; 139.77139Coordinates: 35°43′03″N 139°46′17″E / 35.7175°N 139.77139°E / 35.7175; 139.77139
Land area	14.3 ha (35 acres)[1]
Number of animals	2600[1]
Number of species	464[1]
Memberships	JAZA[2]
Major exhibits	giant panda, Sumatran tiger, western lowland gorilla

The Ueno Zoo (恩賜上野動物園, Onshi Ueno Dōbutsuen^?) is a 14.3-hectare (35-acre) zoo, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and located in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan's oldest zoo, opening on March 20, 1882. It is a five-minute walk from the Park Exit of Ueno Station, with convenient access from Tokyo's public-transportation network. The Ueno Zoo Monorail, the first monorail in the country, connects the eastern and western parts of the grounds.

The zoo is in Ueno Park, a large urban park that is home to museums, a small amusement park, and other attractions. The zoo is closed Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday).

  History

The ground was originally estate of the imperial family, but was bestowed (恩賜, onshi^?, forming the first part of the name in Japanese, untranslated officially) to the municipal government in 1924 — along with Ueno Park — on the occasion of crown prince Hirohito's wedding.^[3]

  World War II

Shortly after March 1945 bombings of Tokyo, the Japanese placed U.S. Army Air Force pilot Ray "Hap" Halloran on display naked in a Ueno Zoo tiger cage so civilians could walk in front of the cage and view the B-29 prisoner.^[4][5]

The Japanese Army ordered that all "wild and dangerous animals" at the zoo be killed, claiming that bombs could hit the zoo and escaping wild animals would wreak havoc in the streets of Tokyo. Requests by the staff at the zoo for a reprieve, or to evacuate the animals elsewhere, were refused. The animals were executed primarily by poisoning, strangulation or by simply placing the animals on starvation diets. A memorial service was held for the animals in December of 1943 (while several of the animals were yet dying) and now a new permanent memorial (added in 1975) can be found in the Ueno Zoo.^[6]

  Recent renovations

The zoo provides animals an environment similar to the natural habitat. In recent years, the old-fashioned cages of the past have been replaced with modern habitats, such as the "Gorilla Woods," built after two well-publicized mishaps in 1999.^[7]

  Animal population

  Seals sleeping at their spot

  Llama at the Zoo

The zoo is home to more than 2600 individuals representing over 460 species.^[1] The Sumatran tiger, and western lowland gorilla head the list of the zoo's population. Ueno has more species on exhibition than any other zoo in Japan.

The zoo is often home to zebras, Japanese macaques, red-crowned cranes, White-tailed eagles and King Penguins, along with goats, sheep, pigs, ostriches, and rabbits.

At some point, redistribution of the animals among Tokyo's other zoos (including Tama Zoo and Inokashira Nature Park) left Ueno without a lion. However, in response to public demand, Ueno borrowed a female from the Yokohama Municipal Zoo.^{[citation needed]}

  Principal animals

  Western lowland gorilla at the Ueno Zoo

After the death of Giant panda Ling Ling in 2008, Ueno Zoo was without a member of this species for the first time since 1972.^[8] Two new giant pandas arrived from the Chinese Wolong Nature Reserve in February 2011. The male panda, Billy (比力 ビーリー) was renamed in Ueno to Līlī (力力 リーリー) to emphasize his playful vitality. The female's name Siennyu (仙女 シィエンニュ ‘Fairy’) was changed to Shinshin (真真 シンシン), referring to purity (純真) and innocence (天真).^[9][10] The new names were based on a public poll. The final choices picked by the zoo were, however, not among top choices.^[11] Reduplication is very common in panda names.

Other animals include the Red panda, the Sumatran tiger, the Asiatic lion, the Western lowland gorilla, the Polar bear, the Asian elephant, the Reticulated Giraffe, the American Bison, otters, the red fox, bats, toucans, tapirs, kangaroos, the desert fox, the pygmy hippo, the hippo, the okapi, anteaters, crocodiles, turtles, flamingos, lemurs, pelicans, puffins and the White rhinoceros.

  See also

• Faithful Elephants

  References

  External links

Media related to Ueno Zoo at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website