Best Zoo in Japan to Visit for Japanese Wildlife

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Pygmy Possum

New Member
Hi Zoochaters will be visiting Japan next year and was wondering what is the best zoo overall to visit on the main island and the best zoo to see a large collection of Japanese Animals (again on the main island).

Would prefer a zoo with a high quality of animal care/not known for mistreating their animals.
 
Many zoos in Japan have a good representation of native fauna, and in almost any of them you will be able to see a good number of interesting species. But probably, and speaking from memory, I would go with Ueno, which has a good collection of native birds, and Inokashira, with small native mammals. However, you can see interesting species in Tama, Zoorasia and many more.
 
Pygmy Possum said:
Hi Zoochaters will be visiting Japan next year and was wondering what is the best zoo overall to visit on the main island and the best zoo to see a large collection of Japanese Animals (again on the main island).

Would prefer a zoo with a high quality of animal care/not known for mistreating their animals.
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Hi!

Do you have a specific species / group of species you want to see?

If not, I will have the same opinion as aramacao and recommend Ueno and Inokashira.
Both have a good collection of Japanese fauna.
 
Mostly just native Japanese animals both common and rare. I'm doing some nature watching and on the last day of my trip I go to the zoo to see everything i missed =). Are Ueno/Inokashira good on animal welfare I know that japan has somewhat lax animal protection rules but my own research led no where most of it was obviously in Japanese which makes sense.
 
Pygmy Possum said:
Mostly just native Japanese animals both common and rare. I'm doing some nature watching and on the last day of my trip I go to the zoo to see everything i missed =). Are Ueno/Inokashira good on animal welfare I know that japan has somewhat lax animal protection rules but my own research led no where most of it was obviously in Japanese which makes sense.
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That sounds great!
If you're only focusing on Japanese animals and skipping the other parts of the zoo, you can go to both Ueno and Inokashira in one day.

If only one zoo is your option, I'll recommend Ueno. It has Japanese mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians around the zoo. I think the species list in Zootierliste for Ueno is pretty accurate.

Well, it's true that some zoos in Japan lack animal welfare. But for Ueno and Inokashira, you don't have to worry about that. If you can't accept these facilities, you'll most likely not accept most of zoos around the world. It's not as good as the best ones in Germany, Australia, Singapore etc but are definitely in better conditions than most other zoos.
 
I think the biggest sin of Japanese zoos is, above all, that they're transferred one of the most obvious details of Japanese culture, which is that everything is small: the cars, the houses… and therefore the zoo exhibits. In Ueno, for example, I've seen rhinos in enclosures that in Europe would be used, at most, for wild boars, or seals in aquariums where we would not even put otters... This is shocking and in some cases sad. But I must say that I have not seen sick animals in Japanese zoos and in general they look in good conditions. I think that the handling techniques, feeding and so on are good and I hope that the aspect regarding space will change little by little.

If you have visited zoos in Europe, Ueno could be an equivalent to any decent European zoo. Inokashira in general seems older, it is more outdated, with quite a lot of fencing, but it is'nt disastrous.
 
Pygmy Possum said:
Mostly just native Japanese animals both common and rare. I'm doing some nature watching and on the last day of my trip I go to the zoo to see everything i missed =). Are Ueno/Inokashira good on animal welfare I know that japan has somewhat lax animal protection rules but my own research led no where most of it was obviously in Japanese which makes sense.
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I visited Inokashira a couple of weeks ago.

Review and current species list here: Inokashira Park Zoo species list, January 2025 [Inokashira Park Zoo]

Photos here: Inokashira Park Zoo - ZooChat
 
Pygmy Possum said:
Mostly just native Japanese animals both common and rare. I'm doing some nature watching and on the last day of my trip I go to the zoo to see everything i missed =). Are Ueno/Inokashira good on animal welfare I know that japan has somewhat lax animal protection rules but my own research led no where most of it was obviously in Japanese which makes sense.
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If you are interested in Nature Watching, Inokashira Zoo has a pair of wild Ural Owls within the facility, in the forested area next to the squirrel enclosure. You can get amazing views of them if you visit in the afternoon around 4!

While I wouldn't say that Inokashira (or Ueno or Tama) is a complete haven for the animals, the facilities are pretty decent. I would also recommend Zoorasia for the Douc Langurs and proboscis monkeys!
 
Dr. Wolverine said:
If you are interested in Nature Watching, Inokashira Zoo has a pair of wild Ural Owls within the facility, in the forested area next to the squirrel enclosure. You can get amazing views of them if you visit in the afternoon around 4!
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I didn't know that! I might have to go back there in that case.
 
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