North Safari Sapporo

Toki said:
It seems that NSS has not yet transferred animals into Fuji Kachoen.

Instead, they transferred out all the animals that were formerly kept at the place to unknown location.
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Are the Fuji Kachoen animals owned by the Fujinomiya city? If so wouldn’t that be NSS just taking another city’s assets* and giving what is less than the initial property they acquired?

*=I know that calling animals “assets” or “property” might make some people go squeamish, but I don’t see Fujinomiya acting as a guardian of these animals in this situation.
 
PossumRoach said:
Are the Fuji Kachoen animals owned by the Fujinomiya city? If so wouldn’t that be NSS just taking another city’s assets* and giving what is less than the initial property they acquired?

*=I know that calling animals “assets” or “property” might make some people go squeamish, but I don’t see Fujinomiya acting as a guardian of these animals in this situation.
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I think the land is owned by Fujinomiya City, but the animals were sold to NSS along with other assets.

This means that NSS purchased the animals and management rights, but declined to do management after taking out all animals somewhere.
 
The city has conducted an on-site inspection of NSS with the help of the city’s Animal Protection and Management Center. The inspection lasted one and a half hours and confirmed the 210 animals that were removed last month and their destinations. However the 335 animals that were not listed in the plan, as previously mentioned, still do not have a confirmed destination.

札幌市 ノースサファリ立ち入り調査 動物の移動実態など確認｜NHK 北海道のニュース

On the other hand the park did post a video, weeks making all videos on the channel private, thanking guests and promoting a meet-and greet event that uses the baby animals in the park.
 
The park posted an interesting update regarding one of its areas on instagram. “Dangerous forest”, an area where owls tied to perches, foxes and raccoon dogs are tied to leashes, and the tiger and black bears are kept in concrete boxes, has been renamed “North Safari Forest”. The foxes have their own enclosure, and the owls and turkey vulture are in a tiny walkthrough aviary freeing the animals from being tied to leashes and tethers. Quite the interesting changes considering the government’s order to demolish all structures in the park.

This other news is something I found late but turns out the park did previously got warned about its tiger feedings. Turns out they lied to the government by just calling it promotional and continued it until recently.

【ノースサファリ】「小屋内でトラのエサやり体験＆HP告知中止を！」札幌市から“指導”＿移動打診された富士宮市でも議会で物議「厳正に対応する」〈北海道〉（北海道ニュースUHB） - Yahoo!ニュース
 
According to a user on Twitter NSS had a litter of two not-Arctic wolf cubs born on April 18th.

I also decided to snoop on the website to see if there are any changes I missed after the new area opened and turns out there is:

The parks “danger zone” experience, a tacky walk through experience that seems more dangerous for the animals than the guests, has been completely removed. Other than the Siamese crocodile and honey badger, the latter of which moved to the main safari area, all the other species from this area seem to be gone. This includes:

Gila monster
Blood python
Indian(?) crested porcupine
Striped skunk
Red-bellied piranha
Alligator snapping turtle
and a tub of superworms

Also gone from the danger forest are the arctic foxes, raccoon dogs, and the bald eagle.

There are also some notable absences in the main North Safari area as well. These include:

Giraffe
Ostrich
Southern fur seal
Raccoon
Caracal

Now these absences do make me wonder how or why NSS didn’t find a home for all its animals yet. Many articles mention that there are still dangerous species such as lions and tigers that hadn’t found a place to move yet. One would think that the bureaucracy to move regulated species would be a reason why these animals still hadn’t move out yet.
However, giraffes, eagles, and caracals are categorized as “specific”/dangerous animals while raccoons are regulated as invasive species, both requiring licenses to keep. If NSS was able to come up with a transfer plan for some regulated species, then why are there others that still don’t have a proper plan yet?
 
NSS announced the death of male lion cub Banna. According to autopsies, which occurred on May 10, two days after he lost his appetite and started to stagger. According to autopsy reports, Banna’s death is a result of type 2 Arnorld-Chiari malformation. Banna’s sister Lana is still alive.
 
PossumRoach said:
According to a user on Twitter NSS had a litter of two not-Arctic wolf cubs born on April 18th.
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The wolf pups are named Theo and Kamuy. However it was found out that Kamuy has a narrow pelvis and femur bones narrower than normal. Kamuy is now in rehabilitation.
 
In a few days NSS will be opening a new area where guests will be able to interact with huskies, a strange behavior for a zoo that is allegedly shutting down in months.
 
It has been revealed that NSS attempted to relocate to another town, however the plans didn’t go through because Success Co. wasn’t able to buy the land in Niki Town, which is a one hour drive away from Sapporo. But Success’s lawyer denies that there are concrete discussions about relocation.

ノースサファリ、仁木町への移転検討も断念…道に相談も土地取得できず


captain alligator said:
I wonder which zoo the Siamese crocodile in North Safari Sapporo will be transferred to.
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I could see iZoo or Punk Machida’s Burden taking in the crocodile.
 
PossumRoach said:
NSS announced the death of male lion cub Banna. According to autopsies, which occurred on May 10, two days after he lost his appetite and started to stagger. According to autopsy reports, Banna’s death is a result of type 2 Arnorld-Chiari malformation. Banna’s sister Lana is still alive.
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Lana has passed away on August 15 and according to her autopsy, it was determined that she died from a brain disorder similar to that of her brother’s.
 
PossumRoach said:
NSS owes 67.5 million yen to the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation and Sapporo city, which gave the park the money as a form of subsidy.

ノースサファリの無許可開発、国の補助金６０００万円全額返還命令…札幌市も歩調合わせる
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NSS refuses to return the money and will fight the case in court. The park claims that the trailer homes bought with the subsidy money aren’t illegal structures.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/sapporo-news/20250822/7000078202.html

Despite claiming to close by the end of the month, 325 animals still remain in the park. Another action that raises suspicions is that the park is found installing a large billboard, despite (at the time of the report) there being less than two months left to operate.
来月末に閉園予定の民間動物園ノースサファリサッポロ　道案内の新たな看板を設置
 
North Safari Sapporo announced it will close permanently on September 30, 2025, ending 20 years of operation. This is the translated summary of their latest announcement on September 29, 2025.
  • The closure is due to building regulation violations, for which the park apologizes to its supporters.
  • Since 2005, the park has valued providing interaction and learning experiences with animals, and thanks supporters for two decades of encouragement.
  • Concerns about the animals’ future are addressed: their care and safety are secured through donations, and relocation plans are underway.
  • The staff express deep gratitude to all visitors and fans.
Full announcement:
ノースサファリサッポロ 閉園のご挨拶｜ノースサファリサッポロ

It is not stated clearly what will happen to the remaining animals.
 
News of NSS’s closure, but in English. I only found this worth sharing because if the ten seconds of footage from the time when the park first opened. Another interesting thing was a visitor saying that they were “able to see the charm of animals they would not have been able to at a normal zoo”. A concerning statement if this is how some roadside attractions are viewed in Japan.

 
The relocation of the animals has been very slow with Success Co. having only relocated a whopping number of 5 animals last month, and 14 more individuals are planned to leave this month.

The reason why I am updating the thread, however, is because apparently a Tokyo investment firm plans to obtain the animals along with some other land Success Co. already owns and plans to build a new zoo with the city’s permission. I wouldn’t be surprised if the previous owner of NSS or someone with ties to the animal trade is involved.

【独自】閉園したノースサファリサッポロ　東京の投資会社が支援に名乗り　市の許可得て動物受け入れ目指す
 
Interesting update: it has been revealed that a litter of twin lions were born in October 29, over a month after closing down. This is highly questionable considering that the gestation period of lions is around three months. NSS announced their closure in March, more than three months before the birth, so they allowed their lions to copulate despite planning to close down in late September.

【閉園決定後に妊娠か】ノースサファリで“ライオンが双子出産”＿256匹の動物の移転先探しは難航中…札幌市関係者「数を減らさなくてはいけないのに…」ノース側は「意図的ではない」〈北海道札幌市〉（北海道ニュースUHB） - Yahoo!ニュース
 
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