Leaving the Vivarium I passed the Ring-tailed Lemur exhibit, which incorporated a faux boab tree and walkways over the water. It was an interesting exhibit, but I didn’t actually see any lemurs.
I walked along the boardwalk over Shinobazu Pond to the Aye-Aye Forest. If pandas are the most promoted animals at Ueno, I would say the Aye-Aye are the second most promoted, with lots of signs pointing towards their exhibit. I was keen to see them as a new species for me.
The first exhibit in the Lemur Forest area was for
Fossa. I saw one Fossa.
There was an adjoining exhibit for
Black Lemur, which was an interesting change from the standard lemur species displayed in Australia for me.
There were two other lemur exhibits in this corner of the zoo, I believe one was for Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur, but I didn’t see any animals in either of those.
The Aye-Aye were kept in an indoor, nocturnal exhibit. It was very dark inside and took a bit of time for my eyes to adjust. There were signs encouraging visitors to take this time, but most people raced through, glancing at the exhibits and deciding immediately that they were empty.
There was a small exhibit near the entrance for
Highland Streaked Tenrec, which was a very cool critter to see. In the nocturnal setting it was quite active.
The next two exhibits were large ones for
Aye-Aye. They were very dimly lit and had lots of branches. With some patience I managed to spot one in the first exhibit, prowling around up on the branches towards the back. I was able to distinguish it’s shape and the white markings on it’s face. At the second exhibit another visitor pointed the Aye-Aye out to me, right at the back. This one was sitting still and I had to crouch down to see past the branches to look at it. Even though the animals were a bit tough to see, I liked this exhibit, it felt a little like wildlife watching.
In the next section of the building there was a lit enclosure for Aye-Aye, but I didn’t see any.
There was also a mixed exhibit for
Ring-tailed Lemur and
Radiated Tortoise.
Exiting the Aye-Aye house, I followed the path along the southwestern boundary of the zoo, which had nice views into Ueno Park. There was a mixed exhibit for
Cackling Goose,
Swan Goose and
Oriental White Stork on the edge of Shinobazu Pond, which fit into it’s surrounds quite nicely.
I continued across another boardwalk, looking for some wild birds along the way, spotting a nesting Little Grebe and a Grey Heron that was hunting.
This boardwalk ends up near Benten Gate. From here I turned back towards the main hub of the West Garden. There was a small island in the pond, labelled as an eagle exhibit, but it looked to me like it had been empty for a while.
There was a row of aviaries along the edge of the pond, but by this stage the billycart had no wheels left and was about to tip over. My phone declared it had had enough, and so did my brain. I think there were cranes and pelicans, but I can’t say for sure. I did find one exhibit near here for
Striped Skunk which was fun for me because I’d never seen one before.
The only section of the zoo left to explore was the Children’s Zoo. It was arranged to compare wild and domestic versions of animals like ducks, chickens and rabbits. I managed to convince my phone to take a couple more photos, but then it was done. And so was I.
Guinea Pig
Chinchilla and Rabbit
Domestic Duck
I skipped the horses, goats etc. and headed for the exit, checking in at the bison barn and serow exhibit on the way out. I left the zoo at about 4pm.
I really enjoyed Ueno Zoo. There are definitely a few exhibits that could do with a refresh, but overall I think Japan’s oldest zoo is great. Zoo nerds could easily spend a full day there, and at ¥600 entry, I thought about going back again another day except my schedule was already pretty full and I was in Japan as an otaku, not a zoo nerd, so anime things ended up taking precedence.
I was thinking about visiting Ueno Zoo on my trip to Tokyo, but I have to thank
@Zoofan15 for convincing me it was a must-see. I would definitely recommend checking Ueno Zoo out if you’re in Tokyo, both for the species list and the zoo experience.
Any questions? Fire them at me. And thanks for reading
(I will endeavor to add a species list here, but it won’t be complete.)
it should be in the next post or 2.
