Ueno Zoo Ueno Zoo Review

akasha said:
A ramp led down to the lower level of the house, which was nocturnal. With only my phone, photography was difficult in here, so I don’t have many photos to share.

There were exhibits for Great Balkhan Mouse-like Hamster, Kinkajou, Northern Night Monkey, Small Japanese Flying Squirrel, Sugar Glider, Short-beaked Echidna and Six-banded Armadillo.

One of the highlights for me were the Aardvark which were marching around their exhibit. Though the exhibit is very bare and could do with some enhancement. I saw three Aardvark.

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There were more small exhibits for Brush-tailed Bettong, Seba’s Short-tailed Bat, Harvest Mouse, Prince Demidoff’s Bushbaby, Lesser Bushbaby, Woodland Dormouse, Spectral Tarsier and Pygmy Slow Loris. Lots of these were new for me and will probably never be seen in Australia, so I quite enjoyed the chance to see some of these species.

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Seba’s Short-tailed Bat

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Lesser Bushbaby exhibit

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Spectral Tarsier

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Pygmy Slow Loris

Exiting the Small Animal House there were a series of exhibits for the Animals of Africa.

First was a cage for Barbary Sheep, which was very different to the way I’m used to seeing them in Aussie zoos. I saw a single sheep, though there could have been more in the shelter.

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Next were two exhibits for Pygmy Hippo. The male, Motomoto, was in the first. The second was empty.

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There was an exhibit for Common Hippo, which was small by Aussie standards but seemed suitable enough for the single female, Yui.

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There were two more exhibits for the female Pygmy Hippo, these ones had underwater viewing.

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Momiji

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Natsume

There were two exhibits for Eastern Black Rhino which again were small by Aussie standards but seemed suitable. Female, Argo, was in the first, and male, Maro, was in the second.

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Argo

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Maro

Next was the Giraffe exhibit. I saw three giraffes.

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Adjoining this was an exhibit for Okapi, which allowed for a nice taxonomic comparison. This was only my second time seeing okapi, and unfortunately I didn’t get a great view.

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To be continued…
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Is the bull Nile Hippo "Jiro" still there? I have not heard of him being mentioned there since Summer 2021 nor have I found any news of announcing his death or relocation to another zoo.
 
Tbqh, I feel Ueno is kinda small for many of the species they have. I feel they'd be better off making Tama Zoo the "big animal zoo" while Ueno focuses on a high quality series of exhibits for smaller species with a bias to East Asia and especially Japan
 
tigris115 said:
Tbqh, I feel Ueno is kinda small for many of the species they have. I feel they'd be better off making Tama Zoo the "big animal zoo" while Ueno focuses on a high quality series of exhibits for smaller species with a bias to East Asia and especially Japan
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I recall a family member went here when in Japan ... she felt in quite a manner that the zoo itself had many areas which were very outdated.
Curiously she said little about larger animals - hippo, bears, even elephant - but she recalled being especially distressed upon seeing the conditions for manul and armadillo.
 
dillotest0 said:
I recall a family member went here when in Japan ... she felt in quite a manner that the zoo itself had many areas which were very outdated.
Curiously she said little about larger animals - hippo, bears, even elephant - but she recalled being especially distressed upon seeing the conditions for manul and armadillo.
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Oh yeah even they have pitiful exhibits. My big problem is that many of the exhibits are viewable from all sides like a fishbowl. This is totally unacceptable
 
Great review, yet I can’t seem to wonder why there are almost no really good Japanese zoo (Zoorasia being the exception), they all look so bleak and always have exhibits way too small for their inhabitants. Is this a cultural thing ? Because I'd imagine Japan would have the money to build better zoos !
 
Yeah I was just in Japan this last May and can absolutely attest to the problems regarding size. Many of the exhibits felt like jail cells and the polar bear exhibit is just reprehensible in my opinion. An open air exhibit with very little shade coverage is unacceptable, in Japan especially.

Japanese zoos and aquariums (Marine World in Fukuoka & Kaiyukan in Osaka being other ones I've been to) in general have this problem, and I fear it just comes from a nationwide pattern of not respecting animals' rights to privacy and space.
 
I've had the same feeling on my travels to Japan. And yes, I agree it's a cultural aspecto. The animals seem well, there's no evidence of abuse, and they usually seem healthy. But many facilities are extremely small or artificial. And this happens more frequently with large animals, like big mammals. In general, and although there are exceptions, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and invertebrates tend to have better facilities, but for mammals, they are sometimes veritable prisons.
 
My understanding of this phenomenon is that Japanese zoos and aquariums are designed first and foremost from the point of view of the visitor. The animal always comes second, that's just how it is.

In recent years there is a trend of Japanese zoos talking more about animal welfare (and sometimes even conservation, can you believe), but in practice things aren't changing that much.
My feeling is that Japanese zoo will never build large, natural-looking exhibits and will always prefer exhibits that look more like an actual building. It's more 'reassuring' that way, if that makes sense. Doing things differently would feel like they are not meeting the visitors' expectations.
 
Well, as an exception, you have Zoorasia, which has facilities comparable to those of any good European zoo. Tama also has facilities that are generally large and naturalized, although I found them more boring than Zoorasia's.

I think the general trend worldwide is to build increasingly more naturalized and spacious facilities, although I suppose, as with everything, there Will be exceptions.
 
15.10.2025

I visited Ueno Zoo in 2023 and did a fairly comprehensive review. Today I had a chance to pop in for a couple of hours, and did so to see the Nocturnal House which was closed on my previous visit. I visited with my cousin, so I also took him on a highlights tour, and looked at the couple of exhibits I missed in the West Garden last time.

The Nocturnal House is a small building that’s entrance is located near the tapir exhibit. The first exhibit was for Greater Slow Loris.

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The second exhibit was for Chinese Pangolin, which was the main animal I wanted to see that I had missed last time.

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There was another small exhibit for Greater Slow Loris, but I didn’t see a loris in here.

The next exhibit was for Masked Palm Civet.

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The final exhibit in the Nocturnal House was for a lively colony of Leschenault's Rousette.

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There was a construction barrier up near the Bird House, and it looked like the adjacent aviaries had been removed.

From here I went to see the Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan which were off exhibit on my previous visit.

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Walking past the Polar Bear, I saw that the small exhibit was empty.

The Japanese Macaque exhibit is being renovated.

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Heading down to the West Garden, there was a very long line to see the Giant Panda with a 40 minute wait. I passed this and went to the Small Animal House. As I was conducting a highlight tour I probably didn’t notice all the changes, but the Meerkat has been replaced by a second exhibit for Dwarf Mongoose, and the Aardvark at least had some substrate in their enclosure this time. A few of the exhibits were empty, and ‘closed for renovation’.

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Exiting the house there is an outdoor exhibit for Meerkat, but there was only one individual.

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The Barbary Sheep exhibit was empty and ‘closed for renovation’.

Inside the Reptile House, the Japanese Giant Salamander enclosure had a sign on it stating ‘exhibit cancelled’.

Across the lake, the Fossa has been replaced with a second exhibit for Ring-tailed Lemur.

Inside the Aye-aye forest, all six exhibits were showing Aye-aye. I saw animals in five of them and got much better views than on my last visit. There was also a small vivarium in here for Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

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Continuing the loop around the lake, back on the main side, I took a bit of time to investigate the few exhibits I skipped due to exhaustion and a glitching phone last time. On the lake side there were exhibits for birds. One was empty, the next held Cackling Goose, and the third was for Aleutian Canada Goose, Oriental White Stork and Red-crowned Crane. I only saw the goose and the stork.

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Cackling Goose exhibit

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Cackling Goose

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Goose and Stork exhibit

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Aleutian Canada Goose

On the other side there was an exhibit for Emu. Always strange as a Aussie to see them caged like this.

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Next was an exhibit for Inca Tern, Eurasian Oystercatcher and Black-necked Stilt.

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Inca Tern and Eurasian Oystercatcher

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Black-necked Stilt

To be continued...
 
Following this were two smaller exhibits, one for Black-crowned Night-heron and one for Japanese Night-heron.

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Black-crowned Night-heron exhibit

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Black-crowned Night-heron

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Japanese Night-heron exhibit

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Japanese Night-heron

Opposite them were exhibits for Crested Porcupine and Striped Skunk.

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Striped Skunk exhibit

Next was the farm yard, with Domestic Goat and a few small Domestic Horse. They are Japanese breeds; Yonaguni Horse, Tokara Horse and Noma Horse. I actually love seeing purebred domestic livestock at zoos, so I quite enjoyed this part of the zoo.

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Yonaguni Horse

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Tokara Horse

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Noma Horse

Returning to the East Garden to exit, I passed the American Bison barn, stopping off for a look because they are so close for viewing.

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Bison cow

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Bison bull

Leaving the zoo, I noticed a Tundra Swan in the previously empty exhibit near the Japanese birds.

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I enjoyed my quick two hour visit to Ueno Zoo. While there is a lot that could be improved, there are signs that it's happening, with renovations and empty enclosures all over the zoo. And I finally managed to see the pangolin, which had been bugging me for 2.5 years, so the visit was absolutely worthwhile.

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