Once again it’s time to continue with my slow-burn zoo review series. I’ve just returned from a trip to Tokyo, you see, and while there I visited two zoos. Today we look at the first of them: Ueno Zoological Gardens (usually just called Ueno Zoo), located in Ueno Park in Taito City, central Toyko…
Caption: some zoos have awesome, attractive entrances. Ueno Zoo... maybe not so much. Having said that, this isn't the main entrance, but the alternative front entrance to the west. Image: Darren Naish.
Ueno Zoo – generally regarded as Japan’s flagship zoological collection – is similar in size to London Zoo (about 35 acres) and is old as zoos go, having been founded in 1882. It started out as a menagerie connected to the National Museum of Natural History, built on land owned by the imperial family; it transitioned to government ownership in 1924. Over its long history, the zoo has been notable in its breeding of Giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca (which have been at the zoo since 1972), Aye-aye Daubentonia madagascariensis and Pygmy hippo Choeropsis liberiensis, but like other old zoos worldwide it suffers from the fact that many of its enclosures are old-fashioned and not of satisfactory size for the animals, especially the big ones. Having said that, I didn’t see any indication that animals of any sort were poorly cared for, and indeed it was obvious that modernisation had occurred where space allowed. I will avoid talking about the zoo’s history during WWII because… oh boy, it’s not a pretty story.
Anyway… the south-west quadrant of the zoo is occupied by the enormous Shinobazu Pond, much of which was covered by lotus at the time of our visit. Islands at the edges of the pond – some connected to the mainland by walkways – are home to lemurs (more on that later) as well as to pelicans and other birds.
Caption: Shinobazu Pond as seen from Aesop Bridge, looking west. Obviously, it was over-run with lotus at the time of our visit. A Great egret Ardea alba is visible in the middle of shot but other wild birds were present in the pond at the same time. Image: Darren Naish.
Caption: I was impressed with the signage at Ueno Zoo, and this extended to discussion of wild animals occurring in the grounds. This large sign at the edge of Shinobazu Pond points out which bird species are likely to be observed. Image: Darren Naish.
For reasons of location and history, Ueno Zoo today exists on either side of a large road (Dobutsen dori Street) and is thus split in two, its halves being termed the West Garden and East Garden. Visitors have to cross a high bridge (Aesop Bridge) to get from the western half to the eastern one. In the discussion that follows here, I’m going to talk about exhibits and their animals as I encountered them on my walk through the zoo, rather than in phylogenetic order or anything like that.
Caption: zoos should, where possible, have sections that look like 'natural' environments, meaning that we need plants, rock faces and natural waterways. I'm not pretending that this is anything other than simulated, but we're simple animals and the simulation is good enough to work. This rock garden is located close to Tiger Forest. Warning signs noted that Japanese honeybees were nesting in this area. Image: Darren Naish.
On entering Benten Gate at the far south of the West Garden (Shinobazu Pond being to your left), you immediately pass a children’s zoo with domestic rabbits, guinea-pigs and so on. I and my companions entered via the West Garden, but the main entrance is actually in the East Garden. The pond is used by numerous locally occurring wildfowl and other waterbirds and good signage alerts you to what species you might see. Only Eastern spot billed duck Anas zonorhyncha, Great egret and Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo were visible during my visit, though the massive amount of vegetation covering the pond meant that ducks, grebes and rails would have been mostly invisible.
Caption: select animals from the small house near Benten Gate. Left to right: Asian swamp eel Monopterus albus (swamp eels aren't eels at all but a very odd group of acanthomorphs), Reeve’s turtle Mauremys reevesii and Chinese softshell turtle Pelodiscus sinensis. Captive softshells are often perpetually moving and thus hard to photograph well; this juvenile (carapace length about 8 cm; in an adult it's over 30 cm) was co-operative enough to pause and stick its head and neck out of the water at least once. Images: Darren Naish.
A small educational facility nearby houses tanks holding swamp eel, Reeve’s turtle, Chinese softshell turtle and various impressive insects, including mantids. Several birds are also on show in this part of the zoo, including Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae, Japanese night heron Gorsachius goisagi, Oriental white stork Ciconia boyciana and – on the far side of the pond – Cackling geese Branta hutchinsii.
Caption: an avian montage. At left, Emu (the pixely look isn't because of a camera malfunction but because of the screen-like mesh around the enclosure). Upper right: Japanese night heron, one of two extant Gorsachius species (and which are no longer included in Nycticorax). Lower right: a view through two different enclosures at the same time, showing Cackling goose at left, crane in the middle, and Oriental white stork at right. Images: Darren Naish.
To the pandas! Pretty soon, you approach Panda Forest, a recently constructed building complex housing Giant panda, where you have to join a queue. People are allowed into the building in groups of about 15 at a time and the staff and signage inform you that you’re not allowed to linger at one spot for more than a few minutes. The great joke about Giant pandas at zoo is that you might queue for an age only to then catch a glimpse of the top of the back of a motionless, sleeping panda that’s hardly visible behind the throng of people in front of you.
Caption: one of the buildings housing the zoo's two Giant panda, as seen from the middle of the queue. You enter through large, 'traditional' (maybe Edo style) wooden doors at the side. The now defunct monorail is overhead. Image: Darren Naish.
Caption: Shin Shin, a female at Ueno Zoo, doing what a Giant panda does. That's mostly eating and sitting. Here's your regular reminder that the Giant panda isn't 'the panda': that honour goes to the Red or Lesser panda, the panda that became known to science and to Europeans first. Hence Giant panda. And, yes, it's a bear, not a close relative of actual pandas, or raccoons, as was considered correct during the mid 20th century. Images: Darren Naish.
This was very much not the case here. We only queued for about 20 minutes and the number of people allowed in meant that we could get close to the glass. The pandas were readily visible, as you can see from my photos. The zoo currently has two: Shin Shin, a female, and Ri Ri, a male. They’re bred on several occasions. Both arrived from China in 2011. I’ve seen Giant pandas at three zoos now, most notably at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (aka PandaBase) in Sichuan, China. I’m of the opinion that bears in general are not built for life in captivity. They require access to massive space and constant behavioural occupation, and confinement very quickly leads to depression and psychosis. But I don’t think that this is necessarily the case for Giant pandas, mostly because they spend so much of the day sitting in the same place, eating bamboo.
Caption: we take it for granted that what are among the weirdest and most specialized of birds are, actually, quite easy to keep, rear and breed in captivity. Maybe this reflects how tough and adaptable flamingos are. Flamingos can live to 50 years or more in captivity, so you're likely to see the same bird(s) if you visit the same zoo more than once within your lifetime. Image: Darren Naish.
The hallowed Shoebill. Nearby, an old African, Cape or Jackass penguin Spheniscus demersus exhibit was empty of actual penguins and American flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber were on show. But the centre of the western half is dedicated to an animal that Ueno Zoo is now quite famous for: the Shoebill Balaeniceps rex. Don’t call it ‘Shoebill stork’, since it’s not a stork nor closely allied to them.
Caption: Shoebill 1, here photographed as it moved its head about and slowly moved its legs and feet. It did eventually walk left and into its house. Shoebills are long-legged kin of pelicans, despite old arguments that they might be storks. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: at left, a close-up of Shoebill 1. At right, the rather smaller Shoebill 3. Like all modern animals, the Shoebill is no more 'prehistoric' than you are, but of incidental interest is that some claimed 'pterodactyl' and monster bird sightings from tropical Africa might have been misinterpreted Shoebill observations. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: Shoebill 2 as seen from behind, or obliquely so. Note the way the feathers grow horizontally backwards to form a midline dorsal ridge beneath the crest, and how the pupil is still visible even from this angle (meaning that the bird potentially has a field of vision well exceeding 180 degrees). Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: Shoebill 2, a large individual that spent a bit of time moving its head around while I was watching it. Shoebills can reach 1.5 m in standing height and have a wingspan of 2.6 m. A big male might weigh over 5 kg. Images: Darren Naish.
The zoo houses three Shoebills and all were showing during the time of my visit. They weren’t doing much apart from standing around and occasionally taking the odd step, but one did shake its head from side to side in an interesting manner at one point. I don’t think I’ve ever seen live Shoebills before and I took numerous photos of all three, sometimes from angles I haven’t seen before (have you ever actually looked at the back of a Shoebill’s head?). The Shoebill enclosures are spacious and well planted, but don’t include the sort of massive papyrus stands that Shoebills favour in the wild. If they did, I don’t think that we’d get to see much of the birds.
Caption: the enclosure belonging to Shoebill 1. I think it looks pretty good, and is appropriately spacious for the animal. It's said of raptors that they'll happily sit on a perch for 20 hours a day and be apparently happy so long as they get those short bouts of flying and eating. I think that the same might be true of quite a few birds. Not parrots, not corvids. Image: Darren Naish.
Ueno Zoo knows what a big deal Shoebills are, and numerous Shoebill-related products were on sale. More on that matter later. Shoebills are officially listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in terms of conservation status and things are worrying: there are likely less than 5000 individuals in existence and a long list of issues affect them, including illegal trade, hunting, human disturbance, habitat deterioration and drought.
Caption: none of the Shoebills were especially close to the fences when I was at the zoo, but I can buy that they might have a decent bite. I like that little cartoon. Image: Darren Naish.
At the time of writing, I don’t know what the deal is with respect to captive breeding but I do know that a nest protection and reintroduction programme exists in the Bangweulu Wetlands of Zambia. Shoebills produce two eggs but one of the chicks always dies or is killed by its sibling, so a scheme exists whereby the ‘waste’ chick is rescued, raised to fledging, and released. Read about this scheme and adopt a chick yourself here!
Caption: nice art on the walls of the Small Mammal House. Bats (vesper bats of some sort, I think) and a tree squirrel.... Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: ..... and flying squirrels in action! I'm not sure if the zoo currently has flying squirrels of any sort, but this wasn't the only flying squirrel imagery at the Small Mammal House, so I'm pretty sure they've had them in the past at least. Image: Darren Naish.
‘Small Mammals’: marsupials, aardvarks, echindas, shrews and more. Moving now away from the Giant pandas, Red pandas Ailurus fulgens – the actual pandas – are on show too, and are adjacent to a very impressive Small Mammal House. I like bass reliefs and other aspects of zoo architecture that reflect a zoo’s history and occupants, and this building is one of the best examples, its outsides being decorated with grand artwork depicting bats, squirrels and fishing owls.
Caption: Common marmoset at left, Naked mole-rat exhibit at right. There's some material in the Tet Zoo archives on mole-rats (naked and otherwise) but good luck finding a non-ruined version. Naked mole-rats were conventionally argued to be the most specialized (and, presumably, geologically youngest) of mole-rats but fossil and molecular data shows them to be one of the oldest lineages within the group (apparently diverging from other mole-rats in the Late Eocene, over 34 million years ago). Images: Darren Naish.
Indoors, a daylight section included Common marmoset Callithrix jacchus, a number of Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul (there’s total inconsistency on whether its name should be written Pallas’s, Pallas’ or Pallas; my favourite solution is to give up and use the Kyrgyz name Manul), a Naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber colony (not a first for me, since I’ve also seen them in Oregon Zoo), what I think were Common degu Octodon degus, and Southern three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes matacus.
Caption: a Pallas’s cat montage, showing playful and highly active kittens as well as at least one of their more sedate parents (the animal sat on the box). Three kittens were born during April this year, so we were lucky to see them at this stage of life. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: a relaxing degu group. I'm assuming – I hope correctly – that these are Common degu, one of five species within the genus Octodon. These are mostly animals of Chile, but Ricardo Ojeda's degu O. ricardojeda (only recognized as a distinct species in 2020) has a range that extends into western Argentina as well. Image: Darren Naish.
More interesting was the night-time section of the house. Low, red tint lighting and my lack of a good low-light camera, combined with constant movement from the animals themselves, means that my photos are poor to terrible, but there were a great many animals here that I was very happy to see, mostly for the first time. They include Asian house shrew Suncus murinus (surprisingly big if you’ve only seen ordinary, European shrew species before), Short-beaked echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus, Six-banded armadillo Euphractus sexcinctus, Aardvark Orycteropus afer, Woylie or Brush-tailed rat kangaroo Bettongia penicillata, Greater Egyptian jerboa Jaculus orientalis, Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby Galagoides demidoff (though still included in the old, inclusive version of the genus Galago according to the signage) and Spectral tarsier Tarsius tarsier. That’s an impressive collection, and of note is that all the animals here were out and about, and active.
Caption: smaller mammals from the nocturnal section of the Small Mammal House, House shrew at left and Brush-tailed rat kangaroo, Woylie, or Brush-tailed bettong at right. There can't be many zoos that have shrews of any sort on show. Images: Darren Naish.
Captions: at least three aardvarks were on show, all in two connected rooms. I have to say that this was a bland, clinical exhibit. Aardvarks are highly variable across their range and multiple subspecies have been recognized historically. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: more badly photographed mammals from the nocturnal section of the Small Mammal House, namely Greater Egyptian jerboa and very blurry Short-beaked echidna. The echidna was constantly on the move and this is the best of my photos, ha. Images: Darren Naish.
African megamammals. Moving now to the far north-west, the western edge of the zoo is home to hippos of both species as well as Eastern black rhino Diceros bicornis michaeli (pretty unusual to have Black rhinos in a zoo identified to subspecies). Rothschild’s giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata / G. reticulata was present too. A noteworthy aspect of the zoo’s history with respect to giraffes is that it was home to two spotless giraffes, one called Ryoko and one Toshiko, born in 1967 and 1972. I didn’t get to see the hippos for time reasons. Jiro, a bull Common hippo Hippopotamus amphibius, died at the zoo in 2022 at a very respectable 38 years old. An Okapi Okapia johnstoni was formerly on show next to the giraffes but died in 2023 and the enclosure was empty at the time of my visit.
Caption: Ueno Zoo currently has two Black rhinos, Argo the female (here at left) and Maro the male. Maro has lots of black staining around the top and sides of his head; I don't know what this represents but wonder if it comes from rubbing his head against objects in the enclosure. The kind of wear that rhinos have on their horns is also interesting and says lots about their behaviour and personal habits. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: more views of Maro the male Black rhino. He was born in 2000; Argo was born in 1995. Captive black rhinos live into their fourth, fifth or sixth decades (the oldest on record died at age 57), well beyond the 18 considered average for wild ones. Images: Darren Naish.
While all of the enclosures for these animals looked well designed, with pools, planted areas, trees and rocky faces, they were – as mentioned earlier – very much on the small size given the size of their denizens. I didn’t get the impression that the animals were morose or especially bored (if anything, the contrary), but it did definitely seem that their spaces were not sufficiently big.
Caption: Argo the rhino in her enclosure. The pool in the foreground is empty; that in Maro's enclosure was not and he spent some time walking in and out and sloshing around in the water. Image: Darren Naish.
I was excited to learn that a reptile house – labelled Vivarium – is present nearby… but it was closed! The building did have rather brutalist overtones, this perhaps meant to superficially convey the rough form of its tenants (it’s not old, having been built in 1999). A Komodo dragon and giant tortoise statue were nearby.
Caption: the vivarium, though sadly closed. Frustrating, as I'm pretty sure it would have housed reptile and amphibian species unfamiliar to a visitor of European zoos. Image: Darren Naish.
Caption: imagery on the outside of the vivarium, I think giving some idea of what should be in there. I haven't tried to work out what species of crocodile is shown at left, but I think it's a Nile croc Crocodylus niloticus. A giant salamander is at lower right. Image: Darren Naish.
Caption: the life-sized Komodo dragon statue near the Vivarium. It has some issues with its forelimbs but is fun nonetheless. Tokyo is sufficiently hot and sunny in the summer that metal statues can become very warm to the touch, hence the 'don't touch' sign on the cone. Then again, this can happen even here in the UK: the Pygmy hippo statue at my local zoo (Marwell) can get hot in the sun as well. Image: Darren Naish.
Madagascar ahoy. Finally for the West Garden – and taking us back to the edge of Shinobazu Pond – we come to Aye-aye Forest, a section dedicated to the endemic wildlife of Madagascar. Enclosures (some on islands, as mentioned earlier) are home to Aye-aye, Black-and-white ruffed lemur Varecia variegata, Black lemur Eulemur macaco and Ring-tailed lemur Lemur catta. Radiated tortoise Astrochelys radiata are present too. I understand that a Fossa Cryptoprocta ferox was in the collection until recently (perhaps this year), but has died.
Caption: Radiated tortoise at left, male Black lemur at right. The Radiated tortoise is mid-sized (carapace length is typically around 30 cm) and individuals have exceeded 180 years in age. Black lemurs are unique to Madagascar's north-west (and adjacent islands) and are famously dimorphic; females are brown or orange-brown with white ear tufts. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: Shinobazu Pond again, this time showing part of the Madagascar exhibit at its eastern edge, hence the model baobab. Ring-tailed lemurs are present on the island we see here, but I don't think you can see them in the photo. Image: Darren Naish.
What impressed me most about the exhibit was its inclusion of features relevant to Madagascar’s unique biological heritage and history. A life-sized model of a baobab (albeit not a very big one) stands on the island with the Ring-tailed lemurs, and a slightly oversized bronze statue of an aepyornithid – ‘elephant bird’ or vorompatra – and its massive egg stands proud nearby. Animal statues are good, I always appreciate them.
Caption: the zoo's gigantic aepyornithid statue as seen from several views. I like it, though I'm not sure about that bushy head crest. This a fascinating group of birds and we still know so little about them. Images: Darren Naish/Em Naish.
Also nice were two very artful wooden pillars on either side of the entrance to the Madagacar section. As you can see, they feature Malagasy endemics (chameleons, lemurs, tenrecs) but also depict the location of Madagascar within Gondwana and show a symbolic lemur rafting across the Mozambique Channel from the African mainland. That’s a lot of information to convey via carved wooden posts, and what a great job!
Caption: educational, but also artistic, Madagascar-themed wooden poles! Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: more installations from the Madagascar section, showcasing the zoo's history of keeping and breeding lemurs. I grew up imagining aye-ayes as squirrel-sized (meaning about 30 cm in total) so was shocked when I first saw a live one (this was at Bristol Zoo): in total length, they're around 80 cm. Images: Darren Naish.
To the east. Late in the day, we walked across Aesop Bridge and entered the zoo’s East Garden. It’s about similar in size to the western half and contains a greater assortment of larger animals, including bears, big cats, elephants and primates. A massive, jagged mock mountain is the centrepiece of a Japanese macaque Macaca fuscata exhibit. Thanks to the good signage, I learnt that this mountain was built in 1932, making it one of the oldest structures in the zoo, and that zoos with similar features were inspired by this one. In addition, the specific Japanese macaques here are from the Shimokita Peninsula of Honshū and are thus the most northerly occurring of all non-human primate species.
Caption: the majority of the zoo's Japanese macaques spend a lot of their daytime sitting and walking on the sides of their enclosure's artificial mountain, but some individuals can be seen in the moat surrounding it too. Not shown in the photos here are the concrete pools at the side of the mountain. I reckon that someone decided to include heated pools so that the monkeys might choose to sit in the water, as is so famously seen in the Jigokudani 'snow monkey' population. Alas, that's a learned bit of culture specific to that population, not a species-wide bit of behaviour. Images: Darren Naish.
Asian elephants Elephas maximus are housed in Elephant Forest nearby. Due to a number of constraints – timing, the extreme heat at the time of our visit, our initial misunderstanding of the zoo’s layout, and slow walking on my part due to an injury – there’s quite a bit of the zoo that we didn’t get to before it started to shut down at 4pm (zoos in Japan close off certain parts of attractions about an hour before final closing, it seems).
Caption: the Asian elephant house and enclosure are ok, but nothing to write home about. You should be able to make out the trunk, and part of the head and body of the elephant in the house at left. Images: Darren Naish.
As a result, I never got to the Polar Bear and Seal Oceans section or Bird House in the northern part of the East Garden, nor to the section in the south-west devoted to Japanese animals, or the tropical monkeys, bison and prairie-dogs nearby. It seems that I missed a lot: I wasn’t able to get to the area where the bears were, but the zoo’s website lists an amazing four species being on show as of this year (Polar bear, Hokkaido brown bear, Sun bear, and Japanese black bear).
The eastern edge of the East Garden is occupied by Gorilla Woods and Tiger Forest. I didn’t get to the gorillas before the exhibit closed but did see a tiger. I wondered what sort of tiger the zoo might have, given that the majority on show at home in the UK are Siberian Pantheria tigris altaica. It turned out to be a Sumatran tiger P. t. sumatrensis (I later saw a Siberian tiger during my visit to Tama Zoological Park, more on that in future).
Caption: I photographed two captive tigers while in Japan (the other one was at Tama Zoological Gardens), and both made direct eye contact with me, or with my camera at least. In the UK, tigers and other big cats seem to avoid eye contact with cameras... or, that's my impression anyway. This makes me wonder if the zoo tigers of Japan don't have people pointing cameras at them so often. Or am I completely off base here? Image: Darren Naish.
On show nearby are Eurasian otter Lutra lutra, Edward’s pheasant Lophura edwardsi, Australian brushturkey Alectura lathami, Golden-breasted starling Lamprotornis regius, Red-headed wood pigeon Columba janthina, Leschenault’s rousette Rousettus leschenaultii and Brazilian or Lowland tapir Tapirus terrestris. Dhole Cuon alpinus are on show too, or were until recent years.
A notable feature of the zoo, encountered at this point, is the Animal Cenotaph, a monument dedicated to animals that have died at the zoo over its history. Signage explained how a monument was initially built in 1931 close to Gorilla Woods and Tiger Forest but that the present one was constructed in 1975. I also saw an animal memorial in a later visit to Tama Zoological Park and wonder if this is a normal feature of eastern zoological parks. It’s a nice and touching feature that gives pause for thought. Remember that many animals kept in captivity – of all sorts, from lizards and molluscs and fish to charismatic big lizards, birds and mammals – become ‘known’ individuals that keepers and visitors form bond with.
Caption: the zoo's modern animal cenotaph. Note the fresh flowers at left and the well-kept condition of the hedges. Image: Darren Naish.
Raptors, owls, cranes. A large aviary section on the south-east edge of the zoo was mostly devoted to owls and raptors, and I spent some time here as they had some spectacular animals on show. They included several Indian white-backed vulture Gyps bengalensis, Andean condor Vultur gryphus and Steller’s sea eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus of both sexes, Harris hawk Parabuteo unicinctus and Mountain hawk-eagle Nisaetus nipalensis. Owls on show included Japanese scops Otus semitorques, Snowy owl Bubo scandiaca and Ural owl Strix uralensis.
Caption: at left, White-backed vulture with what looks like a full crop. At right, Mountain hawk-eagle. Old World hawk-eagles like this were included in same genus as the American Spizaetus species until around 2005 but molecular data has shown that they don't belong in the same clade, instead being close to the Black eagle Ictinaetus malaiensis. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: spectacular female Steller's sea eagle, a large raptor of north-east Asia's Pacific coastline. A big female can have a wingspan of 2.5 m and weigh 9.5 kg, making this species generally bigger than the Harpy Harpia harpyja. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: male Andean Condor, at left, and Harris hawk at right. Condors are incredible, and yet another bird group where so many parts of their anatomy have been co-opted for display and communication. The Harris hawk is a familiar bird to Europeans and Americans, but maybe it feels more exotic if you live in eastern Asia. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: a view of the raptor and owl aviary section. A number of vultures were kept together in the big enclosure on the left; owls, eagles, hawks and condors were on the right. Image: Darren Naish.
Also impressive was the crane display, which featured three species in adjacent enclosures (so, more cranes together than I think I’ve seen before): Wattled crane Bugeranus carunculatus, Black-necked crane Grus nigricollis and Red-crowned crane G. japonensis. A Secretary bird Sagittarius serpentarius pair were also here and I got to see them being fed. Southern bald ibis Geronticus calvus were present nearby, as were Hamerkop Scopus umbretta but they weren’t showing. I should add here that some – perhaps many – birds kept by the zoo weren’t seen on my visit, either because they were in aviaries that I didn’t get to, or because they were off-show due to current concerns about H5N1 bird flu.
Caption: a crane montage, showing (clockwise from top left) Black-necked crane, Red-crowned crane (in side view and when looking right at me), and Wattled crane. Some cranes have really gone to town on the developing of epidermal lumps and nodules: the red crown of a Red-crowned crane is formed of pointed, red papillae, not feathers as you might guess. Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: a possibly disturbing photo of a Secretary bird scoffing down a chick, whole. Of interest is the timing of nictitating membrane moment and that the rictus (the web of tissue at the corner of the mouth) is similar in colour to the face, not a wholly separate and differently pigmented sheet of tissue as we tend to expect. Image: Darren Naish.
And that about wraps up all my animal viewings of the zoo. What about those aspects of the zoo that don’t concern the animals on show? An important thing (for European tourists at least) in the Tokyo region concerns access to shade and cold drinks, because boy was it warm and humid during our time there. The zoo was great on these things, there being numerous rest stops and vending machines. We also found the restaurant to be conveniently placed, as well as good, efficient and reasonably priced.
Signs, and statues and statues. Signage at the zoo was very good. All enclosures were well labelled, and big, attractive panels and display boards did a good job of informing you about what was on show. An important feature of zoos for me is the general look of the place, and the buildings, artwork and installations present throughout the zoo grounds. Ueno Zoo does well on those fronts, being attractive and very well landscaped throughout. The walking disability that affected me during my visit made me acutely aware of stairs and steep slopes, and I’m pleased to say that Ueno was good and convenient in terms of access.
Caption: another indication of how good the signage is at the zoo. I consider this pretty impressive as an effort to educate the public (though getting them to actually read it is a different matter). Our fascination with the enigmatic Giant panda has resulted in numerous public descriptions of its skull and dentition, and of its famous 'sixth finger' or 'thumb' (actually a modified pisiform bone adjacent to the thumb). Image: Darren Naish.
I also like statues at zoos. If they’re not especially accurate in terms of anatomy or proportions… well, that’s ok because they’re abstract. If they are accurate… well, that’s great too because they’ve succeeded in depicting the form or feel or size of the subject. The sculptures at Ueno were all great: there were the Komodo dragon, giant tortoise and vorompatra already mentioned, but others I saw included an Asian elephant and one devoted to a famous, and famously endangered, east Asian species specially associated with Japan: the Crested ibis Nipponia nippon.
Caption: the Crested or Japanese ibis is a conservation icon. In Japan, the last wild bird died in 2003 following gradual decline caused by overhunting, habitat loss and other causes. Wild populations persist in Shaanxi Province, China; something only appreciated in 1981. Captive breeding has since resulted in the wild release of birds in Japan and South Korea too. Images: Darren Naish.
On shops and things to buy. Finally… here in the UK I am constantly disappointed by the state of zoo shops. They have a few souvenirs that adults might be interested in – like hats, towels and fridge magnets – but otherwise they don’t cater for anyone seriously interested in zoos, in animals, or in natural history.
Caption: it was obvious from signage, products and things on sale that Ueno Zoo was proud of its Shoebills. I resisted the urge to buy a cuddly one (though I did buy a plush Malayan tapir; how could I not). Images: Darren Naish.
Caption: your zoo has PALLAS'S CATS so, surely, you stock and sell Pallas's cat merch, toys, souvenirs and so on, right? In Japan, the answer is a confident YES. Image: Darren Naish.
Well, Japan has very much the opposite problem. They know exactly what they’re doing and have phenomenally good stuff in their shops, catering very much to an interested adult audience. A zoo that features an especially remarkable and charismatic animal – like Shoebill or Manul or Tasmanian devil – will have a whole section devoted to merch and products featuring that animal, it’s great. High-quality toys, models and figures are present, and (as a collector of such) I was simply thrilled at what was available. Kids can buy and enjoy these things, for sure, but they’re not for kids only.
Caption: as a dedicated and pretty serious collector of animal figures, Japan was lethal. All the animal-themed attractions I went to stocked excellent selections of animal toys and models. The larger figures at the bottom are by Safari and Schleich, the smaller ones that come in the rectangular boxes are by Colorata. Image: Darren Naish.
And that is where we end my look at Ueno Zoo, I hope you enjoyed it. As ever, we finish with my wholly subjective scoring system…
Selection of species: 7 out of 10
Zoo nerd highlights: Giant panda, Shoebill, Short-beaked echidna, House shrew, Aye-aye, Naked mole-rat, selection of cranes together
Quality of signage: 9 out of 10
Value for money: 9 out of 10
Overall worthiness: 8 out of 10
And for previous articles in my zoo reviews series, see…
Tet Zoo Reviews Zoos: Edinburgh Zoo, August 2016
Tet Zoo Reviews Zoos: Colchester Zoo, October 2017
TetZoo Reviews Zoos: the Isle of Wight Zoo, February 2020
TetZoo Reviews Zoos: ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, June 2021
TetZoo Reviews Zoos: Bristol Zoo, July 2021
TetZoo Reviews Zoos: Tripoli Zoo in Libya, January 2023
Tet Zoo Reviews Zoos: New Forest Wildlife Park, April 2024
