The Chiba Zoological Park is located in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, east of

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Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and near the shore of Tokyo Bay. The park can be accessed by the Chiba Monorail and is open between 9:30am and 4:30pm. Chiba Zoological Park, Main Gate

Animals

Overview

The Chiba Zoological Park opened its doors for the first time in April 1985, and now includes seven different areas.

Zoological Hall

Easy to access from the main gate, usually the first one to be visited by tourists. This area hosts the pavillon houses where the information desk is located. The Zoological Hall focuses on various species from the tropical rainforest such as nocturnal animals, marmosets, tropical birds and the most famous one of the area: the two-toed sloth.

The small animals zone

Home of the zoo mascot, Futa the

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...

. He became a TV celebrity in 2005. This area also hosts other red pandas called Chichi, Meimei, Meita, Kuta, Mai, Mii, and Genta.

Steppe Zone

This has big herbivores on display, such as elephants, giraffes, and zebras, but also has South African cranes, ostriches and meerkats.

Children's Zoo

This area was designed to stimulate a visitor's interest in wildlife by getting in direct contact with animals such as goat and sheep. This area also hosts horses,

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

, and penguins from

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In this area an explanation of the zookeeper routine also allows the visitors to get a good understanding of what it takes to take care of the animals in the Park.

Monkey Zone

As indicated by the name, this area is essentially focused on primates such as lemurs and mandrills, as well as several other species.

Ancestors of Domestic Animals Zone

In this area, animals such as bisons are hosted and depending on the seasons there can be different ones present (such as reindeers during Christmas time).

Avian an Aquatic Zone

The Sea lions are the main attraction of this area, but other interesting species such as the Shoe-billed Stork are present and attracting a lot of visitors.

External links

* http://en.japantravel.com/chiba/chiba-zoological-park/17914 * http://www.city.chiba.jp/zoo/ {{authority control Zoos in Japan Chiba Prefecture