Kyoto City Zoo (京都市動物園) is a zoo located in Sakyō ward,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and was established in 1903, making it the second oldest zoo in the country after

Ueno Zoo The is a zoo, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and located in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan's oldest zoo, opened on March 20, 1882. It is served by Ueno Station, Keisei Ueno Station and Nezu Station, with convenient access fro ...

in Tokyo. The Kyoto City Zoo is a member of the world Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

History

;Early years The Kyoto Municipal Zoo was opened to the public on 1 April 1903 with 238 animals representing 61 species. The total area of the zoo was , and the zoo had 6,591 visitors on its first day of operation. A guide for the zoo was first published in 1905, and by its 10th birthday the zoo was home to 274 individuals representing 156 species. In 1923, the zoo opened the Elephant Room and was able to move its elephants from temporary to permanent quarters. In 1927, the Hippopotamus Room was opened. ;World War II By 1940, the population of the zoo numbered 965 individuals representing 209 species. During the Second World War, large carnivores were killed by military order, and other animals died from hunger, malnutrition, and cold. At the end of the war, only 274 individuals of 72 species remained at the zoo. The South part of the zoo was taken over by the occupation forces, which did not leave the zoo until 1952. ;The 1950s-90s The Giraffe Room was opened in 1953, along with a saltwater aquarium (the aquarium was removed in 1968). In 1954, the Sea Lion Pond was completed, and the zoo held its first "Summer School," attended by 180 students. "Fairyland" was opened in 1955, an amusement park that now includes a Ferris wheel, fun train, and dodgem cars in the shape of popular characters. The

Ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

Room was built in 1969, and the Reptile Room in 1974. The Red Panda Room was completed in 1980, and the dome aviary (Water Bird Pavilion) was completed in 1983. This aviary is in diameter and high in the center. Other exhibits completed in the 1980s include the Bird Room (1985), the Senow Room (1988), and the Kyotaro Room (1989 - now housing orangutans). 1989 saw the start of the wildlife rescue operation, though the Wildlife Rescue Center was not completed until 1990. The Beast Room was completed in 1993. ;Recent history In 2003, 100 years after its founding, the zoo was home to 721 individuals representing 175 species. The zoo completed the Monkey Room in 2004, and a new Ape Room, as well as a new East entrance, in 2009. In 2005, facilities have redesigned.

Animals

Animals at the zoo include

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

s, hippos,

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

s, zebras,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, llamas,

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s, Red pandas,

tanuki Tanuki may refer to: *Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'' or ''Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus''), a mammal native to Japan *Bake-danuki, a type of spirit (yōkai) in Japanese mythology that appears in the form of the mammal *A de ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es,

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

es, cranes,

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

s, flamingos,

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s, Humboldt penguins, and sea lions.

Attractions

Other facilities

;Animal data room The Animal Data Room includes skeletons and other information about former residents of the zoo. It was started in 1982 with information about red pandas, and tiger information was added in 2010 (year of the tiger). ;Children's zoo A children's zoo opened in 1955, and lets visitors watch the animals from up close and even touch them. Animals in this area include

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

Guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

miniature pig Miniature Pigs, also called mini pig, or Pygmy pig, are small breeds of domestic pig, such as the Vietnamese Pot-Bellied pig, Göttingen minipig, Juliana pig, Choctaw hog, or Kunekune (and specimens derived by crossbreeding these breeds). Mini ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

s, a

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

, cockatoos,

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s, a Ural owl, and

rockhopper penguin The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins. Some c ...

Wildlife rescue

The zoo includes a wildlife rescue center opened in 1989 and operated in cooperation with Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City. The center rehabilitates injured wildlife for release by the prefecture. The rescue center is not open to the public.

Incidents and criticism

In 1932, a lion had to be shot dead after having escaped from the zoo. In 2007, the animal welfare society "Animal Concerns Research and Education Society" conducted an investigation into the conditions of Polar bears at the 24 Japanese Zoos that keep them, and found all, including the Kyoto Zoo, to be in violation of Canadian standards for animal care. The publication of their findings listed Kyoto Municipal Zoo as one of the facilities in which they found concerns. In 2008, a zookeeper was killed by a tiger while cleaning its cage.

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Japan Buildings and structures in Kyoto Tourist attractions in Kyoto 1903 establishments in Japan Zoos established in 1903