German zoo blaze caused by New Year's gesture gone wrong, say police
A Chinese lantern, launched by a 60-year-old mother and her two adult daughters in a New Year's Eve celebration, caused a fire at a German zoo in which dozens of animals were killed, including eight great apes, authorities said. Police in Krefeld, near the Dutch ...
Ueno Zoo's popular monorail halts service after over 60 years
The much-loved monorail at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo halted its service on Thursday after more than 60 years in operation, due to the aging of the train and facilities. The monorail was launched in 1957 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's transportation bureau as the nation's first ...
Life expectancy of chimpanzees raised in Japan is 28 years, Kyoto University team finds
A research team from Kyoto University said Friday that the average life expectancy of chimpanzees raised in Japan is 28.3 years. Satoshi Hirata, professor at the university's Wildlife Research Center, and colleagues calculated the average life span from necessary information, such as birth and death ...
More than 330 coins found in stomach of dead alligator at Nagoya zoo
More than 330 coins have been found in the stomach of a dead alligator at a Nagoya zoo in May, apparently swallowed over a span of decades as visitors tossed spare change into the pond while making wishes. The death of the alligator at Higashiyama ...
Typhoon-hit zoo in Chiba reopens thanks to help from volunteers
A zoo in Chiba Prefecture that was struggling to provide water for its animals due to Typhoon Faxai reopened Saturday, encouraged by a wave of moral and material support from the public. Ichihara Elephant Kingdom, a public zoo in Ichihara, had been closed since the ...
Japanese cities from Kobe to Sendai compete to host panda from China
As ties improve between Japan and China, several cities in this country vie for a chance to host a giant panda, to be loaned from China, at their zoos.
Pillow in shape of Shabani, a photogenic gorilla residing at Nagoya zoo, selling well online
A newly designed pillow based on a famous photogenic gorilla in a Nagoya zoo began online sales in July, earlier than originally planned, after the product became a hit on social media. The udemakura cushion features a picture of Shabani, a Western lowland gorilla residing ...
CITES agrees on near-total ban on sending wild elephants to zoos
The regulator of global wildlife trade will impose a near-total ban on sending African elephants captured from the wild to zoos after a final vote on the issue on Tuesday. Following a heated debate at a meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade ...
The Chinese giant salamander, the largest amphibian in the world, is not cute. Weighing as much as an adult human, it has slimy brown skin, a giant mouth curled to a gormless grin, and puny, mistrustful eyes. It is also one of the world's most endangered ...
Johnny, Japan's oldest chimpanzee, has died at the estimated age of 69, a zoo in Kobe said Tuesday. The African-born male chimp had seen his appetite diminish since around September and he had been staying inside his sleeping chamber since 2017 due to age-related health ...
Life of a panda breeder in Japan is no walk in the park
Despite the workload and responsibility, being a giant panda breeder at a zoo is something 37-year-old Kimiyo Shintani takes great pride in. Shintani's day centers around six giant pandas, including a 4-month-old female cub, kept at the Adventure World amusement park in the small resort ...
'Saihin' wins out in Wakayama zoo's competition to name giant panda cub
A female giant panda born at a zoo in Wakayama Prefecture has been named Saihin, the zoo announced Monday. The Adventure World amusement park selected the name for the 4-month-old, 75-centimeter-long cub weighing over 6 kg from about 120,000 suggestions solicited from the public. The zoo ...
