On my first day, March 4th, I had not realized that most of the museums in Japan do not open until 10 am and I arrived at the park at 9 am. Fortunately, the zoo opened at 9:30 am so I went there first to not waste time.
I actually really loved this zoo because the animals were so active. And unlike China, the vast majority of the animals had fairly nice habitats to live in. The zoo used to have a giant panda, but it either died a few years ago or was transferred but they at least had a cute statue in place of it.
These red pandas were my favorite. So adorable! (sorry for the blurry shots- I didn't want to disturb them by using flash)
I had a great time watching all of the groups of school age children at the zoo. They all have matching uniforms and looked so adorable seeing the animals.
I was happy to note that teenagers all around the world are the same. The girls and boys hang out in separate groups and the boys are continually running around and laughing while the girls shriek with laughter at everything the animals do- especially the gorillas who came crashing up along the glass.
Monkeys- hehe I even saw them pick lice off one another and eat it
And other monkeys hoard oranges
And these unique white tailed monkeys
Owls- one with tufts and snowy white
And the scarlet ibis (does anyone remember this story from 9th? grade English)
Peacock with his beautiful tail in full bloom
Lions- it was amazing just how close I was to the lioness (good thing for the plastic glass!!)
Tiger
Polar Bears- I loved the candid moment I captured of him yawning
Penguins
Black Bears
Elephants
Hippos
A real my little pony!
Galapagos Tortoise who started "running" when the food came :-)
They even had a little tram that you could take that was decorated with these adorable animals- but I thought that the characterization of it was even more cute.
I even got to see beautiful blossoms on my first day!!!
Another great element to the zoo was that they had a five story pagoda
as well as beautiful views of a nearby shrine.
It was all that I could do to restrain myself from purchasing all of these ADORABLE stuffed animals
they even had a red panda one.
And then this African zebra (ok- I don't really know what it is called but that is my made up name for it :-)
And I love how they just have random cute figures all around the park- William said this one was about water conservation
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this zoo- and it was a great way to start off the trip!
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