A Stroll at Ueno Park in Japan and its Famous Zoo

Our walking destination for today was Tokyo's Ueno Park, famous for its lines of cherry blossom trees and its Ueno Zoo.

We missed the cherry blossoms season which lasted from late March to early April, so in place of pink blossoms, we walked through lines of giant green trees, and this one colorful late bloomer. Which was gorgeous!

A Historical Piece

Approaching the main gate of the zoo, we saw this bronze statue of Prince Komatsu Akihito, the imperial prince who served as commander-in-chief of the Toba/Fushimi War in 1868.

The Zoo

A trip to a zoo is a good opportunity, especially for the kids, to see different kinds of wildlife up close and also a learning experience about the diversity of animals in a particular region or country.

Ueno Zoo is best known for its twin giant pandas which were born in Tokyo. It has a good range of rare animals in modern designs of their surroundings or habitat closely resembling their natural ones.

Panda Forest

It was designed to resemble the natural living habitats of the zoo’s main attractions – the giant pandas. Ri Ri, the male panda was sleeping in his cage while Shin Shin the female one was cutely munching on her bamboo food. There was a long queue to see Shin Shin’s twins, in the other area of the Panda Forest, so we did not have a chance to take their photo.

The Gorilla Woods, Elephant Forest, Tiger Forest

The western lowland gorilla, listed as an endangered subspecies of western gorilla seemed at peace and at home in his green forest setting.

We saw a family of three in the Elephant Forest and one of them was swimming in the big pond.

An up-close view of the endangered Sumatran tiger with beautiful fur stripes in natural forest with caves, and big rocks. It was a fun experience facing this amazing wildlife through the glass window.

Seal, Sea Lions, and Polar Bear

There is a big area for large sea mammals like seals, sea lions, and polar bears. They have clean swimming pools with clear blue water just like the ocean, their natural habitat. Through the glass window display the seals can be seen swimming as they would in the ocean or just lying on the big rock.

The polar bear has a big building and a huge pool however he was taking a nap in one corner. He is really huge.

Other Animals and Birds

Ueno Zoo has a lot more other animals and birds. Here are some of those we found interesting and fun to watch

The cute penguins are in a large open-air area and swimming in the pool.

Snowy Owl

Vulture

Macaque monkey

These are black-tailed prairie dogs in the small mammal house. I was just wondering why they are called prairie dogs when they are actually rodents.

The sun bear is the smallest member of the bear specie. It looks like a dog which is why it is nicknamed dog bear.

This trip was really fun for the kids, seeing exotic animals in their habitat. It was a bit exhausting for some of our older company but the weather was lovely.

Another memorable day on our short visit to Japan, the land of the rising sun.

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