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 from several public transportation networks (JR East, Tokyo Metro and Keisei Electric Railway). The Ueno Zoo Monorail, the first monorail in the country, connected the eastern and western parts of the grounds, however the line was suspended from 2019 onwards due to ageing infrastructure until being announced as closing permanently on 27 December 2023.
The zoo is in Ueno Park, a large urban park that is home to museums, a small amusement park, and other attractions. The zoo is closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday).
History The zoo started life as a menagerie attached to the National Museum of Natural History. In 1881, responsibility for this menagerie was handed to naturalist and civil servant Tanaka Yoshio, who oversaw its transition into a public zoo, the Ueno Imperial Zoo. The ground was originally estate of the imperial family, but was to the municipal government in 1924—along with Ueno Park—on the occasion of crown prince Hirohito's wedding.
World War II In August 1943, the administrator of Tokyo, Shigeo Ōdachi, ordered that all "wild and dangerous animals" at the zoo be killed, claiming that bombs could hit the zoo and escaped animals would wreak havoc in the streets of Tokyo (in truth, Ōdachi gave the order for propaganda purposes). Requests by the staff at the zoo for a reprieve, or to evacuate the animals elsewhere, were refused. Ōdachi's order was then carried out with unusual and unnecessary cruelty by acting zoo director Saburō Fukuda. The animals were executed primarily by poisoning, strangulation or by simply placing the animals on starvation diets. A memorial service was held for the animals in September 1943 (while two of the elephants were still starving) and a permanent memorial (built anew in 1975) can be found in the Ueno Zoo.Starving the Elephants - The Slaughter of Animals in Wartime Tokyo's Ueno Zoo , japanfocus.org. Accessed May 27, 2024.
Shortly after the March 1945 bombings of Tokyo, the Japanese placed U.S. Army Air Force navigator and bombardier Ray "Hap" Halloran on display naked in a Ueno Zoo tiger cage, as Halloran later recalled "'the hated B-29 prisoner', naked, unwashed and covered with sores from fleas, lice and bed bug bites", so civilians could walk in front of the cage and view him.War trauma leads to efforts to reconcile , japantimes.co.jp. April 30, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2009.The Autobiography of Raymond "Hap" Halloran haphalloran.com. Accessed May 27, 2024.
In 1949, elephants Hanako and Indira were imported to live at the zoo. After a few years, Hanako was moved to Inokashira Park's zoo in Mitaka and Indira was sent on a tour of Japan.
Recent renovations The zoo provides animals an environment similar to their natural habitat. In recent years, some of the old-fashioned cages of the past have been replaced with more modern habitats, such as the "Gorilla Woods", built after two well-publicised mishaps in 1999."The Controversy over the Value of Zoo Animals: Two Stories about Gorillas in a Japanese Zoo and What They Mean", Kawasaki Journal of Medical Welfare Vol. 6, No.1, 20007-12 Many of the animal enclosures, such as those of the giraffes, hippopotamuses, and rhinoceroses are still the old style single stall concrete cages with very little room for the animals to move around.
Animals
The zoo is home to more than 2,600 individuals representing over 500 species.
Principal animals
After the death of giant panda Ling Ling in 2008, Ueno Zoo was without a member of this species for the first time since 1972.Giant panda Ling Ling dies at Ueno Zoo , Kyodo News, Japan Times, 2008 Two new giant pandas arrived from the Chinese Wolong Nature Reserve in February 2011. The male panda, Billy (比力 ビーリー) was renamed in Ueno to Ri Ri (力力 リーリー) to emphasize his playful vitality. The female's name Siennyu (仙女 シィエンニュ 'Fairy') was changed to Shin Shin (真真 シンシン), referring to purity (純真) and innocence (天真). The Ueno Pandas' Profiles , Ueno Zoo, 2011 PRC Embassy in Japan, 大熊貓"比力、仙女"抵東京 (Giant Pandas Bili & Xiannü Arrived at Tokyo) The new names were based on a public poll. The final choices picked by the zoo were, however, not among top choices. ジャイアントパンダの名前が決まりました (Panda's Names Have Been Decided) Reduplication is very common in panda names.
On July 5, 2012, Shin Shin gave birth to an unnamed male cub that died six days later from pneumonia. She later gave birth to a female cub, Xiang Xiang, on June 12, 2017. On June 23, 2021, Shin Shin gave birth to male and female twin cubs, later named Xiao Xiao (暁暁 シャオシャオ) and Lei Lei (蕾蕾 レイレイ). In January 2026, the pandas were returned to China, leaving Japan without giant pandas for the first time since 1972, attributed to the rising tensions between China and Japan in 2025.
The zoo is split into two sections, connected by a bridge called the Aesop Bridge, built in 1961 and a monorail (now defunct).
List of animals As of 2026:
East Garden Japanese animals Bewick's swan Chinese bamboo partridge Eurasian collared dove Japanese scops owl Japanese serow Japanese squirrel Japanese wood pigeon Lidth's jay Rock ptarmigan
Prairie animals American bison Black-tailed prairie dog
Monkeys of the World Black-handed spider monkey De Brazza's monkey Japanese macaque Mantled guereza
Pheasants, otters, and birds of prey African white-backed vulture Andean condor Eurasian otter Green pheasant Japanese wood pigeon Mountain hawk-eagle Palawan peacock-pheasant Snowy owl Steller's sea eagle Ural owl
Elephant Forest Asian elephant
Bear Hill Japanese black bear Oriental small-clawed otter
Polar Bear and Seal Oceans Harbor seal Polar bear
Cranes, Secretarybird, and Crested ibis African sacred ibis Black-necked crane Northern bald ibis Red-crowned crane Secretarybird Wattled crane
Nocturnal house Greater slow loris Leschenault's rousette South American tapir
Gorilla Woods and Tiger Forest Edwards's pheasant Sumatran tiger Western lowland gorilla White-handed gibbon
Bird House (closed for renovations)
Blacksmith lapwing Black-necked stilt Crested partridge Crowned hornbill Double-barred finch Egyptian plover Elegant crested tinamou Great slaty woodpecker Greater blue-eared starling Indian scops owl Japanese quail Red-shouldered macaw Ruddy kingfisher Southern tamandua Toco toucan Triton cockatoo White-headed buffalo weaver
West Garden Animals of Africa Eastern black rhinoceros Giraffe Hippopotamus Pygmy hippopotamus
Vivarium
Asian arowana Burmese python Daruma pond frog Emerald tree boa European glass lizard False gharial Galápagos tortoise Gila monster Hirasei's land snail Japanese common toad Japanese fire-bellied newt Japanese giant salamander Japanese pond turtle Japanese rat snake Japanese tree frog Miyako grass lizard Saltwater crocodile Tokyo salamander West African dwarf crocodile
Aye-aye Forest Aye-aye Black lemur Black-and-white ruffed lemur Radiated tortoise Ring-tailed lemur
Panda Forest Golden pheasant Lady Amherst's pheasant Red panda Temminck's tragopan
Small Mammal House
Aardvark Bonin flying fox Brush-tailed rat kangaroo Cape hyrax Cotton-top tamarin Eurasian harvest mouse Lesser bushbaby Naked mole-rat Pallas's cat Pygmy slow loris Ryukyu flying fox Short-beaked echidna
Children's Zoo STEP Alpaca Crested porcupine Domestic horse Domestic rabbit Emu Eurasian oystercatcher Goat Guinea pig Inca tern Striped skunk
Miscellaneous African penguin American flamingo Cackling goose Collared peccary Oriental stork Shoebill
See also Faithful Elephants, story of the elephants in the zoo during World War II Tama Zoological Park Tokyo Sea Life Park
References
Further reading Itoh, Mayumi (2010). Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy: The Silent Victims of World War II. Palgrave-MacMillan. . Miller, Ian Jared (2013). The Nature of the Beasts: Empire and Exhibition at the Tokyo Imperial Zoo. University of California Press.
External links
Starving the Elephants: The Slaughter of Animals in Wartime Tokyo's Ueno Zoo by Frederick S. Litten, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus