Kyoto City Zoo

Highlight

Nestled among art museum, shrines temples and Lake Biwa Canal, the zoo also offers the colorful blooms and leaves of spring and autumn

Animal-visitor interaction is the keyword here

Opened in 1903, the Kyoto City Zoo was at the time only the second in the country but the first in terms of being a zoo established by contributions from the public. Furthermore, the zoo does not stop at just exhibiting, but, in a partnership agreement with Kyoto University, it has worked to enhance and offer the various appealing attributes of animals while also investigating their intelligence.
Completing a 7-year renewal process in 2015, facilities now include those that allow for closer interaction with the animals, with a diverse range of animals split up among six zones: the “Children’s Zoo” where kids can pet or touch certain animals like guinea pigs, etc., “The Beast Room” for exhibiting tigers, jaguars,Tsushima leopard cat and the Eurasian Lynx. “African Savannah” that is home to giraffes and zebras, etc., the “Elephant Forest” exhibiting a herd of Asian elephants, “Monkey World” that is home to apes, such as Western gorillas and chimpanzees, “Kyoto Forest” where animals indigenous to Kyoto are kept and visitors can experience nature.
Moreover, in a move to raise interest in and awareness of animals, the zoo stages various events where visitors can join the staff in feeding animals, take a tour of the animal sleeping quarters in what is known as “Home Check”, or listen to episodes from the work of zoo keepers and vets.