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LOCATED IN TOKYO, Ueno Zoo first started as a menagerie attached to the National Museum of Natural History.
With more than 3,000 individuals representing over 400 species, Ueno Zoo boasts more species on exhibition than any other zoo in Japan.
It’s home to the Sumatran tigers, western lowland gorillas, zebras, Japanese macaques, red-crowned cranes, white-tailed eagles, king penguins, goats, sheep, pigs, llamas, ostriches, and rabbits.
Not forgetting, Asiatic lions, fennec foxes, kangaroos, California sea lions, reticulated giraffes, Asian elephants, black rhinoceroses, Polar bears, tapirs, penguins, flamingos, slow lorises, and more.
Ueno Zoo is particularly well-known for providing animals an environment similar to the natural habitat. Not too long ago, the zoo replaced its old-fashioned cages of the past with modern habitats, such as the “Gorilla Woods”.
Source: Shutterstock.
More recently, the zoo had its claim to fame when two giant pandas arrived from the Chinese Wolong Nature Reserve under a 10-year lease agreement in February 2011.
The male panda, Billy, was renamed to Līlī while the female, Siennyu, was changed to Shinshin. Needless to say, the pandas stole the show.
But the real show-stealer arrived in June 2017, a new star attraction named Xiang Xiang, Līlī and Shinshin’s baby daughter.
Almost instantaneously, Xiang Xiang gained a huge fanbase and Ueno Zoo struggled to stay abreast of surging public demand for all Xiang Xiang-related information.
The frenzy resulted in stuffed toy versions of the baby panda, just enough to stave off the media and public “hunger” for a while.
In December 2017, the fluffy six-month-old Xiang Xiang made her first public appearance and met her fans for the first time.
“Xiang Xiang delighted viewers as she performed a somersault, nimbly climbed a tree stump and wriggled in her mother’s arms. Visitors to the panda’s enclosure are limited to 400 groups a day December and January, with tickets handed out by lottery,” Nikkei Asian Review reported.
She’s the first panda cub to appear at the zoo in 29 years.
By February 2018, hordes of people were still waiting to see her, with over 1,000 people lining up in front of Ueno Zoo from predawn hours waiting for the gates to open.
And as of her first birthday on June 12, 2018, 870,000 people have visited her since December 2017.
The pandas have helped Ueno Zoo attract more than four million visitors for the first time in six years.
For your viewing pleasure, here are the many adorable faces of Ueno Zoo’s pandas, captured by a man who has been taking photographs of them since August 2011:
A post shared by takahiro takauji (@mainichipanda) on
A post shared by takahiro takauji (@mainichipanda) on
A post shared by takahiro takauji (@mainichipanda) on
Under the agreement, China owns all offsprings produced by pandas on loan.
Xiang Xiang’s return to China will be discussed after she turns two years old when she is more independent from her parents.
For more information on Ueno Zoo, visit its website.
The post The many faces of Ueno Zoo’s pandas appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com