New Tiger Exhibit at Tennoji Zoo

(Above photo of Senichi taken November 2013.  All photos below taken June 28, 2014.)

Last weekend, I took advantage of the nice summer weather to visit Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, and I found out that they had unveiled the new Amur tiger exhibit.  A sign indicated that the tigers had not yet taken residence in the new installation, and it looked like the zoo might still be waiting for the grass to grow in.  I also noticed that they brought in a new tiger from the Shanghai Zoo. The new male’s playful personality in front of the visitors, coupled with the fact that the zoo was still deciding his name, leads me to guess that he might be rather young, perhaps less than 1 year old.  (This is just a guess.)

Sign introducing the new tiger and asking visitors to vote on his name.  The possible names appear to be “Kojiro”, “Kodataro”, and “Koriki”.

This is the entrance to the indoor part of the new exhibit where the new tiger is being displayed.  The indoor enclosure is fairly small, and visitors are separated from the tiger by only a glass window, so you get a very close view of the animal.  On this particular day, all of the visitors, both young and old, appeared to be very impressed at being so close to a large tiger.

Lots of “Oohs” and “Ahhs”.

This is the outdoor portion of the new tiger exhibit.  The older tiger exhibit is to the left side.  The indoor area for the new exhibit is to the right side (the pink wall).  The outdoor exhibit area includes 4 trees which are presently surrounded by what appears to be wood panels attached to metal frames.  These “boxes” are intended to protect the trees until they grow large enough to withstand the tigers’ scratching behavior.

This is another view of the new tiger exhibit with the moat visible.  The older tiger exhibit is behind the wall. 

This is the older tiger exhibit, home of Senichi and Ayako, looking from the North side towards the Southeast.  The new tiger exhibit is to the right side of this older exhibit.

This is another view of the older exhibit, looking from the South side towards the Northeast.  The summer vegetation is full and green.  There’s Senichi!  (I wonder if he’ll get a chance to enter the new exhibit.)