The Panda in Kobe

Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

In 2011, when Ueno Zoo in Tokyo received two new pandas from China, “Ri-ri” and “Shin-shin”, the predominantly Tokyo-based news media made a great fuss.  It had been 3 years since the previous resident panda Rin-rin had died at the age of 22 years, and the Tokyo media decided to go into hype-up overdrive. On the day that Ri-ri and Shin-shin were first publicly displayed, it was even reported that some enthusiastic panda fans had been standing in line from the previous day.  Watching the young television news announcers become giddy and excited about seeing a panda for the first time, I thought that the circus in Tokyo was ridiculously comic because there were already pandas living at Adventure World in Wakayama and at Kobe Oji Zoo in Hyogo.  If anyone had really wanted to see a panda that desperately, all they had to do was buy a Shinkansen train ticket and come west.

Since January 12 (Monday) was the “Coming of Age Day” holiday in Japan, I took advantage of the day off to visit “Tan Tan” (female), the resident panda at Kobe Oji Zoo.  Tan Tan was born at a panda research facility in China on September 16, 1995, and will turn twenty years old this year.  Although Japanese young people are deemed to “come of age” and become adults when they reach the age of 20, pandas of that age are considered to be senior citizens.  Pandas in the wild are thought to have an average life span of 15 years.  And while pandas in captivity frequently live into their 20’s, they rarely reach 30.

Below is a photo of the outdoor portion of Tan Tan’s enclosure.  She also has an indoor area that is almost the same size.

Tan Tan lunching on bamboo leaves:

Here is a video version:

Food and Souvenirs

For Panda lovers, a vendor in Kobe Oji Zoo offers panda-shaped Chinese pork buns for 250 yen each.

As for a gift or souvenir, the cute plush panda below was 1300 yen.

And last of all, a photo of the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens styani).  Not related to the Giant Panda, but since it’s such a cutie, I thought I’d include a photo.

Very cute.

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on January 12, 2015.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)