New Year’s Day 2016 at Tennoji Zoo

For the second year in a row, I celebrated New Year’s Day at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka.  In late 2014, the zoo announced that it would open on January 1, 2015 in observation of its 100^th anniversary.  Apparently, the event must have been successful, because they decided to stage a repeat on January 1, 2016. (In past years, the zoo was closed from December 29^th to January 1^st in observance of the New Year’s holiday.)

This year, the decorations at the Shinsekai entrance included greetings in a number of different languages - an apparent recognition of the fact that the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has greatly increased in recent years.  Walking around the zoo, my impression was that there were fewer special events than last year, but there seemed to be more visitors this year.  One event that was repeated was the give-away of free commemorative calendars to the first 1000 visitors through the gate. 

One year ago, one of the crowd stoppers was the pair of young Jaguars (Panthera onca) that were born August 9, 2014.  Last New Year’s Day, they were still very small and very cute.

One year later, they were almost as large as their mother, and the female cub was even moved into a separate exhibit space next door.  (I think there was a leopard in that space last year.)

The larger size of the growing cubs made the small size of their enclosures even more obvious. 

This year, another crowd pleaser was the rock hyraxes.  There were five of them, and they were actively eating.  The last time I visited Tennoji Zoo in August, I only noticed two hyraxes, and they were sleeping. 

The lions next door also attracted a crowd.

Very majestic…

Another change since last year involved the tigers.  The female tiger Ayako passed away last July 5 at the age of 18 years (quite an advanced age for a tiger).  The very next day, her partner Senichi (12 years old) was moved from the old tiger enclosure to the new tiger enclosure.  Now the two males, Senichi and Kojiro are displayed in rotation in the new tiger enclosure.  Last New Year’s Day, Kojiro was on display in the new enclosure while Senichi and Ayako were still in the old enclosure.  This year, Senichi enjoyed the run of the new enclosure. Somehow, I think he looked more natural in the old place. The old tiger enclosure had more greenery.  In the new tiger enclosure, the concrete walls dominate the scene a little too much.

Senichi close-up

On this day, the younger tiger Kojiro, was confined to the small indoor exhibit.  He seemed to be quite relaxed.

I wonder if the zoo will be open for New Year’s Day 2017.  If it is, I think I will make this visit a yearly tradition.

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on January 1, 2016.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)