Wakayama Park Zoo

Wakayama Park Zoo (Wakayama Kouen Doubutsuen), located in the shadow of Wakayama Castle, celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2015.  According to the zoo brochure (Japanese language only), the facility was built in 1915, making it Japan’s fourth oldest zoological collection after Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo (1882), Kyoto City Zoo (1903), and Osaka’s Tennoji Zoo (1915).  The brochure adds that the Wakayama Park Zoo started a significant renewal project in 1967, and reopened in 1970 with two main parts, one section devoted mainly to waterfowl and one section devoted mainly to mammals.  In 1972, a bear enclosure was added, giving the zoo the shape and design that exists today. 

Wakayama Park Zoo is a very small zoo.  The land area occupied by the zoo is so small that you can leisurely walk from end to end in about 3 minutes. There are only a few small enclosures, and only a small number of animals.  It doesn’t have any food concessions, doesn’t have a souvenir shop, and features only one toilet facility.  (It also doesn’t charge admission.) Visitors from other countries who are accustomed to seeing more spacious and more natural looking exhibits will likely be disappointed by what they find here.  Similar to many other old Japanese zoos, Wakayama Park Zoo has many enclosures that feature lots of cages, lots of bars, and lots of concrete.

Waterfowl Section

The centerpiece of this area is a large wire tent housing a number of species of waterfowl.  The overall space of this large tent is a little larger than a basketball court.  The island in the center of the exhibit features a well maintained Japanese garden complete with a replica of Wakayama Castle.  Within this tent, there are swans, ducks, pelicans, and even a seagull.

Mute Swan

Mallard

Muscovy

Next to the large wire tent, there are smaller enclosures for ducks, flamingoes, and a South African crowned crane.

Duck enclosure featuring small tray of water – for swimming or drinking?

Flamingo enclosure

Land Animal (Mammal) section

This area featured farm animals, small mammals, and a few birds.  Apparently, this zoo subscribes to the “Noah’s Ark” strategy of stocking animals – most of the animals here were kept in pairs.  I counted 2 sheep, 2 miniature horses, 2 goats, 2 Patagonian Cavys, 2 penguins, 2 emu, and 2 meerkats.  The enclosures were most remarkable for their relatively small size and their mostly bars-and-concrete construction. 

Rabbit exhibit

American Beaver enclosure with single beaver sleeping in concrete hut

Enclosure for squirrel monkeys and owl

Emu exhibit

Sheep

Indian Peafowls

Meerkats

Humboldt penguins

Patagonian cavys

Goats

Japanese deer exhibit

Bear enclosure

For many, this enclosure might be the most disappointing.  The bear is the most charismatic species kept in this collection, and the bear here is featured on posters and signs as the zoo’s star attraction.  But this enclosure is small, shaded to the point of having a dark atmosphere, and resembles a hole in the ground. 

The very small enclosure has only concrete floors and a small sandbox and a small bathtub pond.  It also has wall paintings illustrating a children’s fairy tale.

The lone resident here is a 22-year old female named “Beni” who has been here since 1994.  (I don't know if she was always alone, but the enclosure didn't seem big enough for two bears.)

I usually don’t like to attribute human emotions to animals, but somehow this bear seemed to emit a pronounced sense of loneliness, partly hiding behind a large rock-shaped wall.  After a few minutes of looking at her, I started to feel lonely myself.

Educational Efforts

On the day that I visited, there were a few volunteers doing educational presentations for the younger visitors.  These seemed to go well.

There were name signs on almost all of the enclosures.  In addition to the Japanese language, some of them included scientific names as well as English names, and some only the English names.  There were no English language translations of the information provided in Japanese.

This apparently handmade sign spotted at the deer enclosure asked visitors to not feed the animals because it could make them obese and sick.

I thought the sign to be quite ironic since one of the 2 deer seemed to be quite skinny with its ribs and pelvis bones clearly visible.  Not at all like the free-roaming deer encountered at Nara Park.

Getting There

As mentioned in the beginning of this post, the zoo is located in the shadow of Wakayama Castle on castle grounds.  The nearest train stations are the Nankai Railway’s Wakayama-shi Station and the JR Railways Wakayama Station.  I used the Nankai line to travel to Wakayama from Osaka, and it took me about 15 minutes to walk the approximately 800 meters from the station to the castle.  The castle is not visible when looking from street level in front of the Wakayama-shi station, so it would be advisable to pick up a map or carry a smart phone that has a GPS mapping function.  Looking at maps, it appears that the approach from the JR Wakayama train station would take about the same amount of walking time.  Once you are within the castle grounds, you need only to circle the castle until you walk into the zoo. 

Admission to this zoo is free.  

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on May 5, 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!)