Ikeda Zoo

Ikeda Zoo is located in a quiet neighborhood of Okayama City in Okayama Prefecture.  Although it appears to be a fairly popular attraction for the local populace, this zoo probably won’t attract many visitors from other countries.  The zoo is mostly built on the slope of a small mountain located at the edge of a crowded residential zone.  Parking spaces are limited and the zoo is some distance from train station or bus stop.  Additionally, most of the zoo facilities look old and dated (information found online indicate that the zoo opened in 1953).  Visitors from countries that have zoos with large, wide open enclosures will likely criticize Ikeda’s many small enclosures and rusting iron bars.  Finally, there is very little English language to be found in this zoo.  The name plates in front of the animal enclosures, the zoo map, and other sign boards are written only in Japanese.

Performing Bear

Soon after entering the zoo, I found myself standing in front of an enclosure housing a large brown bear.  The enclosure looked to be roughly 6 meters wide, 8 meters from front to back, and perhaps 2.5 meters tall. 

In front of the enclosure, there was a small vending machine that, for 200 yen, dispensed capsules containing some type of snack for the bear.  Visitors could slide the treats into the enclosure via a tube adjacent to the machine. The machine was not working at the time of my visit, so I don’t know what type of treat was inside of the capsules.  (If visitors returned the used capsules to the zoo souvenir shop, they could get 100 yen back.) 

When I approached the enclosure, the bear sat in front of the tube where the treats would roll out.  He appeared to be quite practiced at receiving treats from the tube.  He seemed a bit disappointed that I did not insert any treats into the tube, and he eventually moved away from the tube.

One issue often raised about visitors feeding zoo animals is that if zookeepers do not monitor and control the volume of food given to the animals, it could have negative effects on their health. 

Sleeping Tiger, Sleeping Lion

Immediately next to the bear’s enclosure were two smaller exhibits; one housing a tiger, and one a lion. 

The tiger’s enclosure featured an outer area that looked to be about 4 meters wide and about 2 to 2.5 meters from front to back.  It also had an interior area where the tiger could sleep away from the prying eyes of visitors.  On this particular day, I could only see part of the tiger’s tail.

The lion’s enclosure appeared to be basically the same as the tiger’s, except that it appeared to be about 1 meter wider.  The lion can be seen sleeping on the right side of the below photo.

Considering the size of these large animals, I think most visitors would say that these exhibits are very small.  I think most western tourists would say that these enclosures are too small.

Concrete and Cages

The enclosures in this zoo made predominant use of concrete and iron bar design and construction.  For that reason, it was difficult to get a good look at many of the animals, and impossible to take clear photographs.

Monkey enclosures

Pig-tailed macaque

Ring-tailed lemurs

Lemur enclosure

Black and white ruffed lemur

More monkeys

This lemur appeared to be quite old.

Bonnet macaque

More Ring-tailed lemurs

Spider monkey exhibit

Porcupine exhibit

Wild boar and black bear enclosures

Black bear

Hyena enclosures

Hyena pup

Another Hyena pup – very cute, but the bars get in the way of a decent photograph

A small herd of deer was kept in this enclosure built on a slope.

Visitors could buy wafers to feed to the deer

Red Panda exhibit

Meerkat exhibit

American Bison

Reeve’s muntjac

Bird cages: the two (or three layers) of wire mesh and/or rope netting meant to keep the birds from escaping also made it difficult to properly see the birds.

It was possible to get a fairly good view of the flamingoes.

More bird cages

Penguin enclosure

Chimpanzee area

The chimpanzee enclosure was surrounded by a Plexiglas wall.  The reflections caused by the bright mid-day sun made it hard to get a clear view of the animals.

There was a crane game machine which vended fruits and vegetables to be fed to the chimpanzees.

The fruits and vegetables would fall into a cylinder from which the chimpanzees would need to use a twig to extract the treats.  The game appears intended to stimulate the chimpanzees with a problem solving opportunity.  I worry however, that the loud and endlessly looped carnival music of the game machine creates stress for the chimpanzees.  I was in the vicinity of the machine for only a few minutes, and I thought the music would drive me mad.  The poor chimpanzees have to endure the music all day.

Palmer Wallaby

There was a pony ride for children

Small clawed otters exhibit

Siamang exhibit

There was a solitary giraffe

Opportunities for animal encounters

In various places throughout the zoo, there were machines vending feed or treats for the animals.  As mentioned earlier, visitors could feed the bear, the deer, and the chimpanzees.  I failed to mention that visitors could also feed other hooved animals and some turtles. The photo below shows the vending machine in front of the water birds enclosure.

There was a tent immediately inside of the entrance where visitors could encounter domestic animals such as chickens.

Visitors were encouraged to wash their hands before and after touching any animals.

This second tent sheltered containers full of chicks that visitors could pet.

Amusement park equipment

This zoo also featured amusement park rides such as a small two-seater cart which riders pedal like a bicycle.  In the photo below, the blue track for the sky cycle can be seen on the right side of the photo.

There was a room full of video games…

…and a miniature train ride for small children.

Food and Souvenirs

Near the main entrance, there was a small restaurant which served dishes such as ramen and curry.  I visited on a national holiday, and there were also a number of temporary food and drink stands set up in the lower part of the zoo.

There was a small food stand in the upper part of the zoo near the red panda exhibit…

… as well as drink vending machines.

Getting There

While there is a bus route which runs in the general vicinity of Ikeda Zoo, it is a 12 minute walk from the bus stop to the zoo, assuming you know which way to walk.  A more reasonable method for visitors to access the zoo is to catch a taxi at the JR Okayama train station.  The ride takes about 8 minutes, and my taxi fare from Okayama Station to the zoo was 1060 yen.  (For some reason, the return trip taxi fare was only 980 yen.)  Admission to the zoo was 1080 yen for adults, 800 yen for high school students, 600 yen for intermediate school and elementary school students, and 300 yen for children 3 years old and above. 

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on May 5, 2017.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)