Omuta City Zoo

Omuta City Zoo is a compact facility built on about 4.4 hectares wrapped around the perimeter of Enmei Park.  After starting from the entrance, visitors walk a path that guides them past all of the exhibits in the zoo.  Because the zoo grounds wrap around the hilly and heavily forested terrain, and also because signs guide visitors ever gradually to the further end of the zoo, the zoo seems a lot larger than its actual land area.  According to information on a Omuta City Zoo homepage, this facility houses about 271 individual animals representing 55 species.  Since there was basically only one road in and out of the zoo, I will discuss the exhibits in the order that they are naturally encountered.

View of the zoo immediately after entering.

Squirrel Monkey Kingdom

This area was definitely one of the most engaging of Omuta’s enclosures.  It was comprised of a small building housing the monkeys’ indoor quarters surrounded by a small orchard enclosed by a tent-shaped netting. 

The Squirrel monkeys moved about this area freely, and visitors could observe them at a distance of only 2 or 3 meters.  This was the kind of enclosure where visitors can end up spending an hour or two watching the cute little furries.  At the time of my visit, there were 6 squirrel monkees.  There was also a sloth housed in the small building.

Spotted Seal

This enclosure was a simple pool.  For some reason, the water was kept at a very shallow depth, it was so shallow on one end that the seal could sleep with it’s head above the water line.

Small monkeys

This “cage-and-concrete” style enclosure housed Tufted Capuchins and Pig-tailed macaques.  Each monkey’s compartment appeared small.  Unlike the Squirrel monkey area, visitors seemed to spend little time observing this exhibit.

Japanese Black Bear

This small cage-and concrete exhibit seemed very small considering the size of the resident bear.  Not much else can be said about this enclosure.

Turtles and cranes

This hexagon-shaped cage housed a number of turtles and a few birds.  For the largest bird, a Japanese crane, the space seemed somewhat small.

Bird Aviary

This walk-in aviary, a large tent-shaped netted enclosure, was quite large.  At its highest point, it appeared to be the height of a 6-story building.  After walking around this spacious enclosure, I thought it would be nice if the Japanese crane from the hexagonal cage were brought to live here.

Entrance to aviary.

Walkway

Common peafowl

Grey crowned crane

Large inner area

High roof

Mandrill cage

This enclosure was similar to the bear enclosure: small, plain, uninteresting.

Domesticated animals

This section was dedicated to domesticated animals: miniature pigs, sheep, and goats.  Visitors could get very close to the animals, but I didn’t check whether visitors were allowed to touch the animals.

Mouflon and Llamas

This section had mouflon sheep, llamas, and emus in large farm-style pens.  There was also a small hut-type structure with a fox and a porcupine.

Big Cats

This structure housing the exhibits for the lions and the white tiger appeared to be the focal point for this zoo.  Not only was it located in approximately the geographic middle of the zoo, it seemed to exert a gravitational pull on visitors walking past it.

There were homemade signs and props explaining the characteristics of the lions and their behaviours.

The first enclosure in this structure housed a female lion.

A sleeping female lion.

This middle enclosure housed the lion male.

For this middle area, there were glass windows through which to view the male lion.

The glass windows could have used some cleaning.

This third enclosure in this structure housed an 18-year old female white tiger.  According to the zoo’s webpage, this tiger came to Omuta City Zoo from another zoo which went out of business.

This white tiger appeared to have crossed eyes, a condition that is said to be common among white tigers, and a possible indication that the tiger may have been bred from closely related bloodlines.

Bridge

As I followed the zoo path deeper and deeper into the interior of the zoo, I came upon an area where a bridge connected two sections of the zoo separated by a valley and vehicle access road. 

The bridge was decorated with cast emblems of large charismatic animals.

After crossing the bridge, I came upon a large clearing with four animal enclosures.  There was also a tented area in the middle of the clearing with places to sit.

The first of the enclosures appeared to have been original used as an elephant exhibit.  It was now home to Capybaras.

There was a Giraffe exhibit which actually had a fair amount of grassy area.

There was a Red panda house.

According to the signage in front of the panda house, I think this particular Red panda was about 17 years old.

The fourth enclosure in this area was inhabited by Eastern Grey Kangaroos.  This was a walk-in type of exhibit which allowed visitors to get within breathing distance of the animals.

The kangaroos were all leisurely snacking on cut tree branch leaves.

Very cute

Visitors could get very close to the animals.

Sometimes the kangaroos came very close to the visitor.

Kangaroo design on manhole cover.

Close encounters

With respect to interactions with animals, this zoo allowed visitors to handle guinea pigs.

Designated times for guinea pig encounters.

Other attractions and facilities

This building housed a lecture hall.

Food and Souvenirs

There were two food stands in this zoo.  The one in the below photo was located between the Red panda and Grey Kangaroo exhibits.

Some of the prices for the more popular items:

Yakisoba 450 yen

Takoyaki 400 yen

Karaage 250 yen

Fried potato 250 yen

Onigiri 250 yen

Udon 400 yen

Soft cream 300 yen

This second snack stand was located near the entrance to the zoo.  It had almost the same menu as the previous snack bar.  There was also a small selection of souvenirs for sale.

Getting There

I visited this zoo by private car, so I cannot accurately speak to access via public transportation.  According to information on the internet, it is a 15 or 20 minute walk from JR Omuta station.  Because of the hilly nature of the area surrounding the zoo, I would recommend taking a taxi.  Admission to the zoo was 370 yen for adults, 210 yen for high school students, 80 yen for “children” (presumably children up to intermediate school), and free for children under 3 year old.

(Note: All photos in this post were taken during a visit made on February 19, 2019.  The comments in this post are based on observations made at that time.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)