Ueno Zoo Part VII: Other West Garden Exhibits

The majority of the remaining exhibits in the West Garden of the Ueno Zoo were displays of African animals. Many were species I'd frequently seen in other zoos, and as the zoo's closing time was swiftly approaching, I decided to omit most of those exhibits from my trip. However, there were a few exceptions.

The translation here is rather garbled, but it gets the point across.

This shoebill, however, was staying behind the glass-fronted part of its enclosure, beyond the reach of head- and hand-standing visitors.

In general, the zoo does a good job of providing its inhabitants with shelter while still allowing visitor viewing and many of the animals had both outdoor and indoor viewing areas. As it happened, most of them opted for their indoor accommodations on my visit. Here's an okapi, a species I haven't seen since my first trip to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park (long before I started this blog).

An exception from the African theme was this giant anteater, pacing around its exhibit. Other South American species, including maned wolves and two-toed sloths, were kept nearby.

Other neighbors were its African ecological counterparts, these aardvarks.

Japan really likes penguins. Everyone does, but it was particularly noticeable in that every zoological institution I visited on my trip had a penguin exhibit. After the giant tank at the Sumida Aquarium though, almost any other penguin display looked like a let-down.

Next up will be the final report from my Tokyo trip!