April 19th is Zookeeper Day - Learn about the work of animal keeper!

April 19th is "Animal Care Day," named after the number sequence "419" (which sounds like "shiiku," animal keeper). Established in 2009 by Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the day aims to encourage interest in zoos and aquariums through the work of animal keepers. Since that year, Tokyo Metropolitan Zoos and Aquariums (Ueno Zoo, Tama Zoo Inokashira Park Zoo, and Tokyo Sea Life Park) have held various events related to animal care.
This year's events are as follows. We encourage you to visit the park and participate in the events.

Ueno Zoo Events

Panel Exhibition "C-Quest ~ A Great Adventure in Animal Welfare"

The 2021 Animal Care Day event, "ShiiQuest," is back in a new form! This year's mission is to "find animal welfare (*) items in each animal enclosure!"
Use the seven "item panels" displayed in each animal enclosure as clues to find the "animal welfare initiatives" in the exhibit! The items are things that animal keeper have prepared to enrich the lives of the animals. How do the items you find help the animals? Let's embark on an adventure to find animal welfare items!

Events at Tama Zoo

April 19th is "Pet Care Day" - It's actually quite important! Let's talk about poop!

We will be holding a "Pet Care Day" event on April 19th, coinciding with the number sequence "419" (which sounds like "shiiku," meaning pet care).
This year's Pet Care Day event will be themed "It's Actually Important! The Story of Poop."

1. Panel display

In front of the animal enclosures within the zoo, we'll be displaying panels featuring fascinating information about animal droppings from the staff in charge. You can learn about a wide range of topics, from animal-related matters such as "droppings and breeding" and "droppings and disease," to matters related to animal keeper' work, such as "droppings and feed" and "droppings and cleaning." Reading the panels will make your visit to the zoo even more enjoyable.

2. Talk about pet care

animal keeper will talk in detail about their assigned animals, focusing on stories related to animal droppings!

3. Hands-on activity corner: "Let's try cleaning up bean droppings!"

The small, round, black droppings of Goat and other animals that roll around are commonly called "bean droppings." Cleaning up these scattered droppings is quite a chore. We've prepared a corner where you can experience what it's like to clean up bean droppings. Challenge yourself to see if you can clean them up completely within the time limit.

4. Hands-on activity corner: "They look just like poop! Let's find stick insect eggs!"

Stick insect eggs look so much like real poop that it's hard to tell them apart at first glance. Collecting stick insect eggs from the poop is part of animal keeper' job. We've prepared a corner where you can experience this task. How many stick insect eggs can you find hidden in the poop within the time limit?

(March 12, 2026)
(April 7, 2026: Added details about the Animal Care Day talk)

Events at Tokyo Sea Life Park

1. Special guided tour for "Animal Care Day"

We'll take you behind the scenes of the tanks, an area normally off-limits to the public. During the tour, our aquarium staff will share insights into their animal care techniques. The exact location of our visit is a surprise! We look forward to your participation.

2. Ask the zookeepers! Feeding times for the animals

What do the fish in the aquarium eat, and how do they eat it? To commemorate "Aquarium Care Day," our staff will guide you through feeding the fish. Please feel free to join us!

3. Information Desk: "The Work of animal keeper"

We'll introduce the food we give to our fish and the tools we use in our daily fishkeeping work. Please feel free to stop by.

Events at Inokashira Park Zoo

1. Special exhibition at the museum: "The Work of animal keeper"

What do animal keeper do every day? Let's take a peek into their daily work. We'll introduce their job in an easy-to-understand way, with displays of tools that help with animal keeper work and a corner where you can try on animal keeper.

2. Animal Care Day! animal keeper 's Job Talk

animal keeper animal keeper talk about their work, including their preferred tools, daily animal care, and the ingenuity they use in their tasks.