It suddenly got warmer. Inokashira Park Zoo 's animal plaza is now bustling with more and more animals each day, a stark contrast to the quiet it was just a short while ago.

The pond is filled with jet-black tadpoles of Eastern Japanese Common Toad, and grasshoppers and long-horned grasshoppers are hopping around on the fallen leaves in a somewhat awkward manner. Black-veined white butterflies and yellow butterflies flutter about, and Japanese lizards and Eastern Japanese Common Toad have returned to the area beneath the "observation board."

This time, I'll be introducing handwashing facilities.

At the animal playground, we want children to use their hands, feet, and heads to search for and catch creatures. Of course, using their hands and feet will get them dirty. Some children get so muddy that their mothers frown (we staff members can't help but smile when we see such children...). However, unfortunately, there are no handwashing facilities in the playground.

So, we decided to build a handwashing station. But we didn't want just an ordinary one; if we were going to build one anyway, we wanted something that was fitting for "Animal Plaza," and that's how we came up with "Animal Living Handwashing Station"!

We used a metal basket filled with crushed stones as a faucet stand, and added plants and soil from the plaza along with the stones. Since there's a water pipe running through it, it's cool in the summer and warm in the winter, always has just the right amount of moisture, and it's a hand-washing area with lots of small gaps. No residents have been observed yet, but in the spring, seeds that were in the soil have sprouted. The violets are also in bloom. We're excited to see what kind of residents will come.

The "Let's Play at the Animal Plaza" event in March 2013 will also be held on Sunday, the 31st. This is the season when searching for creatures becomes even more fun. Please come and join us!

Photo above: Tadpoles filling the pond
Photo below: "A handwashing area where living creatures live"

[Inokashira Park Zoo Zoo]

(March 22, 2013)