Due to renovations, animals that had been moved to various locations within Tama Zoo have returned to African Zone "Eurasian Moorhen Area. Great White Pelican (hereinafter "pelicans") had been relocated for three years since January 2022, and Scimitar-horned Oryx (hereinafter "oryxes") had been relocated for eight years since June 2017, making for a long period of stay.

On May 7, 2025, we returned the six pelicans and began living with Giraffe. They seemed a little unfamiliar with their new surroundings, but since they had previously lived with a herd of Giraffe, they didn't overreact. On the contrary, the giraffes who saw the Giraffe for the first time were very curious, especially "Tona" (female, 6 years old) and "Jun" (male, 3 years old), who kept persistently getting close to the pelicans, only to be threatened by them.


Tona (the one in the upper right) is very interested in the pelican.
On June 4th, four pelicans joined the group from Ueno Zoo, bringing the total to 10. The move was fraught with worries, as they were in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded Giraffe they had never seen before, and meeting the Tama Zoo pelicans for the first time. However, contrary to the zookeepers' concerns, the pelicans were added to the group slowly, one by one, without any fights, and the integration went smoothly. The 10 pelicans were even seen huddled together on top of a pile of volcanic gravel, one of the calm spots in the enclosure. For the first few days after the move, both the six from Tama and the four from Ueno were so unaccustomed to their new environment that they barely ate, but now all 10 gather at the pelican pond. To make it easier to observe them foraging, a viewing area has been created at the pond through glass. Please come and see them scooping up fish with their beaks.

The six oryx were moved to Domestic Horse-oryx enclosure in Eurasian Moorhen area on June 11th. Because it was an unfamiliar place, they initially didn't eat much and were reluctant to come inside. To allow Giraffe and oryx to get used to each other's presence, they were not immediately placed together, and the oryx were kept in a sub-paddock for two weeks. After that, all six seemed calm and settled down, so they were released into the large enclosure with Giraffe on June 25th.


Giraffe and Orix are meeting for the first time.
Immediately after being moved together, both Giraffe and the oryx were restless, and when one started running, the others would follow suit, running around the enclosure frantically. However, they began to calm down after about 15 minutes. It was their first time in the new large enclosure, so we were worried they might return to their room, but there were no problems.

With this, we now have three of the animal species planned for display in Eurasian Moorhen area, allowing us to resume mixed exhibits for the first time in eight years. We were constantly worried leading up to the reopening, and we don't know what will happen next. We will continue to observe carefully.


Three types in Eurasian Moorhen area

[Tama Zoo]

◎Related articles
・ Eurasian Moorhen area has been renovated! (April 10, 2025)
・ How animals in Eurasian Moorhen spend their summer nights (August 28, 2020)
・ The relocation of the animals in Eurasian Moorhen area is complete. (June 28, 2017)

(July 11, 2025)