After a long rainy season with heavy downpours, August brought a heatwave. This summer, many events within the park were canceled to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including the annual Summer Night event.


Eurasian Moorhen area during the annual Summer Nights is...
During the summer, Giraffe living in Eurasian Moorhen area are free to move between the large enclosure and Giraffe house. On Summer Nights, the park stays open three hours later than usual, until 8 PM. As night falls, the sight of multiple Giraffe sitting and resting is a precious nocturnal scene that cannot be seen during the day. Grevy's Zebra (hereinafter Domestic Horse) and Scimitar-horned Oryx (hereinafter referred to as oryx) are currently in a different location (see notice), but even when they were in Eurasian Moorhen area, they did not come out to the large enclosure at night. We will tell you how the animals in their temporary homes away from Eurasian Moorhen area spent their summer nights.

• Related article: "The relocation of animals in Eurasian Moorhen area has been completed" (June 28, 2017)

Three years have passed since Domestic Horse, oryx, and ostriches were moved to various locations within the park due to the reconstruction Giraffe enclosure. There were some conflicts between the different species because they were not seen together in Eurasian Moorhen area, but now each animal is living comfortably in its own place.


Grevy's Zebra resting while sitting indoors.
Two female Domestic Horse and a male oryx are on display in the former Przewalski's Horse Horse enclosure above Nakayoshi Picnic Area (they are only on display until 2 PM due to animal care work). To make the animals as comfortable as possible, the windows are opened and fans are turned on during the summer nights to allow for ventilation. Unlike us, these large herbivores do not lie down and sleep for hours on end. They sit and rest for an hour or two, closing their eyes for just two or three minutes to sleep. They repeat this many times throughout the night. Both Domestic Horse and oryx are very wary, so you rarely see them sitting during the day, and they are rare in their enclosures to see them looking as relaxed as in the photo.

Scimitar-horned Oryx resting while sitting indoors.		Eating in a large enclosure

Oryx spend their days in a small enclosure, but to prevent them from becoming sedentary and to keep their hooves from growing too long, we've allowed them to spend summer nights in a larger area. Domestic Horse in the larger enclosure during the day, and the oryx are allowed in at night, alternating between the two. We were worried that once they were out in the larger, unfamiliar enclosure, they wouldn't want to return to their small one, but the next morning the oryx seemed calm and returned to their usual enclosure without any problems. We plan to continue this nighttime release for a while.

[Miwa Saito, Animal Care and Exhibition Staff, North Tama Zoo]

(August 28, 2020)