Ueno Zoo houses approximately 300 species and 3,100 animals. From fiscal year 2010 (Heisei 22) to fiscal year 2019 (Reiwa 1), the average annual total number of visitors to Ueno Zoo over the 10-year period was 3.91 million. The zoo was open for approximately 320 days a year, and on average, 12,000 people visited per day.

The total area of Ueno Zoo, including East Garden and West Garden, is only 144,000 square meters, which is not particularly large. As a result, it is one of the most crowded zoos in the world. To make effective use of its grounds, Ueno Zoo employs various strategies, such as complex exhibits that combine different exhibition facilities and mixed exhibits that house and display multiple animal species in the same facility.

In recent years, many zoos around the world have been working to improve the quality of life for the animals that live there. The key term used in this effort is "animal welfare," which refers to how animals cope with their living conditions.

Simply put, animal welfare involves scientifically evaluating and verifying the lives of animals in separate areas to improve their conditions. The five areas of animal welfare are "nutrition," "environment," "physical health," "behavior," and "mental health." It involves analyzing and evaluating whether the conditions of captive animals are in a positive or negative state in each area, and then working to improve them towards a positive state.

Unlike their lives in the wild, animals living in zoos rarely go hungry. On the other hand, life in a limited space can become monotonous, leading to lack of exercise, obesity, and inactivity. Therefore, Ueno Zoo strives to enrich the environment by installing play equipment in the enclosures to alleviate lack of exercise and allowing animals to explore their enclosures and obtain their favorite foods. In addition, for some animal species, "Eurasian Moorhen training" (training to encourage animals to take spontaneous actions for the purpose of healthy animal care and safe work for humans) is conducted, which is also used for health management, such as observing teeth and taking blood samples (please also see the series "Endless Challenges [1] Giant Panda Breeding (2)").


[Video] Xiang Xiang's Eurasian Moorhen Training (June 2019)
It is necessary to develop a system for evaluating and verifying animal welfare, which involves regularly surveying and assessing the living conditions of animals, considering improvement measures based on those assessments, and implementing them. We will continue to strive to improve animal welfare so that the lives of the animals kept at Ueno Zoo can be as enriched as possible.

Director Ueno Zoological Gardens
Toyo Fukuda

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"Endless Challenge [1] Giant Panda Breeding (1)” (May 26, 2017)
"Endless Challenges [1] Giant Panda Breeding (2)” (July 7, 2017)
"Endless Challenge [1] Giant Panda Breeding (3)” (July 31, 2017)
"Endless Challenges [2] Renovation of the Children's Zoo” (August 6, 2017)
"Endless Challenge [3] Breeding Asian Elephant” (January 21, 2021)
"Endless Challenge [4] Conservation of the Rock Rock Ptarmigan the Bird of God” (January 30, 2021)
"Endless Challenge [5] The Return of Lidth's Jay” (February 6, 2021)
"Endless Challenges [6] New Developments in Educational Outreach Programs” (February 21, 2021)
"Endless Challenge [7] Creating a "Panda Forest"” (March 8, 2021)
"Endless Challenges [8] Watching Over a Gorilla Family” (March 28, 2021)
"Endless Challenges [9] Protecting Animal Health” (April 8, 2021)

(May 20, 2021)