Guest guest Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200510250112.html asahi.com > ENGLISH > Nation Even small zoos getting a neck up with interactivity 10/25/2005 Families are lining up on weekends to feed a long-necked furry friend at Chausuyama Zoo in Nagano city. And when a mom holds her tot up to feed the giraffe, dad dutifully snaps away with his cellphone camera. It's a new scene at the zoo, which like others have been hurting for visitors and trying just about anything-from more interaction with the animals to later hours-to bring the crowds back to the cash-strapped enterprises. Since March, the Chausuyama Zoo has been focusing on experience-oriented events for visitors, such as pony rides and photo sessions with owls. " We want visitors to touch animals, take photos with them, " said Satoshi Suda, 51, director of the Chausuyama Zoo. " I wanted to change the zoo into a place that is doing something special every day. " It's a nationwide trend that kicked off at Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido. That zoo has inspired zookeepers across Japan with its new exhibits that allow visitors to see animals more closely, while also providing the animals with more natural enclosures. For example, the seals live in a large pool, but have vertical tunnels that let them use their vertical-surfacing skills as they would in the wild. " Asahiyama Zoo's measures to attract visitors have spread among zoos throughout the country, " Suda said. " We decided we, too, would work harder to entertain visitors. " The gambit appears to be doing the trick. The number of visitors to both Chausuyama Zoo and another zoo in Nagano prefecture, Suzaka City Zoo, are on the rise. The Chausuyama Zoo opened in 1983. In fiscal 1995, it saw a record 169,000 visitors, then the numbers started slacking off. Especially from fiscal 2002 through 2004, the annual numbers of visitors fell sharply, though the zoo managed to maintain a threshold of 140,000 visitors each year. Suda and the zookeepers racked their brains to introduce a series of new activities based on what they think visitors would want. One big change was a lengthening in hours. The animal park now opens seven days a week, without its traditional closed day on Monday. The director extended also the summer hours from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. In addition, he started a special nighttime program for the midsummer Bon holidays, which allows visitors to stay at the zoo until 9:30 p.m. Due mainly to these efforts, the zoo drew 115,800 visitors from April through August, up about 35,000 over last year. Suzaka City Zoo, which is located in the northern part of the prefecture, is also trying to follow Asahiyama Zoo's example. From April to August, about 78,600 people visited the animal park, an increase of 4,400 visitors over all of last year. If this trend continues through the rest of the current fiscal year, the total number of visitors might reach 100,000 for the first time in 23 years, officials of Suzaka City Zoo said. The driving force behind the increase in visitors appears to be the popular red kangaroo called Hacchi. The kangaroo came to the animal park from Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo in Aichi Prefecture four years ago. Children love Hacchi because the kangaroo moves like a kickboxer when grabbing, jumping and kicking a hay-filled hemp bag. Suzaka City Zoo has also launched " The Digital Animal Park " service on the Internet. Subscribers to the Tokyo-based @NetHome site can view Webcam video of several animals, including Hacchi and a Bengal tiger, round-the-clock. Mamoru Yamagishi, 55, the director of the Suzaka City Zoo, said: " We have been influenced by Asahiyama Zoo so much. We learned from the zoo that even if we don't have rare animals, we can still entertain visitors by changing the way we exhibit our animals. " (IHT/Asahi: October 25,2005) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 This could be something that people working for changes in the Okinawa Zoo could do to also promote awareness of the conditions some animals are kept in. A local group has been working to better the enclosures where animals are kept, giving them a more natural habitat etc. The better people are educated, the more they can support the cause. Liz Okinawa - OAARS <shubhobrotoghosh wrote: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200510250112.html asahi.com > ENGLISH > Nation Even small zoos getting a neck up with interactivity 10/25/2005 Families are lining up on weekends to feed a long-necked furry friend at Chausuyama Zoo in Nagano city. And when a mom holds her tot up to feed the giraffe, dad dutifully snaps away with his cellphone camera. It's a new scene at the zoo, which like others have been hurting for visitors and trying just about anything-from more interaction with the animals to later hours-to bring the crowds back to the cash-strapped enterprises. Since March, the Chausuyama Zoo has been focusing on experience-oriented events for visitors, such as pony rides and photo sessions with owls. " We want visitors to touch animals, take photos with them, " said Satoshi Suda, 51, director of the Chausuyama Zoo. " I wanted to change the zoo into a place that is doing something special every day. " It's a nationwide trend that kicked off at Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido. That zoo has inspired zookeepers across Japan with its new exhibits that allow visitors to see animals more closely, while also providing the animals with more natural enclosures. For example, the seals live in a large pool, but have vertical tunnels that let them use their vertical-surfacing skills as they would in the wild. " Asahiyama Zoo's measures to attract visitors have spread among zoos throughout the country, " Suda said. " We decided we, too, would work harder to entertain visitors. " The gambit appears to be doing the trick. The number of visitors to both Chausuyama Zoo and another zoo in Nagano prefecture, Suzaka City Zoo, are on the rise. The Chausuyama Zoo opened in 1983. In fiscal 1995, it saw a record 169,000 visitors, then the numbers started slacking off. Especially from fiscal 2002 through 2004, the annual numbers of visitors fell sharply, though the zoo managed to maintain a threshold of 140,000 visitors each year. Suda and the zookeepers racked their brains to introduce a series of new activities based on what they think visitors would want. One big change was a lengthening in hours. The animal park now opens seven days a week, without its traditional closed day on Monday. The director extended also the summer hours from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. In addition, he started a special nighttime program for the midsummer Bon holidays, which allows visitors to stay at the zoo until 9:30 p.m. Due mainly to these efforts, the zoo drew 115,800 visitors from April through August, up about 35,000 over last year. Suzaka City Zoo, which is located in the northern part of the prefecture, is also trying to follow Asahiyama Zoo's example. From April to August, about 78,600 people visited the animal park, an increase of 4,400 visitors over all of last year. If this trend continues through the rest of the current fiscal year, the total number of visitors might reach 100,000 for the first time in 23 years, officials of Suzaka City Zoo said. The driving force behind the increase in visitors appears to be the popular red kangaroo called Hacchi. The kangaroo came to the animal park from Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo in Aichi Prefecture four years ago. Children love Hacchi because the kangaroo moves like a kickboxer when grabbing, jumping and kicking a hay-filled hemp bag. Suzaka City Zoo has also launched " The Digital Animal Park " service on the Internet. Subscribers to the Tokyo-based @NetHome site can view Webcam video of several animals, including Hacchi and a Bengal tiger, round-the-clock. Mamoru Yamagishi, 55, the director of the Suzaka City Zoo, said: " We have been influenced by Asahiyama Zoo so much. We learned from the zoo that even if we don't have rare animals, we can still entertain visitors by changing the way we exhibit our animals. " (IHT/Asahi: October 25,2005) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I accidentally erased my response to this message - so will quickly recap what I said in response to this article regarding Japan's Zoos.. As Liz said, there is a group working to make a difference at our local zoo ... I am so fortunate to be the co-sponsor of this middle & high school student organization called Club ZERO (here in Okinawa), which is the group working to improve the quality of life of the animals at the Kodomonokuni Zoo - through a variety of methods, all of which involve the students' applying their science skills to creating environmental enrichment activities for the animals. The group is focusing not just on issues at the zoo, but also in marine life conservation, environmental issues, and habitat preservation. We are also actively encouraging other groups around the world to start their OWN Club ZEROs in their schools! The zoo has been extremely transparent, receptive, and supportive of the students' implementation of environmental enrichment activities and programs. The zoo is directly responsible for contacting local Japanese students and inviting them to participate in our two recent enrichment events held on 30 OCT and 6 NOV. Both events were extremely successful, to the extent where the zoo has already organized efforts to provide continuous environmental enrichment programs for their animals (a FIRST!!). They are even looking into growing their own pumpkins! We see the success of this event as a stepping stone to (hopefully) future improvements and changes that the zoo will undertake to ensure a better quality of life for their animals. We now plan to work hand in hand with local students on future projects, and feel this is a BIG step in helping the zoo see itself as a resource for education and NOT a source of entertainment. We do not want to do anything that encourages the use of animals as entertainment (to include human contact in certain instances). Ideally, it would be nice to see all zoos in Japan reinvent themselves from public entertainment sources to authorities on conservation, working with animal welfare organizations to promote the protection of all animals. Perhaps the Okinawa Kodomo No Kuni Zoo will be able to be just such a place in the future? We can stomp, shout, boycott, rescue until we're blue, and protest - but in the end, education is the key. ~Kim Petersen Okinawa *We don't have our photos up yet of our Pumpkin Palooza events, but they should be up soon: http://www.freewebs.com/kms_clubzero aapn , OAARS <oaars_cares> wrote: > > This could be something that people working for changes in the Okinawa Zoo could do to also promote awareness of the conditions some animals are kept in. A local group has been working to better the enclosures where animals are kept, giving them a more natural habitat etc. The better people are educated, the more they can support the cause. > > Liz > Okinawa - OAARS > > <shubhobrotoghosh@r...> wrote: > http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200510250112.html > asahi.com > ENGLISH > Nation > Even small zoos getting a neck up with interactivity > 10/25/2005 > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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