Panda-less Ueno Zoo sees drop in visitor numbers
A year has passed since Ling Ling, Ueno Zoo’s giant panda, died of old age. The zoo has yet to receive a replacement panda, and it seems that the situation has led to a drop in the zoo’s popularity:
In fiscal 2008, fewer than 3 million people visited the zoo for the first time in 60 years.
The zoo attracted 2,898,191 visitors, down about 600,000 from fiscal 2007, officials said, citing the death of Ling Ling, pictured, in April of that year and the economic downturn as likely causes.
In a fiscal 2008 survey, the giant panda topped the list of animals visitors most wanted to see.
As you can see from the NTV news clip embedded in this post, the zoo still has piles of unsold giant panda merchandise that nobody wants to buy. They’ve tried to promote their lesser pandas, but they just don’t please the crowds as a giant panda would. Ling Ling’s stuffed body is on display at a nearby museum, but it apparently has not convinced people to head on over to the zoo.
Tokyo Governor Ishihara has said he didn’t really think that Ueno Zoo needed any giant pandas. I’m betting that some of Ueno Zoo’s staff are hoping that the governor changes his mind and helps them ask China for a new panda.
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My Japanese isn’t so hot. They’re not displaying the stuffed corpse of Ling Ling, are they? That would be rather morbid.
Lesser pandas (we called them red pandas when I was a kid) are adorable too, but there is something special about giant pandas. The Oji Zoo in Kobe has one and it makes the rest of the (substandard, frankly) zoo more enjoyable. Do they need the governor’s permission to request one? Maybe they can borrow the baby panda born in Wakayama last year?
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Oops- forgot to mention that in the post. I’ve edited it to include a sentence about it.
The reporter actually says that a lot of people have been visiting that museum to see Ling Ling, but I doubt panda-loving children who visit zoos would be very happy with the exhibit.
I’m not surprised about the delay – China doesn’t just give away pandas. It rents them, at considerable cost.
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and that cost is reported as about $1millionUS (per year, I believe).
Still, if it gets back those 600,000 customers, it’s worth it, right?
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Never understood this obsession with pandas. But then again I’m not a 20 year old femail tandai student with 20 kawaii hello kitty “straps” attached to my keitai, so probably not part of the target demographic.
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Say whatever you want about Pandas, but don’t you DARE bring Hello Kitty into this…
She’s a national treasure.
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The Ueno Zoo is substandard with most of the animals in plain cement floor cages that are too small. It is in no way modern and is just sad. I am not a PETA nut, but the animals appeared malnourished, mangy and listless.
Tokyo is the capital of the worlds 2nd largest economy and yet Ueno Zoo remains one of the WORST zoos. Ishihara Tochiji, are you listening? It’s a disgrace.
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Aren’t most city zoos in Japan depressing? I’ve been to Oji Koen in Kobe and Tennoji in Osaka (there’s currently a story doing the rounds about how much it costs to feed the Koalas there) and I won’t be going again.
Asahiyama zoo in the middle of Hokkaido does a booming trade and from what I’ve seen on telly is humane amount the cage layouts and fixtures. I wonder how aware the visitors are when deciding to visit.
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I agree with Ken. Most zoos are extremely inhumane. And sadly, it seems that in Japan, there is either no law, or no enforcement. Do Japanese think about this? I’m guessing for most people, it is not a consideration.
Since Ueno Zoo is so small, they should drastically reduce the number of animals displayed and redo the habitats using modern best practices. Perhaps set up something like in San Diego, where the Zoo works together with the Wild Animal Park (large open space) in Escondido.
I haven’t been recently, but Zoorasia in Yokohama was pretty good when I went 8 years ago.
http://www.zoorasia.org/
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Only been to Ueno zoo in Japan, and only once, because it just depressed the hell out of me. Totally agree about cutting back on the number of animals, as that was one of the main things that irked me—there were twice as many of each creature as there was adequate room to move around in.
As for Ling Ling, when I was there people seemed waaay more interested in the giant, stylised statue of her than actually visiting her cage in the flesh—There was actually a queue of people trying to get their photo taken with the statue!
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When I was there, it was the other way round. Lots of people where taking pictures of the panda itself and only some paid attention to the statue.
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The phrase “Replacement Panda” made me laugh hard. I can just imagine them calling up “Panda Tech Support”
“Hi there, my Panda just died. I think it’s the power supply, it’s an old one anyhow. Can you send me a replacement?”
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