Inokashira Park Zoo — Attraction in Tokyo

I absolutely loved the zoo! There were two main parts - an aquatic animal zoo, and a non-aquatic zoo.

The aquatic zoo was mainly focused on the birds that lived near the pond, and had many species of duck, goose, and heron. The birds were all very active, and seemed very happy. The cages were large enough, and the birds all had water to play in. Some of the herons had been given fresh fish to eat, which were in the water. There was also a building in the zoo, with the local fish and amphibians that lived in the pond, including a giant salamander.

I also loved the non-aquatic zoo - it had a lot of smaller animals, such as fennec foxes, squirrels, porcupines, and African penguins. They all seemed very content, and their cages looked to be the right size. The penguins had a lot of water in their cage, and a few of them were swimming. There were a few Tsushima Wildcats, which is a very rare species with only about 80 left in the wild. There was a very large enclosure with lots of squirrels in it, which people could walk around in to see them. There had been an elephant (Hanako), at one point in the zoo, and there was a very sweet memorial for her with lots of photos and flowers. Thankfully, the zoo no longer has larger animals such as elephants, as it isn’t a huge zoo. The zoo also had an adorable rodent section indoors, with a Japanese flying squirrel (the cutest little things istg), and teeny little harvest mice. Near the back of the zoo, there was a very sweet little amusement park, with about 5 - 7 rides, which was absolutely adorable.

I would definitely return the next time I...

Atrocious living conditions for all animals. I am a young person from Australia, and I did not know anything about this zoo before visiting. My only impression was that it had a large and well known squirrel inclosure, though I was shocked to see that was the only exhibit with appropriate living conditions, and even then it was flawed. I’m not the type of person to visit zoos, as the idea of keeping wild animals essentially imprisoned for customers to gawk at is horrifically unethical, and I thought this establishment was more of a petting zoo situation, with the Guinea pigs, goats, squirrels and such. So you can imagine my disgust when I discovered that an elephant that had been living in a cement cage in this zoo for over sixty years had recently died. Every bird enclosure was tiny, isolating as the birds (and the majority of the other animals) were alone, and poorly kept. The monkey exhibit was another saddening display, with slightly to severely wounded monkeys morosely scratching at scraps of food left on the floor of their concrete enclosure. Despite the beautiful surrounding parkland, there was no nature to be seen in most of these exhibits. There weren’t any real trees for the monkeys, or birds. I passed a pair of owls stuck in a minuscule concrete square with a single bit of log in the middle. This zoo was disturbing at best, and the idea that despite all the bad reviews it will likely still run makes me physically ill. I can only hope that they don’t entrap another elephant. DO NOT COME HERE. It is my biggest regret about my...

Amazing zoo, although not as good as Ueno zoo, it is still worth a visit. Very spacious and well designed, the zoo has an amusement park (with rides for little kids), restaurants, and lots of vending machines. Lots of seating and shade (trees, indoor areas, etc) for the hot summer. Of course I went there to photograph the animals. This zoo was recommended by a friend. Lots of birds, a giant monkey pit, a wildlife forest, deer, chicken, and owls. Enjoyed taking pictures of the many owls and eagles. The Japanese Bush Warbler sounds beautiful. THE BEST PART was the squirrel enclosure, which is a forest inside a giant cage that you can walk into and be right next to the squirrels, without anything between you and the squirrel. They are active, and definitely had some fun trying to get pictures of them. 9/10...