A visit to the zoos and aquariums in Northern Japan

For their trip to the National Parks in Hokkaido the authors also included in their schedule visits to the zoos and aquariums in Northern Japan. Their tight scheduled tour started at the Aquamarine Fukushima, which was after the large tsunami rebuilt and re-opened in July 2011. They continued with a visit to the Kamo Aquarium, which is famous for its unique and large jellyfish exhibition. On Hokkaido Island they visited the smaller zoos in Kushiro and Obihiro with a good collection of native Hokkaido animal species. Included was also the Asahiyama Zoo, which is at the moment one of the most popular zoos in Japan. It is well-known for its innovative enclosures for seals and penguins. The Sapporo Maruyama Zoo and the Chitose Salmon Aquarium were the last highlights of this tour. The themes and animal collections of these different zoos and aquariums are described. The general situation for the northern zoos and aquariums is quite different compared to the institutions in the southern parts of the country and entirely to the zoos in the large city areas like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Here in the northern zoos and aquariums many native animal species and subspecies are kept and often successfully bred.