Fukuoka: 3 Asian Elephants Go on Public Display at Fukuoka Zoo; Animals Have Arrived after Years of Delays

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:27 JST, December 21, 2024

FUKUOKA — Three Asian elephants have gone on public display at the Fukuoka Zoo in Fukuoka. It has been seven years since the zoo last exhibited elephants.

For a long time after the zoo first opened in 1953, its elephants were an important part of its popularity. At its peak, it drew as many as 1.72 million visitors a year. However, the number of visitors decreased after Hanako, the last elephant at the zoo, died in 2017.

In 2019, the Fukuoka city government agreed to accept four elephants from its sister city, Yangon in Myanmar. But the arrival of the elephants was repeatedly postponed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup. Immigration procedures for the animals also took time.

Finally, on July 30 this year, three female elephants and one male elephant were flown to Japan from Myanmar. But one of the females, who was 12 years old, died of illness in September during the animals’ acclimatization period at the zoo, further postponing their debut.

The remaining three elephants are said to be in good health and were given names.

They went on public view on Nov. 30 and were welcomed with cheers by many visitors, including families with children, all of whom had eagerly awaited their appearance. “It was so big,” said one six-year-old girl, a kindergartener who said she had never seen an elephant.

“It’s taken us a long time to get here. But now that the elephants are finally on public view, we hope that people will be sure to come and see how impressive they are up close,” the zoo’s director said.