MONTHLY NEWS
October 1999

Japanese Zoos Provide Special Care for Aged Animals

In Japan, where how to take better care of elderly people is among the foremost concerns, animals are also getting improved treatment as they age. Many animals are living longer thanks to the tender loving care zookeepers are providing, and zoos are making greater efforts to enable them to spend their golden years in comfort.

Jumbo, a female Asian elephant at Ueno Zoological Park in Tokyo, is believed to be 55 years old. For the sake of Jumbo's physical and mental well-being, the zoo replaced the concrete floor of her cage with natural soil. Jumbo's keeper Yukio Kawaguchi, explains that this was to reduce stress, since elephants in the wild sprinkle earth over their bodies to repel insects and to protect themselves against the sun. "She'll feel more at ease if she can sprinkle soil whenever she wants," he said. The soil floor is also better for protecting her hooves and joints, Kawaguchi added.

At Inokashira Shizen Bunka-en, a zoo in western Tokyo, a female elephant named Hanako celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of her arrival in Japan this year. Because she has lost three of her four teeth, the zookeepers serve her an easy-to-digest diet of finely chopped sweet potatoes and carrots and grated apples and bananas. They also cut her grass into five-centimeter long pieces before serving her.

A female chimpanzee named Shuji kept at Tennoji Zoological Park in Osaka spends her days in a special sunroom. She is believed to be 50 years old, making her over 100 in human terms. She developed a cataract around 1969 and was kept in a small room outside visitors' view. But in 1992, the zoo spent millions of yen and constructed a glass-covered sunroom for her. To the keepers' astonishment, her cataract disappeared, and she once again appeared before visitors.

Each year on September 15, or Respect-for-the-Aged-Day in Japan, Ueno Zoo holds a ceremony for its aged members, including a 60-year-old Galapagos elephant tortoise and a 31-year-old Japanese monkey named Ron.

Photo: Hanako enjoys a refreshing dirt bath.

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