Any visitor to Japan will soon realise the Japanese love pandas and one would be forgiven for thinking these magnificent black and white creatures were not the iconic national animal and native to the country. Pandas can be seen as soft toys, clothes, pictures, logos and a huge array of interesting products just about everywhere you go in Japan.
So it is no surprise that Tokyo’s Uneo Zoo is one of the city’s most popular attractions, being home to two beautiful giant pandas. The pandas, Shin Shin the female and the male Ri Ri have been the star attractions of the zoo since February of 2011 filling the void left by the death of the Zoo’s Ling Ling who passed in 2008. The pandas were named by the public in a huge competition that saw more than 40,000 entries submitted to the zoo.
It is hoped the two pandas will breed, Shin Shin gave birth to a cub in 2012 but unfortunately it did not survive.
The pandas live in one of the zoo’s largest enclosures and only glass separates the public to the animals, so if the animals are out and about they are easily seen by the public. They are not the most active of the zoo’s animals and can usually be seen sleeping or chewing on bamboo, they munch through around 30 kilograms of it a day. The pandas are guarded zoo staff who hold signs to remind people not to use flash photography while filming the beautiful creatures.
The zoo celebrates the panda’s birthdays each year with August 16 being Shin Shin’s day and Ri Ri having his special day on the 3rd of July. The pandas are treated to bamboo birthday cake and plenty of well wishes from huge crowds.
Shin Shin and Ri Ri are not the only giant pandas in Japan, there are also pandas in Kobe’s Oji Zoo, and Wakayama Adventure World in Shirahma.
