Sabae City's is a small

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

in the city of Sabae,

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The admission-free municipal zoo is on a low hill ( Nishiyama Park). It is known for its

red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...

s; the species is the official animal of the city. Despite its small size, the zoo is home to one of the largest groups of red pandas in Japan: 11 individuals . They are descendants of a pair donated by the

Beijing Zoo Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing. Founded in 1906 during the late Qing dynasty, it is the oldest zoo in China and oldest public park in northern China. The zoo is also a center of zoological research that ...

in 1984. The founding couple arrived at the Nishiyama Zoo before it officially opened the following year (though the enclosures were ready). The youngest pandas now belong to the seventh generation.The zoo's red pandas
: current pandas, history, family tree. The Beijing Zoo later donated

red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown (anatomy), crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian Crane (bird), crane among the ...

s (1985),

François' langur François' langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''), also known as Francois' leaf monkey, the Tonkin leaf monkey, or the white side-burned black langur is a species of Old World monkey and the type species of its species group. It is one of the leas ...

(1987), and lar gibbons (1991) to the zoo. Other zoo residents include black squirrel monkeys,

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

Japanese crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. I ...

s and

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

. It is about 0.5 km from both Nishi-Sabae Station (in the south) and

Nishiyama-Kōen Station is a Fukui Railway Fukubu Line railway station located in the city of Sabae, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Lines Nishiyama-Kōen Station is served by the Fukui Railway Fukubu Line, and is located 6.0 kilometers from the terminus of the line at . ...

(in the east). It opens at 9 am and closes at 4:30 pm daily, except Mondays (closed).

References

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Japan Zoos established in 1985 1985 establishments in Japan Tourist attractions in Fukui Prefecture Sabae, Fukui