Zoo Animals to Return to Kumamoto for 1st Time since 2016 Quakes

September 3, 2018

Fukuoka- Carnivores that have been evacuated from a zoo in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, since strong earthquakes hit the region in April 2016 are set to return home in late October.

An official at Kumamoto City Zoological and Botanical Gardens showed gratitude for the zoos in the neighboring prefectures of Oita and Fukuoka that accepted the carnivores, saying, "We cannot thank them enough for taking care of the animals for such a long time."

To be transported back to Kumamoto over two days from Oct. 22 are a Siberian tiger, a lion, a snow leopard and two clouded leopards.

They will be shown to the public when the zoo fully reopens. The date is yet to be decided.

A safari park in the city of Usa in Oita, which has been taking care of a male lion from Kumamoto, will offer a female lion to the Kumamoto zoo when it returns the male lion so that the two can become a couple.

The park has regularly released updates about the male lion through social media.

"I hope the couple will become popular in Kumamoto," said Iwai Kanda, a veterinarian.

The Siberian tiger will be transferred from Itozu No Mori Zoological Park in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, while the two clouded leopards will return from Fukuoka City Zoological Garden. The snow leopard will be moved from a zoo in Omuta, Fukuoka.

According to the zoo in Kumamoto, the earthquakes forced the cages of carnivores to tilt and the ground underneath them to sink.

Restoration efforts have been underway, with relatively less-damaged areas opened to the public on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

"Each facility accepted the animals despite its limited space," said Shinji Ide, a keeper at the Kumamoto zoo. "I really appreciate that they took good care of the animals amid a scorching heat wave."

"While we're excited (about the animals' return), we also have to brace ourselves for their arrival," Ide added. Jiji Press