According to Bloomberg's report on the 24th, Japan's zoo system, which has developed over nearly 150 years, is facing uncertain futures. This is due to Japan being one of the countries with the highest rates of aging population in the world. Municipal budgets are continuously tightening, while the costs of animal feeding and maintenance are rising. Many zoos are now holding hundreds or even thousands of animals, and maintaining basic feeding requirements has become extremely difficult.
Zoo expert Fukuzawa Kanako said, "In the past, there might have been sufficient financial support, but now local governments can no longer provide this funding. The zoo doesn’t have enough money to operate in a standardized manner, and with the live animals right in front of them, the workers can only endure through gritted teeth."
Industry experts say that Japan's zoo system has particularly weak financial resistance. The reason is that about 80% of zoos in the country are operated by local municipalities, and fiscal taxes are their main source of funding. Although some operational tasks are outsourced, many zoos are still supervised by civil servants from government departments responsible for tourism, parks, and even road maintenance.
Multiple pressures are now being exerted on Japanese zoos. For the first time in decades, Japan is facing persistent inflation, leading to a rise in expenses for animal feed, water and electricity, as well as veterinary care. At the same time, the population is declining, and the aging population is increasing, resulting in a continuous reduction of local tax sources.
Tokyo Tama Zoo stated that over the past three years, the cost of various animal feeds has increased by about 10% each year. Sapporo Round Mountain Zoo in Hokkaido houses five Asian elephants, and each elephant consumes approximately 10 kilograms of apples per day. Since 2020, apple prices have risen by 35%, and feed expenses account for 8% of the zoo’s annual operating budget of about $5.5 million (approximately 37.236 million RMB).
The director of Osaka Tennoji Zoo, one of Japan's third-oldest zoos, Mr. Takehisa Oni, said that the soaring energy prices have had a "significant" impact on the zoo's operations. The zoo spends up to 260 million yen (approximately 10.74 million RMB) annually on electricity and water. Reducing this expenditure is extremely difficult. Cutting heating during winter or shutting down the ventilation and spraying systems used to cool the animals in summer would directly harm the welfare of the animals and violate industry standards.
In addition to financial difficulties, Japanese zoos also face a more fundamental survival crisis: the number of popular animals in the zoos is continuously decreasing.
According to the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), the number of African elephants and gorillas kept in Japan has decreased by more than half compared to the peak in the 1980s. The number of giraffes has also decreased, from 236 in 1987 to 186 last year. In 1994, there were 122 sea otters kept in Japan, but now only 2 remain.
Now, even the basic operations of major Japanese zoos are struggling to continue, let alone participating in international animal breeding and species exchange projects where costs are constantly rising. Industry experts point out that if financial resources cannot be allocated more flexibly, Japanese zoos will have difficulty in transforming into institutions that focus on the protection of wild species, as society expects. The gap between Japan and other countries in this field will continue to widen.
Industry consultant Taiki Kibun, who has visited over 1,000 zoos worldwide, said that due to continuous economic pressures, many zoos in Japan may be forced to close within the next 30 years. Even if Japanese zoos cooperate with zoos in Asia, it will be difficult for the remaining zoos to maintain the genetic diversity required for animal breeding programs.
