As the residential area ends, you’ll start to see Shirotori Zoo come into view on top of a small mountain.
The zoo has been grabbing attention as a groundbreaking zoo where visitors can interact both with ordinary animals such as dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and bunnies, etc., and with rare animals such as capybara and elephants, among others.

With various events such as animal shows scheduled daily, some 150 animals over 60 species are represented at the zoo.
When you arrive, be sure to check the blackboard at the entrance! On the day of our visit we arrived just in time for capybara feeding.
Feeding time is the only time visitors can cross the fences and give food directly to capybaras. They are timid animals, but as long as you stay quiet and don’t surprise them, they will approach you.
These little guys are the 3 capybara babies that were born in September 2014.

Feed is on sale for various animals, so if you buy its feed, you can even try feeding the elephants!

Some animals are too free to stay within the fences!
Rabbits and peacocks move around calmly within the zoo, but it doesn’t mean they’ve escaped their pens.
Sometimes the peacocks come down from the mountain and appear in the gardens of local citizens!
But even those peacocks return to the zoo come evening.

Of course, we can’t talk about Shirotori Zoo and leave the tigers unmentioned!
There are currently 30 tigers living in the zoo, the largest population in Japan.
Among these, the rarest is the white variant of the Bengal tiger, the white tiger.

The reason their breeding has gone so well is that the previous zoo director was a wildlife trainer.
Using the director’s know-how, they even held memorial photo shoots with the baby tigers. (While the cub is focused on drinking milk, you won’t be bitten even if you touch it.)
You can also hold the newborn baby tigers!
I believe this is the only zoo in Japan where you can even interact with this endangered species.

The baby rush continues from March until late April, so the zoo is even livelier than usual.
Do come and interact with different animals and feel the warmth of life with your own hands!

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Shirotori Zoo

Address: 2111 Matsubara, Higashikagawa city, Kagawa prefecture
Open: 9.00-17.00 (Changes may apply to wintertime business hours)
Closed: Open year round
Telephone: 0879-25-0998
Admission: Adults JPY1300, Children (From 3-year-olds to those under elementary school age) JPY600
*A group discount is offered for groups exceeding 30 persons. Please ask in advance.
Parking: Space for 80 cars. Toll-free medium and large sized bus spaces available
Homepage: http://wwwe.pikara.ne.jp/shirotori-zoo/ (Japanese)

Setouchi Finder Photo-writer: Daisuke Chiba