Now, there are many zoos in this world, let alone bad ones. Over the time I have spent website I have seen footage of some nasty facilities from mismanaged government facilities to businesses that reek neglect. I wonder if users of this site who traveled around the world and toured any kind of zoo such as @snowleopard @Giant Eland ever ask themselves "is this the worst zoo yet?" or are able to pick the zoo that is the absolute worst among many others. Well, let me introduce you to such facility which may hold an answer. Due to the fact that many members of this community are from the West I understand why this place might not catch anyone's attention here. Therefore I'd only expect users from Japan or know Japanese zoos well such as @FrancoiseLangur and @aardvark250 to know or recognize this place. I am the only zoochatter who has mentioned this facility multiple times and only saw one small thread focus on it's now closed branch. I also tried to talk about this place with friends and on the discord server, but I now feel like talking about this for a greater audience. I have seen only a few English articles focus on this facility and the actions it has done. In fact, this zoo has slipped under many (non-japanese) animal rights and welfare radars' until around 2018. This place I am talking about is the Horii zoo. The Horii zoo is located in the Moriyama city, in Shiga Prefecture. It is owned and managed by Yoshinori Horii. According to an Interview made in 2017, Horii worked at a petshop/animal broker in Kyoto ever since 5th grade and worked at the animal transport business before opening his mobile zoo in 1982. The zoo is able to obtain animals that are even rare in Japanese zoos such as Canada lynx and Pesquet's parrot. The facility is actually two locations, one of them being a warehouse in Moriyama and the other being a small farmland in Yasu city holding larger animals such as giraffes, eland, and zebra. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...&key=ckNuanhVVExFMUp5UUdsaFh3MzB3elFvd1lCczlR https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...&key=TjlqbGxOVWRGYzVpOERHdHhlcmZTRWViM0JvUFFB https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=M3lyelNJeXVGelRCLUtwOGl6TF93UWVaMVh4Ul9B I'm posting this video because it shows the interior of the Moriyama ware house including the lift/elevator Since then, this facility haf faced many controversies including animal escapes (such as porcupines, lungfish, and a kangaroo). Zoo's escaped kangaroo found in rice paddy This facility probably got off the hook for the longest time because the owner claimed that most of the animals were either disabled or were goimg to be put down. Examples could be seen in this link describing a documentary made on the zoo in 2007. ドキュメンタリー大賞 第16回 However they wouldn't be able to get away with this for long. In February 25 2011 a fire broke in the dawn and killed over 300 animals. According to the animal rights organization peace, this was a result of a cigarette butt which wasn't properly extinguished. There used to be articled and footages of the event online but it seems like they got taken down. At around 2015, a facility called the Meccha sawareru zoo was opened in the Pieri Moriyama. This facility was the start of the Horii Zoo's downfall. A picture of Leon/Rion was surfaced with a big scar/scab on his forehead amd a red stain on the window which was covered by a sheet of paper. This caused an outroar by animal lovers in Japan. This was followed by information of the zoo violating what I can summarize a Japanese version of the DWA act of England becasue the transfer of a guareza and a bald eagle were not notified to the authorities. More violations were surface by the Japanese animal rights organization PEACE including the unnotified transfer of Japanese macaques, alligators, and giraffes. In early 2019, Pieri did not renew the lease of the Meccha Sawareru zoo causing it to shut down. These errors, along with a petition to shut down Horii Zoo itself did work. Yoshinori Horii's animal handling/exhibiting licensewas terminated. Horii tried to appeal for the charges he got for the transfer of the dangerous animals, but that did not work. Some of the dangerous or invasive animals did sent to other facilities for the better (i.e. Daichi the chimp getting transferred to the Kumamoto Sanctuary) or not-so-better (Leon and a black bear getting sent to Ouchiyama zoo), while many others may have gotten euthanized. And thus is the much awaited end of the tragic story of the Horii zoo. SIKE!! Now, I did say that Yoshinori Horii's animal handling/exhibiting license was terminated. But not his wife's. Using a loophole, they opened a new facility named Jackson's (named after their bactrian camel.) Not only that they opened a new facility on the parking lot of a big box store called meccha omoroi zoo. It is basically Meccha sawareru zoo but without large carnivores. There was no effort for the staff to make this new place look different than the facilities before Horii's permit was terminated, the same terrible enclosures, sign fonts, and childish taste in decor etc.. It definitely looks safe to visit during a pandemic. To be fair I do want to visit there so no one else has to.
How can a zoo be that bad that a lungfish escapes??? I’ve seen loads but I’ve never even see them move!
According to the Wikipedia entry that mentions it, the fish was dropped during transit, so technically it’s not really an escape. But you really have to be that bad for such a thingvto happen. Inb4 but Wikipedia is not a reliable source; there isn’t many resources about Horii zoo. Almost no one record the zoo’s tv appearances (which shows the interior of the warehouse without condemning it) and many records are just gone from the web. And while PEACE has a good compilation I just don’t feel like it is enough.
How do you manage to get a shoebill and said "Yeah, we'll keep him in a space smaller than the bathroom in the mall."
All pet shops I've been in are better than this. Most zoos have at least one redeeming quality (the setting, the potential, the effort to change) but this...well I'm bereft of words.
If there was a dislike button this forum, then this would be the time for me to use it. What a utterly horrible place. I'm aware of there being differences between western zoos and the Asian zoo culture. But this goed beyond many other ''bad'' named places. I would only advise you to visit if you go with the intention to close their bussiness down. Else it's nort worth the money and support you give it. There are so many husbandry errors and all such things that you'd be writing for a decade if you want to cover them all.
Somehow, the jolly music in the second video made it even worse. You know what is the saddest thing about this? Not (just) the inadequate husbandry. Not the apparent unwillingness of the owners to learn and improve, but continue in their ways, no matter what. The really sad aspect is that this is still getting its paying audience. And based on my personal experience, I'm sure that such a setting would also find that audience and fans elsewhere, including Europe, North America and Australia & NZ, if the local animal welfare regulations allowed it. A shockingly high number of people are so ignorant, naive, egocentric or just plain dumb that they don't care about animals' welfare as long as they are having "fun". Just read the positive comments for the most atrocious roadside zoos and you'll know what I mean...
I was just thinking that this is the sort of place that would probably have some surprises scattered through the rabbits and monkeys - and one minute into the "part one" video there was a Short-beaked Echidna in a little glass tank.
According to the anime’s welfare/rights organization PEACE, ha-chan the shoebill bitt the face of a child whoo needed to get stitches.
because the "exhibit" is 1.as small as a bathtub and 2.with very minimum "barrier" and 3.i doubt the staff cared.
I mean this is what animal rights organization should do about. Not over there repeatedly saying Happy is unhappy.
