Saitama Children's Zoo

Located on rolling hills, the facility features approximately 450 herbivorous animals of about 40 species, including ponies, horses, rabbits, chickens, and sheep.

Here, children can enjoy and learn while interacting with the animals. There is a horseback riding area, a dairy cow area where visitors can try milking cows, and even a dinosaur area and koala exhibit.

The zoo is the largest zoo in Saitama Prefecture, covering an area of 79.2 hectares (46.1 hectares of which is used for the zoo and 33.1 hectares for walking paths and cross-country courses).

Some of the animals are free-range, and there are more than 200 species and 1,600 animals in captivity. The zoo is particularly well known for its quakka wallabies, the world’s only non-Australian zoo exhibit, koalas, which are only found in seven zoos in Japan, and Penguin Hills, the world’s largest Humboldt penguin ecology park.

In winter, visitors can also enjoy an open-air bath for capybaras (a five-zoo country capybara open-air bath agreement has been concluded with Saitama Children’s Zoological Park, Izu Shaboten Zoological Park, Nagasaki Bio Park, Nasu Animal Kingdom, and Ishikawa Zoo).

The zoo has many other facilities besides the zoo, including the International Children’s Year Commemorative Museum (Children’s Castle), the Daito Bunka University Beatrix Potter Museum, which is a museum of Peter Rabbit, known for Beatrix Potter’s picture books, and the Adventure Forest, an athletic facility.

In addition, the Saitama Peace Museum is located adjacent to the zoo, and its observation tower offers a panoramic view of the Kanto Plain.

A variety of animals are exhibited in the North Park.

In the giraffe house “Giraffe Terrace,” Amime giraffes and yellow-bellied hyraxes are on display.

In the white-fronted dove house, white-fronted doves and Japanese pheasants are on display.

At the goat feeding corner, visitors can touch goats and zarnens.

Pony Riding Corner and Pony Barn exhibit ponies and a variety of animals. Among them are a Kedzume turtle, a buzzard, and a butterfly.

In the Flamingo Corner, visitors can see the red-headed flamingo, the Chilean flamingo, the Madagascar crested ibis, Hawaiian geese, Sakatsura geese, and duck-billed ducks.

In the acorn grove, Japanese squirrels, owls, barn owls, and Malayan pygmy owls are on display.

In the lemur house, warthog lemurs and red ruffed lemurs are on display.

In the Friendship Corner, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, miniature horses, Yakushima goats, corridors, Suffolk species, miniature pigs, Kubiwa peccaries, ducks, geese, ballyhocks, Harris hawks, Magellanic eagle owls, lorikeets, scarlet macaws, and Japanese crocodiles, Boa constrictors, armadillo lizards, and Aldabra giant tortoises are on display.

Rabbits can be seen in the Pyonpyon Village.

At the otter house, Kotomekawa otters are on display.

In the dairy cattle section, Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Gandy cows are kept.

In the white-eared bulbul house, the white-eared bulbul, the common kestrel, the white-bellied woodpecker, the western purple babbler, the lilac-breasted grosbeak, the black-bellied bulbul, the mandarin duck, and the red-faced crow pigeon are exhibited.

In the Mara house, visitors can see Mara and Hime-Mara.

In the red panda house, red pandas and white owls are exhibited.

In the manul cat house, manul cats are exhibited, and there is also an outdoor “manul rock” feeding area.

In the Yabuinu House, yabuinu are exhibited.

Meerkats and fennecks are exhibited in the meerkat house.

In the prairie dog house, black-tailed prairie dogs are exhibited.

In the small animal house “eco Hauchu,” snub-nosed cats, gundies, pampas gerbils, degus, matacomids, biscuccias, Japanese white-tailed gerbils, lesser slow lorises, sebatan flying foxes, little pygmy flying foxes, pygmy flying foxes, and fusarium rat kangaroos, The exhibits include a flying squirrel opossum, a Hongshu flying squirrel, a Japanese white-bellied gerbil, a Japanese gerbil, and a Japanese gerbil.

Poozies are exhibited in the Poozie House.

Humboldt penguins are exhibited in the Humboldt Penguin Ecological Park “Penguin Hills.

In the peacock house, Indian peacocks, southern white-fronted geese, and Ginga goose are exhibited.

In the white-fronted dove breeding cage, white-fronted doves, white-bellied woodpeckers, and common kestrels are exhibited.

In the hornbill house, southern white-fronted hornbills, crested grouse, white-fronted geese, white-fronted geese, white-fronted geese, mandarin ducks, blue-fronted geese, little grebes, great hornbills, and hornbills are exhibited.

The stork house “Konoike” exhibits Japanese storks, titmice, white-fronted doves, red-crowned cranes, manazuru, and black-faced spoonbills.

A variety of animals are exhibited in the East Garden.

In the koala house, koalas, southern anteaters, flying sloths, striped sloths, hawksbill turtles, and spiny anteaters are on display.

At the Kangaroo Corner and Quokka Island, giant kangaroos, quokka wallabies (quokkas), Australian gama toucans, and wallaby kingfishers are on display.

Emus are exhibited at the Emu Feed Area.

Cockatiels, red-fronted parakeets, cockatiels, cockatiel parrots, coconut cockatoos, palm cockatoos, daphne cockatiels, kinkajous, budgerigars, Japanese quail, and ten-nyo parakeets are displayed in the Picnic Plaza bird cage.

In the Capybara and Wallaby Plaza, capybaras and Bennett’s red kookaburra wallabies are on display.

In the Deer and Antelope Valley, Honshu deer and Japanese serows are on display. In addition, mara (a member of the white-tailed gerbil family) are free-ranging and may be seen in the park.

Other facilities include

The Tenma Tower (officially named “International Year of the Child Memorial Tower”) houses a time capsule, which is scheduled to be opened on May 5, 2030, the 50th anniversary of the park’s opening.

There is also a pony riding area and a dinosaur corner.

The Children’s Castle (officially named “International Children’s Year Commemorative Museum”) was opened on November 1, 1981. Previously, a separate admission fee was required, but from June 2021 the admission fee will be waived.

The Children’s Castle includes a restaurant gazebo, a jabu-jabu pond, a kobaton road (a wooden deck that spans the “Deer and Antelope Valley”), a kobaton toride, a forest classroom, an outdoor stage, the Mori Cafe, and the Beatrix Potter Museum (owned by Daito Bunka University).