If you’re planning on visiting Hokkaido’s super popular tourist spot Asahiyama Zoo, then winter is a great time to do it! There are many great things to do and see at the zoo during the summer season, but you will never forget the sight of the majestic animals against a backdrop of pure white snow in Japan’s northernmost zoo. The winter season starts from 1st November (Sat), and as the number of visitors during the winter season is fewer than the summer season, you can take your time watching your favourite Asahiyama animals.
Top of the list of must-see winter animals simply has to be the polar bears! With cute, innocent faces and huge, powerful muscular bodies, the sight of these mighty beasts playing in the soft white snow is adorable. In their unique natural enclosures, you can see how the polar bears move both on ground and underwater, and if you’re lucky you’ll catch a glimpse of the polar bears diving into the water. Another powerful resident of Asahiyama Zoo is the Siberian Tiger, which loves to relax in the fresh snow. The Hokkaido born brown bear loves to play, thrilling visitors by standing to its full height at the window to display it’s huge, powerful form.
Polar bear enjoying playing in the fresh snow
Fast becoming the most popular attraction in Asahiyama Zoo, watch in amazement as the penguins take a leisurely waddle through the zoo grounds! The penguins are not forced to take their walk, and only go if the mood takes them. It almost feels like we are the ones being watched by them, as they take their laid-back, majestic stroll. As you watch the cute penguins waddle along a few feet away from where you stand, you wont be able to stop the broad grin that will spread across your face! We also recommend taking a trip “to another world” in the underwater tunnel, where you can watch the penguins swimming above, below, and all around you, gliding effortlessly through the water as if they are flying.
As well as the unbelievably cute lesser pandas, who enjoy roaming around their “Lesser Panda Rope Bridge” that was opened in December 2007, you can also see many other animals in their full winter coats. There is the polar fox, which has a white coat during the wintertime, the famous red-crowned crane, and snow loving Blakiston’s fish owl. As there are so many delightful animals to see during the winter season, we recommend that you schedule as much time as possible for your visit here.。
When you enter the “Wolf Forest”, which was completed in June 2008, you can watch the wolves at super close-quarters from the “Hare’s eye” observation dome, or from the barrier free outdoor area. In March 2009, the new “Ezo Deer Forest” is due to be opened adjacent to the wolf forest. The addition of this new facility will give visitors the unique chance of observing how the animals co-exist, as they would co-exist in nature. It is nature-oriented concepts such as these that give Asahiyama Zoo its unbeatable popularity.
Lesser Panda crossing its high-hanging rope bridge with ease 
Feeding time in the seal enclosure. Check the time schedules to make sure you don’t miss it
Asahikawa City Asahiyama Zoo
Asahikawa shi Higashi Asahikawa cho Kuranuma
 
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